Adding power pickups to coaches, vans and wagons?

[KeithMacdonald]

Does the collective wisdom have any advice on the best ways of adding power pickups to coaches, vans and wagons?

 

Assuming they have metal wheels that power can be transferred through. I'm thinking of starting with adding 12V micro LEDs to light the interior of coaches. Starting with coaches because they have more space inside and I'm cack-handed.

[Theakerr]

look at DCC concepts.  They have a spring type that goes over the axles- I did not find these very good, but others have had success.  They also have a unit that I use extensively on my tender locos.   I used to build my own but since DCC have brought out their unit I dont bother anymore.  No connection with DCC

[ColinK]

I've recently fitted lights to my coaches, most of which are Bachmann Mk2, plus a few Mk1s and a couple of Hornby.

 

I was planning to fit pickups and use track power, but when I tried I found it was difficult.  The main problem being that there is a mechanism between the bogie and coach floor which enables the coupling to move on curves, this gets in the way of feeding wires from the pick-ups into the coach.  Instead I opted for battery powered lighting using kits from Layouts4u.  These were easy to fit and if you follow their instructions (there is a good video on their website) the battery goes inside the coach body.  I turn the lights on and off by waving a magnet over the coach roof and having a latching reed switch between battery and LEDs; you could fit a switch instead). The bodies of the Bachmann Mk2s are easy to remove to change the battery which shouldn't be too often.

 

However, on the Bachmann Mk1s, the body is difficult to remove and not something you would want to do to change a battery. For these coaches I again used the Layouts4u lighting kit, but I used smaller batteries (they will not last as long) which I've fitted underneath so they can be changed easily.

 

One Hornby coach already had pickups fitted and I used a track power coach lighting kit again from Layouts4u wired to them.  However, with track power the lights can flicker when going over a rail joint, bit of dirty rail etc. Therefore I added a 'stay alive and dimmer' unit into the circuit which increases the cost. It works fine but I think battery power is easier and cheaper.

 

If you use my methods, do get in touch as I've found what I think is a better way of fitting the LEDs inside the coach.

 

Another method is to have a bigger battery hidden eg in the guards compartment, and link the coaches together with small plugs & sockets - I haven't tried that.

 

I've no connection with Layouts4u other than as a happy customer. Hope this helps.

 

[ColinK]

Following on from my previous post, here are some pictures.

 

 

Rather than glue the LED strips to the inside of the coach roofs (where you would probably melt the roof if you had to resolder a joint) I’ve mounted them on coffee stirrers which are glued to the coach partitions.

 

For compartments I’ve split the LED strip and addled little jumper wires so there is a light in each compartment.

 

 

Here you can see the smaller battery in its holder fixed under the coach floor so it is easily replaced.

 

Hope these help.