Great tutorial! As a side note for consisting an Amtrak Train... Only in rare occasions does Amtrak run a P42 backwards in a consist at the head end. They are almost always run forward facing (elephant style). Only in push/pull, commuter or regional service where you might see a locomotive placed on each end of the train. Also, on long distance trains, you generally will see a Baggage coach on the end of the train if there is no dedicated baggage car or bag/dorm (Viewliner II). Exceptions to this would be trains like the Empire Builder that splits in Spokane where half heads to Seattle and half to Portland.
Wow, I had no idea that adding lights could be such an easy project! Thank you so much for sharing that information - it's definitely something that I'm eager to try out for myself. It's always so satisfying to take on a new project and see it come together, and I have a feeling that this one will be particularly rewarding. I'm really grateful to have learned this new skill, and I can't wait to put it into practice. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with me!
Another note: Amtrak generally runs the Coach cars with the lower seating area to the rear of the train. You should install your lighted markers on the end of the car that has the windows on the lower level (the seats do not easily turn in the lower level of the car and will always face forward, towards the door, for passenger comfort). A Baggage Coach (blanked out windows and large plug door) would also run with the plug door toward the rear of the train.
Great tutorial-thank you. I installed the Kato light kits in six cars following suggestions from a few other RUclips posts where they just lay the light defuser on top of the seats instead of installing it in the roof clips. I added a small piece of black electrical tape over the end of the defuser and top of the light PCB board. This directs more light down the defuser strip and adequately lights all of the car. The problem I ran into is that the metal contact strips in the PCB do not stay lined up with the copper strips as they are supposed to. The slot that the PCB board slides into, is too narrow and squeezes the contacts out the of sides of the slot. I’m going to try your technique of spreading out the contact strips of the PCB board and see if that makes better contact on mine. I have to say, for what Kato products cost-not cheap-you would think they would just install lighting in the factory…🤔
Thanks for the how to John. I agree that the LED strip does look nice and more even lighting, but you can see the components on the lower level. Nice job on the rear lights. I will have to give it a try. Take care. Sean.
thank you for this video. Ive recently gotten back into the hobby and have been looking for good tutorials on adding end marker lights. can't believe Kato skipped such an important part of prototypical operation for these cars.
Very clever use of the fiber optics. It has always surprised me that Kato did not offer a kit to do the marker lights. What I did on mine was to make the lenses from fiber optic then use leds and a red filter. I did not light the car interior and made my own circuit.
I installed the Kato Light kit on 3 cars yesterday. My observation is the Plastic light Diffuser on these cars has almost no tolerance for being in the wrong position. My first car went fine. The next two, when putting the shell back on, the diffuser would make contact with LED Light forcing it to point down and make light uneven. After looking at the one that had no problem under magnification I could see the Diffuser was a couple mm forward of the other two. I then carefully pushed the diffusers a little forward, too much though they loose contact with the locking tab on the windows, but there is a sweet spot were the difusser still locks in and is also forward enough that the LED Light fits into the small well where is points into the back of the diffuser. I have installed Kato Light kit on about a half dozen of Kato's different Passenger Car lines. This is the first time I saw this problem. I think they should re engineer the Locking tab on the cars window so it is a bit more forward. (Forward or Backward), guess that depends on how you hold the Car. Thanks for your great video. Down the track I might try the rear lights.
Oh my God you have no idea how bad I needed to see this video. I’ve been installing my lights wrong and I wasn’t exactly sure which and how many cars were on a long distance Amtrak train? Thank you for doing your research. I know now. I haven’t tried the lights in the back yet, but this is definitely a great video. Thank you for sharing. 👍😃
I don't mean to be predictable John, but I really appreciate this video. I have the two four packs of Kato Phase IV Amtrak Superliner cars and I've wanted to light them, but not having seen it done or having done one myself I was intimidated by the task. This video is very helpful and and I know it will be a great project. I look forward to seeing more of your entries on TSG. You know what set of videos you did that gave me a knot between my ears ? A 25 part SD40-2 super detailing in a Santa Fe yellow and blue freight scheme. I was really amused by your partner's explanation why the painted air filter up high on the body and just behind the engineer's side. On the prototype it was painted correctly with half blue and a curving swath of yellow, but some unthinking doofus installed it upside down. Either no cab personnel or yard workers noticed it or everyone thought it was a great bit of humor. Great bit of minutia.😁
Yes, I expect you could do something similar with just about any scale. If you do this with HO scale, you will need .040 outside diameter fiber optic strands.
Damn Cool John hope that's allowed because that's my Honest thoughts where can you get the Light pipe Strands hope at the hobby shop I want to use the Red strands if Available as for the Drill bits & drill got that just need the Kato Kits & I think if a person would add some NO OX ID to the contact tabs that come up from the Trucks the lights would flicker less or not at all because the NO OX would Guarantee a better flow of power I use that stuff on lots of my connections and its proven itself my inner yard has only power from the Main.. Back to lights do they cost allot John & if I can't get them at my local hobby shop where's the best place to get them! Thanks for the Video.. Allen D
Yes. It is a pretty fussy process and you might get tired of putting the shell on and off. I know I did. At some point it's just as good as you figure you're going to get it. I'm also seriously thinking about putting those warm filters on. Something about the 6000°K light seems a little too blue...
I don't quite see how that could work since the light bar in this case becomes part of the shell and the LED is part of the chassis/interior. I guess I'd have to see how someone managed that. Did they just not attach the light bar to the ceiling of the shell?
A company called Model Train Technology makes LED light kits for these cars which include capacitors to eliminate flicker as well as rear marker lights. But yes, these kits are more expensive than your solution but I thought I would mention them.
@@tsgmultimedia likewise, although this was an nice idea to add fiberoptic, to me I would add leds and fiberoptic just to make it little hidden away maybe a magnet switch Incase if the cars are switch
Hello I have led straps I want to use. Would it be possible to get your friend's schematic that used them? I'm refitting incandescent Rivarossa cars. Your video should help those using the Kato kits.
I hate to be a pain but I need just a bit more information. Do you know the values of the components? Im new to doing the wiring. You mentioned you Googled the wiring. Maybe you could direct me to where you found the information. I appreciate your time. I really want to get started. Thank you.
Some tips for a true modern LD Amtrak *Kato P42 Ph V scheme *Kato Viewliner 2 Baggage car *tint the windows on Superliners with Tamiya smoke tint TS-71
Great tutorial! As a side note for consisting an Amtrak Train... Only in rare occasions does Amtrak run a P42 backwards in a consist at the head end. They are almost always run forward facing (elephant style). Only in push/pull, commuter or regional service where you might see a locomotive placed on each end of the train. Also, on long distance trains, you generally will see a Baggage coach on the end of the train if there is no dedicated baggage car or bag/dorm (Viewliner II). Exceptions to this would be trains like the Empire Builder that splits in Spokane where half heads to Seattle and half to Portland.
I never knew it was very easy to add lights. Thanks for sharing, it’s a project I will be trying.
You can do it!
Thank you for the video. I appreciate the parts list too. Looking forward to lighting up my amtrak cars too.
Wow, I had no idea that adding lights could be such an easy project! Thank you so much for sharing that information - it's definitely something that I'm eager to try out for myself. It's always so satisfying to take on a new project and see it come together, and I have a feeling that this one will be particularly rewarding. I'm really grateful to have learned this new skill, and I can't wait to put it into practice. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with me!
You are so welcome!
That’s great information. I will use that. Thank You
The prototype videos have an interesting mix of locomotives to include the "normal" P42s and the dash 8-32bwh loco as well...pretty cool.
Another note: Amtrak generally runs the Coach cars with the lower seating area to the rear of the train. You should install your lighted markers on the end of the car that has the windows on the lower level (the seats do not easily turn in the lower level of the car and will always face forward, towards the door, for passenger comfort). A Baggage Coach (blanked out windows and large plug door) would also run with the plug door toward the rear of the train.
This was super helpful! Just got mine in today and was able to install them with no issues. Thanks!
Glad it helped!
Great tutorial-thank you. I installed the Kato light kits in six cars following suggestions from a few other RUclips posts where they just lay the light defuser on top of the seats instead of installing it in the roof clips. I added a small piece of black electrical tape over the end of the defuser and top of the light PCB board. This directs more light down the defuser strip and adequately lights all of the car. The problem I ran into is that the metal contact strips in the PCB do not stay lined up with the copper strips as they are supposed to. The slot that the PCB board slides into, is too narrow and squeezes the contacts out the of sides of the slot. I’m going to try your technique of spreading out the contact strips of the PCB board and see if that makes better contact on mine. I have to say, for what Kato products cost-not cheap-you would think they would just install lighting in the factory…🤔
Thanks for the how to John. I agree that the LED strip does look nice and more even lighting, but you can see the components on the lower level. Nice job on the rear lights. I will have to give it a try. Take care. Sean.
thank you for this video. Ive recently gotten back into the hobby and have been looking for good tutorials on adding end marker lights. can't believe Kato skipped such an important part of prototypical operation for these cars.
Glad it was helpful!
Very clever use of the fiber optics. It has always surprised me that Kato did not offer a kit to do the marker lights. What I did on mine was to make the lenses from fiber optic then use leds and a red filter. I did not light the car interior and made my own circuit.
I might try it next !!
You can do it!
Very awesome informational video thanks for sharing it😊
Glad you liked it!
Good solution on marker lights thanks for documenting it
Glad it was helpful!
This video was very informative. Thank you. Cheers!
I installed the Kato Light kit on 3 cars yesterday. My observation is the Plastic light Diffuser on these cars has almost no tolerance for being in the wrong position. My first car went fine. The next two, when putting the shell back on, the diffuser would make contact with LED Light forcing it to point down and make light uneven. After looking at the one that had no problem under magnification I could see the Diffuser was a couple mm forward of the other two. I then carefully pushed the diffusers a little forward, too much though they loose contact with the locking tab on the windows, but there is a sweet spot were the difusser still locks in and is also forward enough that the LED Light fits into the small well where is points into the back of the diffuser. I have installed Kato Light kit on about a half dozen of Kato's different Passenger Car lines. This is the first time I saw this problem. I think they should re engineer the Locking tab on the cars window so it is a bit more forward. (Forward or Backward), guess that depends on how you hold the Car. Thanks for your great video. Down the track I might try the rear lights.
You described the finicky positioning of the LED and light bar perfectly!
Oh my God you have no idea how bad I needed to see this video. I’ve been installing my lights wrong and I wasn’t exactly sure which and how many cars were on a long distance Amtrak train? Thank you for doing your research. I know now. I haven’t tried the lights in the back yet, but this is definitely a great video. Thank you for sharing. 👍😃
I don't mean to be predictable John, but I really appreciate this video. I have the two four packs of Kato Phase IV Amtrak Superliner cars and I've wanted to light them, but not having seen it done or having done one myself I was intimidated by the task. This video is very helpful and and I know it will be a great project. I look forward to seeing more of your entries on TSG. You know what set of videos you did that gave me a knot between my ears ? A 25 part SD40-2 super detailing in a Santa Fe yellow and blue freight scheme. I was really amused by your partner's explanation why the painted air filter up high on the body and just behind the engineer's side. On the prototype it was painted correctly with half blue and a curving swath of yellow, but some unthinking doofus installed it upside down. Either no cab personnel or yard workers noticed it or everyone thought it was a great bit of humor. Great bit of minutia.😁
Hope it comes out as smoothly as yours. My ditch lights n the p42 didn’t come out so well lol
Excellent video!
Oh man wow that is cool thanks
Smart idea! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Lovely
Great video
Terrific video AAAA
Nice job John I dont do N scale but would work for HO as well
Yes, I expect you could do something similar with just about any scale. If you do this with HO scale, you will need .040 outside diameter fiber optic strands.
@@tsgmultimedia thx
Damn Cool John hope that's allowed because that's my Honest thoughts where can you get the Light pipe Strands hope at the hobby shop I want to use the Red strands if Available as for the Drill bits & drill got that just need the Kato Kits & I think if a person would add some NO OX ID to the contact tabs that come up from the Trucks the lights would flicker less or not at all because the NO OX would Guarantee a better flow of power I use that stuff on lots of my connections and its proven itself my inner yard has only power from the Main..
Back to lights do they cost allot John & if I can't get them at my local hobby shop where's the best place to get them!
Thanks for the Video.. Allen D
Links to the products I used are in the description.
Make sure your led is right up to the light bar for best results
Yes. It is a pretty fussy process and you might get tired of putting the shell on and off. I know I did. At some point it's just as good as you figure you're going to get it. I'm also seriously thinking about putting those warm filters on. Something about the 6000°K light seems a little too blue...
@@tsgmultimedia saw a video ,he used electrical tape to join light bar to led then fit the shell over,haven't tried it but seemed to work nicely
I don't quite see how that could work since the light bar in this case becomes part of the shell and the LED is part of the chassis/interior. I guess I'd have to see how someone managed that. Did they just not attach the light bar to the ceiling of the shell?
@@tsgmultimedia exactly, left it on top of chassis then put shell on
Great job! Do the LEDs work with DCC power supply on the track?
The Kato light kits work on both DC and DCC power.
I wonder if another coat of the red would look better, or too red/too dim.....
A company called Model Train Technology makes LED light kits for these cars which include capacitors to eliminate flicker as well as rear marker lights. But yes, these kits are more expensive than your solution but I thought I would mention them.
Thanks
this is neat
Long time no see Sarge. Hope all's well.
@@tsgmultimedia likewise, although this was an nice idea to add fiberoptic, to me I would add leds and fiberoptic just to make it little hidden away maybe a magnet switch Incase if the cars are switch
Hello I have led straps I want to use. Would it be possible to get your friend's schematic that used them? I'm refitting incandescent Rivarossa cars.
Your video should help those using the Kato kits.
I found it again by searching on Google. It's three components. Bridge rectifier > capacitor(s) > resistor(s) > LED strip.
@TSG Multimedia Thanks so much. I got a really good deal on the full set of passenger cars. At least I think I did. $65. What do you think?
I hate to be a pain but I need just a bit more information. Do you know the values of the components? Im new to doing the wiring.
You mentioned you Googled the wiring. Maybe you could direct me to where you found the information. I appreciate your time. I really want to get started. Thank you.
Wow, wish I saw this a year ago……
Some tips for a true modern LD Amtrak
*Kato P42 Ph V scheme
*Kato Viewliner 2 Baggage car
*tint the windows on Superliners with Tamiya smoke tint TS-71