Converting Lionel Legacy Scale Subways To LEDs

Ah, another "could have, should have" situation on Lionel's part. Unfortunately, they are not alone in getting things wrong.

Tinplate Art posted:

Ah, another "could have, should have" situation on Lionel's part. Unfortunately, they are not alone in getting things wrong.

Yup. You do sacrifice some brightness by doing this but the lighting looks more prototypical. I wish the lights didn't dim when the set is moving though. 

Better to be more accurate even with the changeover time.  ☺

Trainlover9943 posted:

Tinplate Art posted:

Ah, another "could have, should have" situation on Lionel's part. Unfortunately, they are not alone in getting things wrong.

Yup. You do sacrifice some brightness by doing this but the lighting looks more prototypical. I wish the lights didn't dim when the set is moving though. 

Such a deal I have for you.   This will give you flicker-free performance as well as intensity adjustment, and they'll stay constant brightness.

 LED Lighting Regulator

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

Tinplate Art posted:

Ah, another "could have, should have" situation on Lionel's part. Unfortunately, they are not alone in getting things wrong.

Yup. You do sacrifice some brightness by doing this but the lighting looks more prototypical. I wish the lights didn't dim when the set is moving though. 

Such a deal I have for you.   This will give you flicker-free performance as well as intensity adjustment, and they'll stay constant brightness.

 LED Lighting Regulator

Thanks the issue is really in the powered unit, the lighting in that car connects to a board and when the set moves, all the car lights dim. When I convert the powered unit, I'll try to run the lights directly to track power. That should fix it. 

Video on the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz9Ku1Wnb-s

Trainlover9943 posted:

Video on the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz9Ku1Wnb-s

That looks REALLY nice, Matt.   I am functionally impaired when it comes to doing electronic revisions like this.. .even though it may well be "easy" to some folks.   Once again, looks great!    

RadioRon posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

Video on the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz9Ku1Wnb-s

That looks REALLY nice, Matt.   I am functionally impaired when it comes to doing electronic revisions like this.. .even though it may well be "easy" to some folks.   Once again, looks great!    

Thanks!  

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

Tinplate Art posted:

Ah, another "could have, should have" situation on Lionel's part. Unfortunately, they are not alone in getting things wrong.

Yup. You do sacrifice some brightness by doing this but the lighting looks more prototypical. I wish the lights didn't dim when the set is moving though. 

Such a deal I have for you.   This will give you flicker-free performance as well as intensity adjustment, and they'll stay constant brightness.

 LED Lighting Regulator

Take John’s advise his light regulators work great. I have converted 2 sets of passenger cars and they work perfectly and are easy to install. My MTH subway cars are next for a conversion. They flicker no matter how clean the track is or the wheels.  Good winter project! 

Chris Lonero posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

Tinplate Art posted:

Ah, another "could have, should have" situation on Lionel's part. Unfortunately, they are not alone in getting things wrong.

Yup. You do sacrifice some brightness by doing this but the lighting looks more prototypical. I wish the lights didn't dim when the set is moving though. 

Such a deal I have for you.   This will give you flicker-free performance as well as intensity adjustment, and they'll stay constant brightness.

 LED Lighting Regulator

Take John’s advise his light regulators work great. I have converted 2 sets of passenger cars and they work perfectly and are easy to install. My MTH subway cars are next for a conversion. They flicker no matter how clean the track is or the wheels.  Good winter project! 

For the subway cars, I don't mind them flickering. 

Trainlover9943 posted:

For the subway cars, I don't mind them flickering. 

Well, it does emulate real subways.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Trainlover9943 posted:

For the subway cars, I don't mind them flickering. 

Well, it does emulate real subways.

That's the look I was going for.