Baggage Car Lighting Question

I just light them like any other car my self.

A quick Google search turned up these:

The second and third ones are obviously more contemporary than the first.

Rusty

Jason, I agree with John, just light them as you would nay other passenger cars. When in operation, you won't get the statement from a casual visitor that you have a light out in one of your cars.

That's the reason I light them.  I figured it would be a constant source of comments about failed lighting if I didn't.

Thanks Guys

-- Same light level, brightness, as the other cars?

-- Photos of the actual cars look like there are very few lamps, thus a dimmer lighting than coach or chair cars, right?

Do your baggage cars have operating (sliding) doors? 

You could install a $1 switch that detects the open door to turn on the lights.  Or if ambitious, a switch/sensor could keep the lights dim when moving with doors closed but bright when doors open.  In other words, you can have some fun with this!

Too much fun Stan!

Since a number of my baggage cars have Station Sounds Diner packages, I could probably tap off the same sensor to do something with the doors.

Too many projects, too little time...

For example.  Here's a sliding door boxcar where it's not obvious (to me anyway) how to mount a mechanical level switch to detect door position.  That is, the door panel slides on the outside face of the car. 

So how about a thin magnet disc to close a reed switch when the door is open.

Magnet embedded flush on inside door face (on thickest part of door).  Reed switch on inside wall.  LED strip on ceiling powered by GRJ's lighting board.

About a 10 times power reduction going from the original 2-bulb incandescent to the 15 LEDs (5 sections of 3 LEDs)  And a short video - initially showing waving a magnet over the reed switch.

That's pretty cool Stan, another use for the reed switches!  Here I thought they were only good for creating chuffing for steamers.

As close as you are with the magnet to the reed switch, you could probably use the 1/8" diameter 1/32" thick ones that I sometimes use in tight spaces for steamers.

Next mod is to turn the lights out when the train starts moving.

Next mod is to turn the lights out when the train starts moving.

 

So without getting into the nerdy details, here's an interesting "trick" you can do with the constant brightness LED boards designed by some guy here on the forum.

By adding a bi-polar magnetic Hall sensor switch chip and a resistor, you can switch between 2 brightness levels under magnet control.  About $1.  A bipolar (vs. a unipolar) Hall switch has the useful behavior of "latching" its on-off state after the magnet is removed.   So, for example, you turn on the switch by applying a "North" field.  Then later you turn off the switch by applying a "South" field.

Only 2 wires connect the Hall switch and resistor directly to the LED strip as shown.  When the Hall switch turns on, it shunts or "steals" some of the current from the light strip thereby dimming it. 

And for your entertainment, here's a short video.  Again, the preview shows a magnet toggling LED brightness by momentarily applying N and S fields.  I figure magnets could be placed at the ends of a station platform so when the train arrives, the lights brighten.  And when the train departs, the lights dim.  The Hall switch chip is on the inside wall of the car at platform level.

I think a subdued type lighting system for the baggage car would be most appropriate. In many cases, there isn't a light on at all. At least in the real baggage car until it is needed. Like at a stop for example. Anyway, lights give cars character and show details otherwise missed from within.

Pete

Very cool Stan, there must be a way to work those sensors into something, what's the part number of the one you're using.

This is fantastic, Stan!!!!

Yet again the wonderful creativity of those here shines through.

I will follow John in asking for specific details being not as bright as most of you with the technical side of the electronics. With that noted I assume this set-up would not be effected by aluminum body cars?

Looks like my project list for the winter just gained in length with this very cool feature.

Best,

Jason

Hey, why not just use "The Clapper"?  

Perhaps I was too subtle!  That is GRJ's LED board in the photos.

As you note, GRJ did the heavy lifting to create a simple-to-install system.  This magnetic switching stuff is not at that level as there are, at this point anyway, a variety of your-mileage-may-vary factors that make me uncomfortable specifying a one-size-fits-all parts list.  However, the circuit connection is straightforward:

So as can be seen in the photos, the Hall switch chip and resistor "circuit" make a simple 2-wire attachment to LED strip.  Details to follow.

The resistor is 470.  I just grabbed a bipolar Hall device from the spare parts stash and of course when I went to DigiKey, I see they are obsolete (Panasonic DN8899 bipolar Hall switch).  I used this in a circuit last century.  Anyway, a suitable replacement from DigiKey is 88 cents: http://www.digikey.com/product...61-PG-BDI-ND/2182541

If there's sufficient interest in messing with this Hall stuff, perhaps we should start a thread in Electrical as the design details can get a bit tedious which is not at all in the spirit of your easy-to-use, plug-and-play LED board!  So I'm a bit at a loss on how to approach this.  Ideas anyone? 

A Gall switch/sensor's or even a reed switch's sensitivity can be affected by nearby steel plates (like our passenger/baggage car chassis) but aluminum should be no problem.  And here's a video sequel with 1/32" sheet aluminum simulating your question:

Great Stan, I'm going to get a few of these to tinker with.  They might also be easier to deal with for chuff switches, I've been meaning to look into alternative to reed switches.

What's your favorite (and inexpensive) 2-lead sensor, not a bi-polar one, just plain.  The thru-hole ones on Digikey seem pretty pricy, maybe I'm not hitting on the correct search.

No favorite.  As you know when you design circuits for volume production you pretty much have to select components specific to each application to keep cost down.  I searched DK for "Hall switch unipolar" and they do seem to run just over $1 in small qty...but maybe 50 cents at 100 pieces.  Seems fair to me.  I see on eBay you can get unipolars for maybe 25 cents each in small quantity but you'll need to chase down specs.

At the risk of going off the rails, this may answer a question you're not even asking!  If you're trying to do a 2-wire sensor, you need to power the Hall sensor even when the switch is OFF. 

Let's say the Hall chip needs 5 mA to operate (whether its switch is open or closed).  The Hall chip also needs some minimum voltage to operate (like 3V).  So here's a 5V circuit where you sense one of two non-zero currents to determine the on or off position of the Hall switch.  Either 5mA or 10mA flows depending on if the switch is off (no magnet) or on (magnet).  For example, there's a Super Chuffer circuit board (you may have heard of it) used on O-gauge steamers.  I see it has a 12F1501 processor chip which has a built-in settable-comparator function so it could be set with a 0.75V threshold to directly sense the on/off condition of this 2-wire Hall sensor.

You're right about the power, I wonder if maybe I should consider the 3-pin one so that the power isn't a factor.  I figured I'd have to do something to power it, that may make it more complicated than the 3-wire.  I think I could wire a 3-wire one directly to that mystery product, the Super-Chuffer.

Since the chuff input doesn't go right to the chip, I may have a problem sensing levels anyway.  I have a 100 ohm resistor and a .1 cap to knock down any spikes.  Then the input if pulled up to 5V with a 4.7k resistor.  It's really intended to run through the chuff switch to frame ground.

I need to look more into hall effect sensors, that's a component I never had occasion to use in my designs.