Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Hi everyone.
I need some modeling help. I recently received a 4 car set of vintage brass HO scale Metropolitan Commuter Cars (imported by GHB International and are LIRR M1's).
I have a couple of questions.
1) I would like to add directional headlights/taillights LED's to the models. All 4 cars are powered and I wanted to just run them on a DC layout. Do I have to switch over to DCC or does anyone know of a company who makes a DC/DCC decoder just for lighting?
2) Any recommendations on car interiors or a good brass painting company? I would like to have them painted & decorated as 1970's era LIRR M1 cars.
Regarding your first question, you do not need to go to DCC for directional lighting. There are several different circuits available to permit directional lighting in conventional DC trains.
Stuart
The light at the end of the tunnel may be the headlight of an on-coming train.
LEDs are directional by nature, as they are a diode. So you can simply connected them inside the cars the right way and have directional lighting on DC. Only problem is if you go to switch to DCC you need to connect these lights to a decoder for them to work right or they will all light up at the same time since DCC track has AC current on it. There is a DCC decoder thats made that just does lighting, almost every manufacture makes one now. TCS has the FL4 and FL2. They are DC and DCC compatible. If your not comfortable with doing the work yourself let me know as a friend of mine has his own business doing DCC installs and I deal with all of his customers.
