LED Lighting for Passenger Cars

What I did was remove the incandescent lamps and put the LEDs at a high point above the windows on the sides of the passenger cars.  The LED wires, which seem to be as fine as human hair, go to the same contact point as the old lamps.  While soldering is not essential, I highly recommend it.  I, too, had an apprehension of soldering stuff.  Do a little practice, and once you get the hang of it, you'll be looking for things to solder just cuz you can.

@RailFan820 posted:

Can ANYONE suggest the LEAST invasive way to add LED lighting to passenger cars to help upgrade the interior glow and be amp-friendly?  I'd prefer a screw-in bulb but would be open to these LED strips if easy to install;  I'm a novice when it comes to soldering.

I have used a few of the 12v DC 'screw-in' type bulbs available on amazon-dot-com. they initially worked without any issue besides a very slight flicker at lower voltages (5~8 volts AC) but they all popped after several uses. I tried adding a resistor and diode to reduce voltage and force DC into the bulbs - they also died after a bit more use. i lost faith in the screw-in options available, I also notice that there doesn't seem to be any 'lionel' LED screw-in type bulbs. I imagine that the small bot of circuitry crammed into th base of the bulb is stressed by under-engineering to fit in such a small space and it overheats. I have soldered in some LEDs and have had no (knock wood) issues after several months.

I have used the LED  bulbs for years.  I tried all I could find rated for the lionel trains or 18v.  Many are really 12v, but sold as "compatible".   On many applications they are OK, with about a 5% dead on arrival rate.  I find them not as bright as the incandescent and left dark areas in the passenger cars.   My recent attempt to find a bulb for the passenger cars was $6 a bulb and one of the two failed in 30 seconds.   I keep looking, but have not found anything acceptable to me for passenger cars.

I wanted a plug in bulb, but have gone to a power supply and LED  strips for the passenger cars.  The power supply allows brightness adjustment with no flicker as the power supply maintains power across switches and crossing gaps.   The only thing you need to get used to with the power supply and LED strip is the few second delay in lights out when you power off the track.   I get the same brightness running TMCC/Legacy with constant 18v track voltage and running conventionally 10-15v range.

@POTRZBE posted:

What I did was remove the incandescent lamps and put the LEDs at a high point above the windows on the sides of the passenger cars.  The LED wires, which seem to be as fine as human hair, go to the same contact point as the old lamps.  While soldering is not essential, I highly recommend it.  I, too, had an apprehension of soldering stuff.  Do a little practice, and once you get the hang of it, you'll be looking for things to solder just cuz you can.

I have had good luck replacing the bulbs with an LED passenger car light kit from Hennings. I am sure we could guide you thru the process of using them, depending on your particular cars you would be converting.

There are tons of threads in the OGR forums dealing with this, so do some searching and you'll find something that you can relate to.

For me, I got rid of all the incandescents in my SF aluminum passenger cars, bought warm white (not cool white) LED light strips (available from many places), and used the LED lighting component sold on Hennings (GRJ developed it I think).  Yeah, I had to learn a lot about soldering, but the end result was exactly what I wanted.  Some may say it's too bright, but I really like it.

@texgeekboy posted:

There are tons of threads in the OGR forums dealing with this, so do some searching and you'll find something that you can relate to.

For me, I got rid of all the incandescents in my SF aluminum passenger cars, bought warm white (not cool white) LED light strips (available from many places), and used the LED lighting component sold on Hennings (GRJ developed it I think).  Yeah, I had to learn a lot about soldering, but the end result was exactly what I wanted.  Some may say it's too bright, but I really like it.

You can use the pot on the LED regulator module to set the intensity to any level you desire.

Thank you all for your feedback.  I'll see where the rails take me...

To also point out with respect to your question on least invasive and not noted above.

The kits mentioned previously above sold by Hennings provide all you need if new to LED lighting.   The one thing I like the best with the LED regulator that gunrunnerjohn pictured which is sold by Hennings is that the foot print of that LED regulator is small and allows it be easily hidden most anywhere.    It’s a bonus especially for certain mfgs and respective cars.  

As for amp reduction, it is a significant reduction.  Especially K-line with that “stream lighting”  

If new to this just make sure you test your work along the way before you close the car back up and remember the “intensity adjustment” on the first car you do so you can repeat for all the other cars so they have similar light intensities.  

Soon enough you will develop a system and gets easier and easier

Not sure which cars you looking to upgrade but MTH are super easy with respect to taking apart the car.   My experience is limited to 18” cars only   For reference.

Have fun

You're right about the MTH Premier cars, they're some of the easiest cars to upgrade lighting in, usually I can knock out one of those in fifteen minutes or less.  Obviously, the multi-level cars and observation cars with markers and tail-lights are a bit more involved.

I have a PS 1 Burlington Zephyr (22 plus years old) that I would like to convert.  The cars are connected by a tether that easily comes apart at the connectors that can't be reglued.  So I added a pickup roller with insulation spacer.  The 2 wires from the new LEDs light just fine when connected to a power source (PW 1033 transformer).  However, there is nowhere on the trucks for the ground wire.  Any thoughts on what I can do to fix this and get the LEDs to work on this train?

If the trucks have plastic axle bearings, you need to add axle wipers for the outside track wheel connection.

GRJ, I didn't notice a small copper strip that straddles the axles of many cars that have lamps inside. However when I touch the bare wire from the lamps to the wheel nothing happens. The hot wire is connected correctly. Something is missing here, and it might be more than that little copper strip.

@POTRZBE posted:

GRJ, I didn't notice a small copper strip that straddles the axles of many cars that have lamps inside. However when I touch the bare wire from the lamps to the wheel nothing happens. The hot wire is connected correctly. Something is missing here, and it might be more than that little copper strip.

Like I said, it depends on the type of axle bearings.  Some cars need the wipers, and some car's don't.  You can simply determine if you need them by checking continuity from the wheels to the truck frames.

GRJ, how does one check continuity? I do have one of those voltmeters where I can check the voltage on my transformer, track, and batteries.

How to check continuity

GRJ, I did that and got a reading of 001 with all numbers on the right side of the screen. I tested the terminals themselves and got zero. I also tested two different fuses I have and got zero. So what does the 001 mean?

What does your meter indicate when the probes are not touching?  Different meters have different open indications.

What do you mean "tested the terminals themselves"?  What terminals?

When I first turned the meter on there is a one on the left side of the screen. When I touch the probes together I get zero. I called them terminals. My apologies.

Well, in that case, a single "1" on the right is just a small resistance, so the wheels should be conducting to whatever you put the second probe on.

One more vote for lighting kits from Hennings.

May I ask, when using this system , do the lights stay lit  when you stop the train at a station?

@Dave Koehler posted:

May I ask, when using this system , do the lights stay lit  when you stop the train at a station?

In conventional…no. Running command…yes.  When running conventional the lights will not flicker at brief contact losses, and the lights will gradually go off after power is shut down.

@Dave Koehler posted:

May I ask, when using this system , do the lights stay lit  when you stop the train at a station?

Unless you kill power on the track any typical lighted passenger cars will stay illuminated continuously.