Older K line caboose wiring

From the photo it has K-Line Stream Lighting.

Not sure about the voltage to the marker lights but it could be 6 volts. I have a K-Line Interurban set that has front & rear marker lights and one burnt out and I replaced it with a 6 volt bulb.

Use a multimeter set on 25 volts or higher and see what the voltage is.

Lee Fritz

LOL I did the same thing, take apart a K-Line caboose to drop in LED strip lights and said, whoa, this is harder than it looks.

In your first photo, there are 4 black components (diodes) on the left side of the board.  This converts AC-to-DC suggesting the markers might be LEDs (which require DC voltage).

What are "wiring kits"?

Do you have additional close-up shots of the marker light assemblies (to see if they have regular incandescent bulbs vs. LEDs)?  Are there any other tiny boards with components on them between the red-black wires from your ceiling board and the marker light assemblies?

Stan, there is nothing else except in the photo.  My intent was to go all LEDs that Gunrunner has designed, but looks like I would lose the marker lights unless I could wire that in to the kit.  Hennings trains sells them.  I may try a different caboose.

Without further info on exactly what those marker lights are (LEDs, bulbs, gas lanterns, etc.) we're at an impasse.

IIRC GRJ's wiring kits come with enough lights for a 21" passenger car so more than enough for a caboose.  Depending on what those markers are, this may or may not apply to your caboose.  But here's how to run extension wires from the lighting strips to discrete white LEDs to allow GRJ's board to drive markers, drumheads, etc.

For example, using a small white LED on an extension wire, here is an example of GRJ's board driving a poor-man's DIY two-lens caboose marker.

Thanks so much for the help Stan.  I was hoping I could solder on leads to the strip to power another LED.  I will see if I can determine the type of lighting in the markers or I could do what you did too. 

Of course what's neat about GRJ's wiring kits is they are easy to install without needing to fire up the soldering iron. 

But for special situations like your caboose, it may make sense to remove one (or more) LEDs from the strip and put them on extension wires.  If you use a different LED package such as a 3mm round-dome instead of the surface-mount style on the strip, you want to stay with White LEDs.  Otherwise you will likely have to fuss with changing resistors or something boring like that (since other LED colors operate at different voltages).

Another technique which might apply when using these LED strips is to cut the strips to separate the LEDs.  You have to think about it for a while and pictures best describe what it might do for you if trying to illuminate discrete light indicators as opposed to a cabin interior.  These are re-cycled from another thread.