DCC 'ing Bachmann Big Hauler Passenger Coaches

[jviss]

I am going DCC, and have a string of three Pennsylvania passenger coaches I'd like to convert to DCC track lighting. 

To start, I have a coach and an observation car that came in a set, and a combination baggage coach car that I purchased separately.  All are 9V battery, incandescent lit.  The first two have plastic wheels, the last metal wheels.  All of the trucks have the provision for the spring-loaded electrical pickups, but they are unpopulated.

I have considered a few options. 

1. Electrical pick-up.  The easiest thing to do would be to purchase (eBay) a few sets of the brush, tube, spring contact sets for these trucks.  I wonder if I should do both trucks of each car?

2. I've considered wiring just one coach with contacts and a decoder, and wiring them together with what would look like brake hoses.  This way, one set of contacts and one decoder for the three coaches.

3. Decoder choice: I was thinking that I can use something like the Digitrax TL1.  I am brand-new to DCC, and I'm in a bit of a fog over this.  It says that the TL1 can be turned on/off using  F0, F1, F2, F3, or F4.  Can I set the address of this decoder to the same address as the mobile/sound decoder in the locomotive so that I don't have to switch addresses on the throttle to turn the lights on and off?  Is there a "standard" function number for coach lights?

4. I've already converted one of the coaches to LED lights, using a strip of LEDs:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GL5R56/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are kinda bright running directly off the 9V battery, and a bit too "cool," I think.  I assume these wooden coaches had oil or incandescent lamps, and would be much warmer, but I'm no expert on the prototype.  I will dim them when I install the decoder, which brings up an interesting question: what's the voltage of a function output?  What type of output is it?



Thanks,

jv

[Kevin Strong]

You can set the function decoder to that of the locomotive, but then you'll have to dedicate one of the functions specifically for the lights, and remove any locomotive function for that key. (In other words, "convention" has the bell on F1 and the whistle on F2, so you wouldn't want to use those two functions for your lights, lest you turn the lights on or off every time you blow the whistle. That, and if you run the cars with a different loco, you'll be needing to switch addresses, so I'd just use a decoder with a unique address for the car.

From a practical standpoint, you're not going to be spending a whole lot of time turning the lights on and off. Frankly, I wouldn't even worry about a decoder for the lights. I'd put a small switch somewhere inconspicuous on the bottom of the coach and run the lights directly off of track power. I'd suggest using the stock incandescent lights powered by a 5 volt voltage regulator. That will give you a nice warm glow reminiscent of oil or kerosene lamps or of the likely low-wattage incandescent bulbs that would have been used if the cars had been converted to electricity. (They would have gotten their power from the locomotive's steam generator.)

Later,

K

[jviss]

Thank you again, Kevin, for your thoughtful reply to this, and to my other annoying posts!  You can probably tell I'm new here, and I've re-entered this wonderful hobby after a near lifetime hiatus, using my grandkids as the rationalization. 

You are right, I think, using a decoder is probably overkill.  A switch will suffice, 'though it's less fun!  It would be awesome to be able to get them to go on serially as if someone was walking down the car lighting them. 

I hear you regarding the aesthetics of the incandescent bulbs in the coaches, but I pulled mine, in one coach so far, because first, I couldn't unscrew the burnt-out one, there was a drop of lacquer applied, apparently to keep it in!  And, I like the long life of LEDs, since the coach must come apart to replace an incandescent bulb.  We'll see, I found and ordered the warm-white variant of the LEDs for which I supplied the link, a 16.4' roll of tape with 300 LEDs for $8, and the tape is self-adhesive; tough to beat!  We'll see how it looks when dimmed-down.  I'm assuming they consume less power than the bulbs, so as long as I continue on the 9V batts it's a win, too.

I've done some research on wooden passenger coach lighting and found that for the era of interest the dominant coach lighting technology appears to have been Pintsch gas.  Fascinating!  Here are a couple of links:

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28925

https://books.google.com/books?id=A0k1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PT48&lpg=PT48&dq=%22A+Perfect+Light+is+a+Luxury%22&source=bl&ots=o-qyMLXW7b&sig=HELFgh-ktS43g8gDX8nwJkLIUY8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PYcNVbLWGoLUgwT4-YHQBQ&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22A%20Perfect%20Light%20is%20a%20Luxury%22&f=false

It would be interesting to know the color temperature of Pintsch gas lighting, and more detail of how many ceiling lamps in each type of coach, and the outside venting and plumbing details.