Original page created on 13/10/2019.
DCC lighting of the train
There are two possible approaches.
- The first is to equip each motor coach with a decoder, because the dummy motor coach has originally a reversal of lights by diodes which cannot operate in DCC. The trailers will then be powered all separately by their conductive bearings. It will be necessary to provide at least one rectifier per coach. They will remain permanently lit, unless each is equipped with a switch or better a latching reed switch.
- The second is to feed all the train from the actual motor coach, by equipping it with conductive couplings. In this case, all the lights can be DCC controlled.
The first solution is better for those who are not too comfortable with electrical wiring. Personally, I chose the second one. That said, the circuits I propose are valid in both cases, with the reservations mentioned above.
Equipment of the driving coaches
Front and rear lamp lighting
The lamp lighting is done by two incandescent lamps through light guides with multiple reflections. Not surprising that you hardly see anything at the exit.
Two options are possible to improve this:
- Either CMS LEDs glued on the light guide in front of the outputs, after filing the inclined planes. In this case you need 3 white LEDs and 2 red LEDs per side.
- Or replace the current lamps with high brightness LEDs, and inserting a resistor of course.
I chose the second option, much simpler, first with 4.7 kΩ resistors, but the brightness was very insufficient. With 1 kΩ resistors, it is correct.
For the real driving coach, these resistors are CMS soldered directly on the tracks of the previously cut circuit (circle). A trick to get rid of track pieces to remove: after cutting the tracks in two places to about 2 mm away, apply the hot soldering iron on the part to be removed; after a few seconds, it will come off very easily.
Note the connection of the wires to feed the rest of the train on the decoder connection pins.
Hover over the picture to zoom.
The light of the cold white LED that I used should be warmed up according to my usual method (orange screen cut out of a translucent binder cover, glued or taped into the opening). On the other hand, the central light lights up much more than those below; to mitigate this, simply tilt the LED down.
Regarding the red LED, it must be installed perpendicular to the circuit, from below, through the already existing hole, drilled to ⌀ 3 (arrow), so that the luminous flux is oriented to the right direction. I put electricians tape in the slot under the LED to avoid any contact with the chassis.
Hover over the picture to zoom.
A small drawing may better explain.
In the dummy
The goal is the same. Here, to power the LEDs, I simply replaced the original diodes with conventional resistors. Don’t forget to cut off the track between the white — yes, rather grey —, and yellow wires (arrow).
Lighting of driving coaches’ compartments
Honestly, this lighting is not essential, because you really don’t see much. As the plastic room has a “roof”, the light can only pass on the sides. Also, I planned indirect lighting with a silver reflector stuck under the roof.
Actual driving coach
Overview, roof removed. Note the reflector (foil blanket).
Hover over the picture to zoom.
The light strip is fixed in two points: on the right by the chassis fixing screw; on the left by a new screw taking advantage of an existing tapping.
Dummy
Here is a view of the light strip.
Note in passing the presence of a power reserve circuit, mounted on Veroboard, which supports the lighting of all coaches; this is why its capacitor is of relatively large value (1000 μF), which made it impossible to implant in the real driving coach:
This circuit is fixed using a single Parker screw screwed into the body, with the interposition of a spacer. The circuit, which would be visible through the fan grilles, will be covered with black paper.
Note the presence of two well German looking drivers, Roco origin too, planted on a 3 mm thick piece of extruded polystyrene, painted Humbrol grey acrylic. They are also present in the motor coach, although not yet installed when taking pictures of it.
