Headlights & Tail lights for Streets Vehicles

Should be as simple as it seems using LED's.   I've added headlights, taillights, strobe lights, etc. to small motorized track units, which should be the same as for Streets stuff.  I'm sure Lee has added all kinds of lights to some of his.

 

I like LED's for locomotive headlights as well, they are much more directional than the standard incandescent bulbs and thus look a lot more like real headlights.

 

I think it is Busch that offers working headlights and taillights in HO gauge so it should be easy to do.  I'm surprised E-Z Streets doesn't offer this.

I have used grain of wheat 12v lights for years in my cars and trucks. I will be using LED's from now on. It's so easy to do and looks great. Don

a few questions don.

where do you purchase the LEDs and is track power ok or do they need a resister?

You can find thousands of them on eBay. For O scale, you want the 3mm warm white for most headlight applications. The red ones are available in smaller sizes which is great since tail lights are usually smaller than headlights. You'll have to add resistors to run them on 12 volts. This site has information on picking the right resistors for your LED applications. Best bet is to tie the LEDs in series so you only have to use one resistor. White LEDs have a forward voltage of 3-4volts; red, green and yellow are roughly 1.2-1.5volts.

 

http://www.hebeiltd.com.cn/?p=...or.calculator#series

 

Hope this helps.

 

I use the LEDs from Evans Design. They also sell kits for police cars (modern or 50s style). I have used the police car kits for fire trucks. Take a look at their website.

Jack Pearce who sells in the Orange Hall at York has done these conversions for many years. I think they really add to a layout.

Evan Designs - Used them in a number of vehicles.  Used them when I started running Streets vehicles on AC.  After converting vehicles to DCC, I was able to use the same LED's as I ordered these that were setup for AC or DC 9 - 22 volts.

 

Car and truck

 

Emergency Vehicles

 

Larry

Thanks everyone. I wasn't sure if there was a lurking downside to this and it sounds like there isn't. I'm an evans fan and have some LED's ready to go. Will try to get this going over the weekend.

 

Thanks again for the comments. Much appreciated, Terry

The rainy street effect in that photo is outstanding.  If I might presume to suggest, a layer of Photoshop falling-rain would make it even more memorable.

 

I took off work today to enjoy working on trains. I just received a NASA K-Line streets vehicle, put it on the track, and one of the headlights was out. I ran it a bit and realized the rear lights work, but only when backing up. Electronics is not my strong suit but...

 

It was a breeze replacing the headlight. I kept looking at the wiring and decided to make a cut and re-splice the rear lights so they are on all the time. It all worked great.

 

The lights are fantastic and it took minutes once I had the courage to snip the wires. I can't wait until this evening to see how it looks at night. I already noticed the lights reflecting off windows in some of the buildings. Terry

Easier than you thought, right?

 

I use a combo of LED's, fiber optics and glow paint.

GRJ, yes, it was very easy!

 

Mark, thanks for the great videos and the reason I want to do this! Your vehicles look good with lights.

 

AMCDave, I'll have to work my up to fiber and have purchased a lighted vehicle with it already installed so I have starting point.

 

Terry

There are some neat LED pieces you can find too and add to your set. Menards has had some fun ones like this truck and flat with LED headlights and tail lights. http://www.menards.com/main/se...-2009535-c-13318.htm

The price is certainly right on that set from Menards.

 

Look at the top of the page, Evans is a forum dvertisor.

Bob