I recently ran my old post war Lionel passenger cars and remembered how the lights flickered while running. I have cleaned the electrical pick up rollers and checked that all wires were tight and properly connected to the light harness. Still they flickered. Does anyone have any idea how to overcome this problem short of replacing the entire lighting harness?
Thanks, Bill
Dear Bill,
Are there center roller pickups on both trucks, or just one?
Joe
Threaded screw in bulbs or bayonet (push against spring, 1/8th turn to lock)?
Thanks.
Joe Satnik
Joe,
Thanks for the quick response. There are single rollers on both ends. Bulbs are the bayonet type which have been cleaned with a light Emery cloth along with the rollers. I have three passenger cars and all three flicker but at different places on the track. When the cars are idle, all lights remain on. It's only when they are running do the lights flicker....and I might add they stay on mostly for about a second or two then flicker off for a split second, then back on again. I talked to a guy at my LHS and he said that is just typical for post war Lionel cars. Do you think Bachmann's conductive lube would help. I'm a bit leery about putting any lubrication in an electrical connection.
Bill,
Other than cleaning the track and wheels on your Lionel passenger cars, there is nothing to do, short of adding an extra center roller wheel. I did this to my pre war passenger cars, but it was expensive, sometimes as much as $15.00 a wheelset to get the extra roller wheel I wanted.
Be careful of current production center roller wheels by Lionel as the truck assemblies are made from cheep plastic and short out.
Lee F.
Maybe there should be a "HEP" line which connects all the cars with the bulbs. The only problem I can see with this is if the train crosses into a new block and the transformers are not phased.
Bill,
What number series Lionel cars or what number bulb is used in them?
Thanks.
Joe Satnik
Would going with LED's help?
The only thing that LED's will do is give you a different type of light, the Flicker still remains! :'(
May as well face it, the flicker is a way of life with model trains & passenger cars. You can try to eliminate it, with capacitors, but it will get very expensive per lighted car.
Lee F.
Dear Bill,
What road number(s) do you have on your post-war Lionel passenger car(s)?
Here's a long shot: Have you thought about taking the trucks off to clean them and apply conductive lube to the bolsters?
The only other way to improve grounding (if needed) would be to run a wire between the truck frame and the chassis.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
JP of Acton MA, USA writes,
Mr. Baker,
you might want to try installing disconnectable wire harnesses (like those made by Digital Dynamics or Micro Mark) between each passenger car, so when the cars go through short dead spots, like on some switches and crossovers, the lights should work with flicker-free operation
Ex. I have 2 MTH Railking subway sets. My layout consists of switches placed back to back, and when the train goes over those switches, the lights would flicker, and the powered car would stall. This problem was fixed by installing Digital Dynamics 2 pin disconnectable wire harnesses between car 1 and car 2, and between car 3 and car 4, with no harness between car 2 and car 3.
Sincerely: JP of Acton MA, USA
Dear JP,
Sounds like a nice solution.
A bit of caution, though.
If you have block wiring, your harness could send power to (jumper power into) a de-energized block.
This is not the best situation for an interlocked approach to an open lift bridge.
Hope this helps,
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Joe,
Great advice about cleaning the bolsters! There was a goodly amount of grunge on them. After cleaning the lights worked much better than before. There is an occasional dimming flicker but the lights stay on. I can live with that. I haven't bought any conductive lube yet but will do so my next visit to my LHS.
Thanks for the great advice.
Bill
Dear Bill,
Some saying about "a stopped clock being correct twice a day" comes to mind here...
You still haven't told me what road numbers or series of road numbers your cars are....
If I know that I can give more suggestions for less flicker...
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Joe,
I'm currently out of town and will give you the info when I return home. Thanks for your patience.
Bill
Joe,
I finally had the chance to get out to my train shed and check on the model names and numbers you requested. In my consist is number 2429 - Livingston, 2423 - Hillside and 2421- Maplewood. While out there I ran them for a few revolutions and the "dreaded flicker" has returned to two of them. One car, the 2423 - Hillside, still seems to illuminate ok with only slight flicker. Now why on this earth would all three work somewhat satisfactory about 2 weeks ago, but now two have returned to their flicker? My track is near new without any corrosion or rust. I am just as perplexed as I was before.
I await your advice.
Thanks, Bill
Hey, Bill,
Sorry to hear about the returned flicker.
I looked up the 2400 series and found that it takes #51 lamps.
Please put a passenger car alone near the end of a track (no bumper) and put power enough to see the light bulbs glow.
What happens to the lighting when you roll one truck off the end so there is only one truck touching the track?
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Joe,
I may have discovered the problem. But first let me address your suggestion. Since my layout is a multiple continuous loop with one segregated block, I set up a 9 foot section of straight track to conduct your experiment. When all cars are pushed by hand, all lights stayed on and no flicker. I pushed each car truck off the end of the track then reversed the car and did the same thing. In other words, power was conveyed through one truck. Then I put one of my engines on the track to do the same thing, and guess what......the flicker returned. The problem lies with the engine. There were the typical sparks emitting from the engine rollers. There, I think, lies the problem. Looking at all of my engines, they need a through cleaning and two need the rollers replaced. I have a Lionel F-3, two Alcos a SW-2 (I think) and a Lionel 4-6-2 Pacific. So my next project will be to rehabilitate my powere units. Unless you might have another suggestion I'll start my project but it will take some time. I'll let you know of my progress as time goes by.
Thanks again for your help and suggestions. If you remember in the earlier parts of this post, my LHS said it was just typical of Lionel and offered no other suggestions. That's why I love this Bachmann web site.
Thanks, Bill
Hey Bill,
Did your loco stumble as you saw the passenger car(s) flicker?
Good on you for taking the initiative to turn the passenger car around and test the other direction.
What I was trying to find out is if the 2400 series cars had 2 lamps, each wired to its own truck.
So, did both lamps stay lit, or did one go out when one of the trucks was off the track?
Another quick and dirty way to test pickup rollers without having to roll them off the track would be to put a 3" long piece of
electrical tape over a spot on your oval's center rail and run the trains over it.
If an engine stumbles, the pickup not on the tape is the bad one.
If you wanted a more robust tinplate dead-section test track, you could make one with a small straight section
(smaller than the distance between any unit's pick-up rollers) with an insulative pin on each end.
The live tracks on both sides of the dead section would have to be fed power, unless you have good electrical connections all the way around your oval.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
jklj