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Cheap LED lighting in MTH passenger cars - But is it too cheap? Model train lighting on a budget

dagryffyn hobby

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Cheap LED lighting in MTH passenger cars
But is it too cheap?

I was inspired to work on these cars after watching Sean’s video - he uses much nicer LEDs, but me being the frugal kinda guy I am, wanted to see if cheap Amazon LEDs would do the trick.
Check out my video to see the results.

Check out Sean’s video here: On The Workbench - Episode 2 - O Gauge Pas...
‪@SeansHobbyHouse‬

The LEDs I used:

Strip with 3 LEDs:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CJ9KZ4T/...

Strip with 300 LEDs:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075L4M9BJ/...

Single LEDs:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DW7NFXW/...

Hope you enjoy the video!
Please Subscribe, like, and comment!

Thanks for watching!

______________________________________________

Original song “Open” composed by James Kinne
Instagram @jameskinnemusic

https://www.jameskinnemusic.com

All music used with permission from the artist
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The legal stuffs:
I have no affiliation with Lionel, or anything else for that matter, and my repair methods are my own based on what has worked for me.
I am not a professional but a passionate hobbyist. Your results may vary. I am not responsible for any damage resulting from any repair method. I am here mostly to provide inspiration and insight.

You can do it, grab your tools and get to work!
______________________________________________
#dagryffyn #lioneltrains #ogauge

20 Comments

@Boscoed1 4 years ago

Dave, thanks for posting this 'how to." I couldn't figure out how to open a RailKing passenger car (Blu Comet) after removing the 4 screws on the bottom. You showed me hot that's done! Now, I
can add LED lighting and passengers with help from my Grandson...👍

@nickluzzi8767 1 month ago

Looks great .nice work.

@tinytowntrainstv 4 years ago

Bright lights are a good thing. We can't have passengers tripping, falling and suing the railroad! Okay, so there aren't any passengers, but now you are prepared in case there are any in the future! Well done, Dave! T4

@LiamKostick 4 years ago

The work you do to not only your layout but your trains is incredible! The LEDs in the passenger cars look awesome! Great video 👍

@baldypalmsrailroad 4 years ago

Nice add to the passenger cars Dave, to control the flicker you can add a small capacitor across the LED strips. A 100uF should do the trick. You could add a pot to trim the brightness a bit if you wanted to . We’ll done . 👍🚂

@josephholtrop5535 4 years ago

This channels great. Always something to learn from him. And he’s super helpful. Even if you’re not going to use his tips now, you’ll have the info for a later project.

@dyinghobbies 4 years ago

Great result! Ive done this on a few cars and it is an easy and economical way to add lighting.

@joeystrains 4 years ago

Looks great 👍. The more we save, the more trains we can buy, that's my policy 😁

@DavidAkridge-x2t 1 year ago

Thanks for another great video, Dave! I took notes from this video & I think these cars look really great & vintage style without the common Madison style look. I am sure you have given thought to adding further detail by adding passengers to some or all of these cars & I do hope that you will be putting out that video. Thanks for helping to keep this very fulfilling & awesome hobby alive & well! Thanks again & take care, Dave

@franciscoppola7368 4 years ago

They look good. I did the same thing with most of my passenger cars and cabooses. I used the same strip lighting butl the softer white….I like yours a little better

@FLRailroaddog 4 years ago

Great job Dave I did the same method to my passenger and subway sets. Thanks for another great video👍

@JDWorkshop-wn9tt 4 years ago

Just subscribed. I’ve been watching your channel recently. Good stuff! I want to play with LED mods but, don’t know where to start. Good info here! I was watching the 8300 steam set episode and, I too have that as my first set probably 1974. I got back in through my own kids interest years back. Post war, MPC, some pre-war, and some modern my kids have.

@NixCrossing 4 years ago

The cars look great! If you want to turn down the brightness, try that paint trick I do. Add a drop of yellow paint on the stranded LEDs. 🚂💨 awesome video as always!

@Coreyt1976 4 years ago

Great video Dave. The lights look good!

@petergulotta8183 4 years ago

Another nice job Dave, There’s nothing wrong with cheap!

@ozarkmidlandsouthernrailway 4 years ago

The cars look good , Dave. Another job well done! Bill B.

@noelsanjuan6969 4 years ago

Love the led lights I was going to do the same thing to my 611 j class passenger cars thank you for showing how to install the led have a good day

@timstrainroom8007 4 years ago

That was good to see. They don’t look too bright. Maybe better to go ahead and detail the insides with figures. The lighting looks good in my opinion. I working on getting the pics I mentioned to you done but I’ve been under the weather for the last couple of weeks so I’m behind getting things done. I’m just about caught up though. Have to throw down some track to run the units to send the pictures off. Take care Dave and as always, thanks for another fine video.

Tim.

@tomrogers5516 4 years ago

The lighting LED strips do make the lighting look more realistic than the older lighting, Dave. Saves on power, too. You could add people to the interior if you want to (I'm sure you know that) and it doesn't mean you have to have a lot of them. I think you took one of my past comments a little negatively, but I really thought that you've already fixed most of the terrain in place. Didn't know that it was still quite movable for access. My bad. Anyway, it's a common saying that a model train layout is never really done, it's always in progress!

@scpvrr 4 years ago

Dave, thanks for another great video. I, like you, am very <ahem> frugal in my hobby.

My wife watched your foam forming videos, and is now inspired how to landscape our layout. Nothing like a shared hobby.