Kato's LED passenger car lights

[carmelmodelrr]

I know I'm late to the game, but as I was running my NYC 20th Century passenger train a few days ago I was struck by how dull that black and dark gray train was.  So I ordered 7 of Kato's LED lights for the cars and installed them today.  What a game changer.  These lights actually light-no flickering--and they are quite bright.  It's my only train with lights, but I am a convert.

carmelmodelrr

[Dwight in Toronto]

I spent a couple hours at the Scarborough Model Railroaders open house earlier today.  One of the members was breaking in Rapido’s recently released N scale Rohr Turboliner, and I was quite impressed with how nice the coach lighting looked.  Not a flicker, and it beautifully illuminates the detailed interiors.   Kinda made me wish that I had ordered a set!

[peteski]

  So I ordered 7 of Kato's LED lights for the cars and installed them today.  What a game changer.  These lights actually light-no flickering--and they are quite bright.  It's my only train with lights, but I am a convert.

carmelmodelrr

If you look on the Internet you see modelers often complain about flicker, but if you keep the wheels and track clean, they work quite well.  The not so secret secret is cleanliness. After all Kato cars are picking up power from all 8 wheels.

[OldEastRR]

There's also 2 kinds of KATO LEDs, V 1.0 which is super-nova bright and V 2.0 which is a much more realistic intensity. I tend to use the V 1.0s in cars where I assume there's fluorescent (very bright white) lights -- coaches, crew quarters, and the kitchen part of the diners -- and the milder LEDs for sleepers and lounges. The old bulbs make excellent incandescent light since that's what they are, but if you have DCC be mindful that the bulbs will run hot. When I ran on Digitraxx voltage, bulbs got so hot they melted the plastic of the roof above them. I now have NCE DCC and yes you can feel the car over the bulb is warm when the car's on the track a while, but I've suffered no melted plastic.

So I use LEDS V1.0 and V2.0 and the bulbs in the various cars of a single passenger train to represent the different types and intensities of lights in a real train. I also block out windows in various windows of passenger sleeping compartments/drawing rooms where people would be sleeping. Bathroom windows and the baggage compartment door windows on a baggage/rpo* I also block out, because they would be dark. I've also used exposed film as filters (laid over the top of the area I want to cover, sitting atop the interior walls) for varied bulb lighting. I think an entire train with all the windows lighted with exactly the same light type and intensity looks pretty toylike.
And yes, Peteski's right -- if you have any flickering of your lighted KATO cars when running, you've got dirty wheels. Even tiny specks can disrupt the current flow from the rails. 

Of course, very few people run their trains in the dark so interior lighting doesn't matter to them. But if your layout has less-than-absolutely-realistic or even missing-in-places scenery, running on it a train, with cars lighted variously, in a dark room looks like the real thing.

*I was annoyed that KATO decided to put the light fixture in the Pennsy heavyweight RPO/Baggage cars at the baggage end of the car, the lamp sitting right inside the baggage door windows. I had to relocate it to the other end of the frame to get a dark baggage  area.

[rail_nut]

Car rider experiences. Sleeping car with side aisle, the aisle is fully lit. Coach car night lighting is lowered significantly. Dining section of diners are lit, people playing cards or just sitting around chatting. Domes of cars and upper levels of lounge cars, lower lighting levels. Vestibules always well lit.

[carlso]

carmelmodelrr,

Con su permiso, let me show what I have done with some KATO lighting.

1st - my triple diner with subdued lighting on either side of the brightly lit kitchen car :


2nd - my tavern car with non KATO lighting that I installed. I wanted the "Tavern Car" to be a "Party Car". I have been challenged to put a sound only decoder (do they even make such a thing anymore ?) and speaker so I can play Disco music, what a temptation !

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Thanks for letting an old dude show off a tad !

Be well !

[Lemosteam]

carmelmodelrr,

Con su permiso, let me show what I have done with some KATO lighting.

1st - my triple diner with subdued lighting on either side of the brightly lit kitchen car :


2nd - my tavern car with non KATO lighting that I installed. I wanted the "Tavern Car" to be a "Party Car". I have been challenged to put a sound only decoder (do they even make such a thing anymore ?) and speaker so I can play Disco music, what a temptation !

/>
Thanks for letting an old dude show off a tad !

Be well !

@carlso , no need to mess with a decoder. Go find a miniature Bluetooth player, rip it apart, replace the speaker and make a hole in the bottom for a charge port for the battery…

This is my Polar express baggage car, synced to an old phone playing the soundtrack.

[carlso]

 Cool John, thanks for the great idea !

[peteski]

Carl, Soundtraxx does make fairly inexpensive sound-effects-only decoders, but you cant;' upload your own sounds (very few manufacturers produce sound decoders with sound upload capabilities).  John's idea is very good.

[carlso]

Carl, Soundtraxx does make fairly inexpensive sound-effects-only decoders, but you cant;' upload your own sounds (very few manufacturers produce sound decoders with sound upload capabilities).  John's idea is very good.

Thanks for the comment Pete. The key word in it is "inexpensive". BTW, I have added  my own sound file  to an ESU LokSound decoder but again that is a too expensive option.

I like John's idea.

Be well !

[pedro]

The V2 light kits replaced the V1 lights, there is not really a choice between the two, old stock notwithstanding. The bulb version has been OOP for quite a while.

[Lemosteam]

@carlso , this looks like the one I used.  I had to cut into it carefully to get to the electronics its about a 1" cube:

https://www.vistaprint.com/promotional-products/technology/speakers/micro-bluetooth-r-speaker?

Scroll down to the bottom of this album to see the install:

https://goo.gl/photos/MrcmyXsSPnWX2JjRA

[carlso]

 Thanks John !