Lighting Coaches

[Garry1947]

G'day All
I am new to the forum, and brand new to large scale trains.
I bought a White Pass and Yukon starter set, and am very happy with the way it runs, but unfortunately the coaches in the starter set do not come with lighting, even though the manual says they do.

Can anyone help me with instructions on how to dismantle the coaches without damaging them so I can fit some lights. The cars are the "Lake Spirit" and the "Lake Bennett". I also bought an extra coach, the "Lake Tutsie". It has lights, and pickups on the wheels. I don't suppose these are available as a kit to retrofit to the other coaches?

Thanks
Garry

[Sleeping Bear]

 Bachmann sells a kit to put battery powered lights on board. Go to the home page select Big Haulers, then parts and service,Large scale and then passenger cars. Kit is listed for  $10.00.  Opening them up is easy.Remove the trucks and all the screws on the bottom and CAREFULLY pop the bottom off by pulling up(with car up side down) on the floor while disengaging the two tabs at either end. On reassembly be sure the bathroom is in(I keep forgetting it) and the stove is in the right place. While your in there you might as well paint the interior and seats to be more realistic and maybe add some people. Before ordering parts, check that their not battery powered by 9volt in the bottom and if they are that the bulbs survived shipping. I would also recommend reading some of the other posts on lighting to decide if you want to keep the track picups on the one car or convert it.     Hope this helps.   

[Garry1947]

G'day Sleeping Bear
Thanks for the advice on how to open then up. I saw on some other threads the advice to glue the bathroom in, and also to leave out the screws holding the roof in to make them easier to get into.  I checked for a battery box, although the instructions say they are battery powered, there is no battery box, nor are there lights inside. I will pull one apart and have a looksee, it may be easier to use a couple of Lithium AA's with some LEDs.
Thanks again
Garry

[NarrowMinded]

If you look closely at the trucks you will see they have pockets to hold track power pickups molded in, I made some cheap pickups by using some brass tube some springs and some brass rod with a wire soldered to the back, or you can just buy the pickups, I think it's better then batteries.

Just my two cents

NM

[Sleeping Bear]

  Garry.. glad I could be of help.. NM... your solution is good as well and when I have a constant power  system I will probably try that my self ....thanks for the Idea. At the moment...for me.. I think battery is the way to go as the lights don't flicker or shut down "till I want them too, and with the wife grading every little thing right now ....flicker is bad...ya know?? No disrespect intended  AND A HAPPY TRAIN TO ALL ......HO,HO,HO   or something like that. Later All..  SB                             

[Doneldon]

Naked Sleeper-

LEDs and batteries are the way to go.  Most will run on two 1.5 volt batteries though some require the full 4.5 volts you get from three batteries in series.  You can put them in the bathroom standing on end or run them right down the center aisle; no one will see them from the outside.  While you're at it, how about a flickering red LED or a fire kit in the stove?  Cut some vent holes and there should be a little animation inside the car.  Also, the lighted-when-purchased cars have a small switch under the floor and you can get a similar micro slide switch from Radio Shack.  A push-on-push-off button would also work well.  Good luck with your project.
                                                                                                                -- D

[NarrowMinded]

I've mentioned this before, for cheap easy flickering flame LED's I use the battery powered tea lights I get them for three for a dollar on sale at various stores, they have a self flickering LED inside I simply solder a 680ohm resistor in line when used with a decoder, some say use 1000ohm for track power with LEDs . I just made a lantern from one for fireman fred to hold as he rides in a little tool car I built and it looks great.

Nm

[Joe Satnik]

NM,

You should not have told us about Fireman Fred's lantern. 

Now you must post a picture, or a video, showing the flicker....

Joe Satnik

[NarrowMinded]

I tried last night but could not seem to get the video to upload from my iPhone I'll post pictures shortly and a video as soon as I can get it to upload to YouTube or photobucket

NM

ok here's a short video the leads for the LED form the handle, I did some surgery on Fred's wrist to turn his hand over, while his hand and arm were removed I drilled holes for the wires which also go inside his hollow body and out through a hole in the bottom of his foot, I glued his arm back on but plan to add a brass tube to act as a pivot so I can raise or lower his arm again, it's a little low right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD3xMXOowNY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Fox1NPXIc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Joe Satnik]

Is that cool, or what?

Nice job all around (mods and videos).

Thanks, NM.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[NarrowMinded]

Thanks Joe, I was happy with the way it turned out, it's also powered by the decoder so I can turn it off in the day time.

NM

[on30gn15]

..., and pickups on the wheels.

In my experience with those they were gotten rid of fast since to me they made car roll like it had brakes half on.

[NarrowMinded]

In my experience with those they were gotten rid of fast since to me they made car roll like it had brakes half on.

As with most model railroading items it sometimes takes some tinkering, switching springs or simply clipping them a little can be needed,  most people I know don't run more then a few passenger cars and have not had an issue.

NM

[Garry1947]

Wow, thanks everyone for the advice and ideas.

I tend to agree with On30gn15 on his comment on the drag from the pickups, the rolling ability of my coaches without lighting is noticably better than the one with the pickup powered lighting.
I think 2-3 leds in each car with a pair of Lithium AA's and a push button switch will be the way to go for me.

NM -  thanks for the flickering leds idea, as a raw beginner to this stuff it amazes me what some of you guys can do..

Regards
Garry

[armorsmith]

Gary,

Another variation on a lighting scheme, (one I am working on) is lighting my coaches using a boxcar as a battery car and daisy chaining the power to the coaches behind.  I also like the idea of the flickering LEDs.

NM,

I am not familiar with 'Tea Lights', could you enlighten me on sources?  Michael's or Hobby Lobby?

Bob C.