Lionel caboose lighting too bright.

Maybe add a resistor?

Change to LED?

Rotating dimmer switch?

When will you be mailing this one to me?

Ron

Try putting a diode (or several) in series with the lamp wire.

Or an adjustable constant-voltage circuit board, if you want to spend a little more $.

Thats LED lighting. Best if you add a lot of resistance. On super bright LEDs I can add 3K ohms and its still brighter than any incandescent or standard LED with 400 ohms.

Its not a linear relationship with voltage vs lumens with LEDs like it is with incandescents.

Maybe add a 5K pot so you adjust to taste without having to swap out a few resistors.

like Arthur says a buck board is cheap and offers adjustability.

Pete

@Ron045 posted:

Maybe add a resistor?

Change to LED?

Rotating dimmer switch?

When will you be mailing this one to me?

Ron

Believe it’s already factory equipped with harsh bright white LED(s)

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Believe it’s already factory equipped with harsh bright white LED(s)

I have also added some clear yellow paint to the LED.  No so much to dim the bulb but to eliminate the bright white color with something warmer.

LED Lighting Regulator

Thanks for everyone’s replies. As I was pretty sure of before I asked, all these solutions are out of my wheelhouse. Have to wonder what the designers at Lionel were thinking when they produced this item. It looks like a rolling surgical suite!

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Thanks for everyone’s replies. As I was pretty sure of before I asked, all these solutions are out of my wheelhouse. Have to wonder what the designers at Lionel were thinking when they produced this item. It looks like a rolling surgical suite!

Thinking?  You actually there was thought put into the lighting?

They used the LED with the best availability and lowest cost.  Try painting the LED with a thin layer of yellow or ivory craft paint to cut down the intensity and shift the color spectrum.

Dale

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Thinking?  You actually there was thought put into the lighting?

Hahaha how wrong could I be!

Perhaps you could take a piece of white tissue paper and fold it and stick to the underside of the roof to help diffuse the light?

Mark,  This is not out of your wheelhouse.  Please take gunrunnerjohn's advice and purchase the boards.  It is not difficult and adds so much more enjoyment to the hobby. A pot and a capacitor make all the difference.  You will need a soldering iron. Soon your rolling operating room will be a distant memory rather than a distraction every time you operate the layout.

Another one of those, Lionel got it right in the past, what changed?

I notice in videos of the new H15-44 's it looks like someone's welding in the cab when it stops.

Never could understand why there are lights inside a caboose anyway. Guess folks like the flickering effect?

LED lights are not always the best way to go and many need a warmer light color.  Replace the to bright and blueish LED light with a 12v, very low wattage, incandescent mini Christmas tree bulb.  If you are running constant 18 volts you may have to wire two in series.   Mini Christmas tree junked strings made a good source of bulb holders and pigtails.

After all almost all cabooses had incandescent bulbs in their time or kerosene lanterns earlier.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

LED lights are not always the best way to go and many need a warmer light color.

LED's come in every color and shade imaginable.  I have used used everything from bright white, warm white, amber, or yellow in passenger cars, depending on the era and the effect I was looking for.  By the same token, I stock white, warm white, and amber single LED's for upgrades, again depending on the specific situation.

  Why not just paint the existing LED's clear orange to tone them down. It worked for me in some passenger cars.

@SIRT posted:

Never could understand why there are lights inside a caboose anyway. Guess folks like the flickering effect?

And there you have it! In the real world of prototype railroading, back when there actually were cabooses in service, the crew never had the interior lights on at night (it drastically hinders ones night vision). I seem to remember that Lionel produced a truly fantastic scale model of the UP CA series couple caboose. However there were no marker lights, but did have interior lighting. Go figure.

@CHOO-CHOO MIKE posted:

  Why not just paint the existing LED's clear orange to tone them down. It worked for me in some passenger cars.

I think the easiest way to cut light output is a method I've used, which is to use some high temperature black paint (a spray can from Home Depot), and with a small brush paint over a portion of the bulbs, and cut the light output down to your taste.

I've done this with incandescent interior bulbs. With LEDs, regular black paint might be OK. Quick, simple, cheap, and no soldering required!

I have a Lionel baywindow that I modified with thin black plastic around the single light bulb. It looks far better to me with darkened windows and the subtle glow of the 2 marker lights, now red thanks to a bit of strategically placed red plastic.

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

I have a Lionel Frisco B/W caboose, 2126260, which has the brightest interior illumination of any caboose I’ve seen. It has an on/off switch, but that’s taking it to the other extreme. Anyone dimmed down one of these cabooses, and can offer a solution? Thanks for reading.

Mark, did you ever attempt to dim the light? I have a Lionel LNE caboose, 2326190, with a similar bright light, it may be even worse than yours. It’s my only caboose with this problem. You can see its intensity is so bright it goes through the plastic shell.

Gene

@Genemed posted:

Mark, did you ever attempt to dim the light? I have a Lionel LNE caboose, 2326190, with a similar bright light, it may be even worse than yours. It’s my only caboose with this problem. You can see its intensity is so bright it goes through the plastic shell.

Gene

i also have a recent lionel caboose thats the same way.   Maybe it should be  the  X ray RR.

@Genemed posted:

Mark, did you ever attempt to dim the light? I have a Lionel LNE caboose, 2326190, with a similar bright light, it may be even worse than yours. It’s my only caboose with this problem. You can see its intensity is so bright it goes through the plastic shell.

Gene

@tom21pa posted:

i also have a recent lionel caboose thats the same way.   Maybe it should be  the  X ray RR.

Gene - as far as the Frisco caboose, I sold it. No attempt to fix. Jumping to your and Tom21pa’s bleed through cab illumination, I offer a very simple solution. Open the caboose up, completely, and line the interior with aluminum foil tape. This will stop the light bleed dramatically, if not completely.

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Gene - as far as the Frisco caboose, I sold it. No attempt to fix. Jumping to your and Tom21pa’s bleed through cab illumination, I offer a very simple solution. Open the caboose up, completely, and line the interior with aluminum foil tape. This will stop the light bleed dramatically, if not completely.

Mark, excellent idea, never thought of that. I’ll do that first and I might need to apply some of the WS light blocker I have leftover on the windows. I guess I have another workbench project.

Thanks, Gene

@Genemed posted:

Mark, excellent idea, never thought of that. I’ll do that first and I might need to apply some of the WS light blocker I have leftover on the windows. I guess I have another workbench project.

Thanks, Gene

You can also just paint the inside black.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

You can also just paint the inside black.

I had to use black construction paper on a building I made. The light was coming through the siding joints.
The spray paint may be easier once I take it apart. Thanks for the tip.

Gene

Also darkening the bulb with a darkish color paint should help to knock down the glare.