Interior Lighting for a RailSmith Passenger Car

[greenwizard88]

I got a Buffalo Rapids car from RailSmith. It's very nice and will fit into my Broadway Limited and City of LA trains nicely.

But, I'm at a loss on how to light it. I have two questions, if anyone has this car, or a similar one, and could help out.

1) Will this fit a Kato light kit, or am I on my own to light it? I notice that it has metal pieces that reach to the roof, I assume they're powered. What's the best way to stick a LED with a decoder in there? My go-to for Pennsy passenger is a 11-214 Kato Interior Lighting Kit Indirect Lighting, with a Kato light decoder, but it doesn't look like that will fit.

2) I recall riding in old Pullman cars similar to this one on Amtrak, and what stuck with me is that they had a blue night light in the rooms. Can anyone remind me what that light was, or refresh my memory about it in any way? If I'm going to wire a custom light job, I might as well as go all out... A good reference book that includes interior colors and lighting wouldn't be unappreciated either.

Here is a photo of the passenger car, more or less. https://www.trains.com/mrr/news-reviews/reviews/staff-reviews/railsmith-n-scale-tippecanoe-rapids-sleeper/

Thanks in advance.

[nickelplate759]

I remember the blue night lights.  Overnight coaches had them too.

[C855B]

The blue lights are nightlights. Amtrak still has them in sleepers.

[kscessandriver]

I've got a bunch of these cars, but I've never opened one up to see what would fit. Outside of a Kato lighting kit, the only thing that comes to mind was the Rapido kit, but again, not sure if it would fit. Didn't Lowell Smith start with Walthers tooling? What lighting did people use on those cars?

[peteski]

These (ex. Walthers) cars are equipped for picking up power for interior righting, but I don't recall Walthers offering a lighting kit specific to those cars or mentioning that they are compatible with any existing lighting kit.

At least the underframe has trucks which pick up power, Kato-like strips that connect them together and a pair of metal contacts on the inside to which any lighting kit can be connected. But some custom fitting of any of the existing will be required.

[CBQ Fan]

If you email Lowell he may have a suggestion. He has been very responsive to my requests in the past.

[OldEastRR]

These (ex. Walthers) cars are equipped for picking up power for interior righting, but I don't recall Walthers offering a lighting kit specific to those cars or mentioning that they are compatible with any existing lighting kit.

At least the underframe has trucks which pick up power, Kato-like strips that connect them together and a pair of metal contacts on the inside to which any lighting kit can be connected. But some custom fitting of any of the existing will be required.

Walthers did offer a add-on lighting kit, which was a little tricky to install. But there were some available for the Walthers car. I THINK they were LEDs.

[Altoona]

CD or DCC
DCC is easy, hardwire LED light strips with resistor already attached
DC use a rectifier hookup to the lLED ight strip

Judd Barton

[Nato]

        EZ PEZE Lighting from Rapido if I recall would work. The Blue Nightlights in sleeping cars were incorporated into the birth lights usually next to the births/beds in the cars  sections, roomettes, bedrooms. They had/have a roundish center globe, could be turned on as a white reading light or to a blue nightlight position. Upper births also had/ have these. A lighted sleeper might have a blue glow in one or two rooms if the window shade was up. I always thought this was a cool feature as a kid got my dad to buy a blue bulb to go in one of those nightlights you plugged into a wall socket to turn on at night in my room. Nate Goodman. (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[randgust]

I was going to say the same thing about the Rapido sets, I've got my entire passenger train equipped.   And the website shows them all out of stock.

If you do find them, two observations.  They will work with a standard off-the-shelf battery.  And, you may have to annually clean the battery terminals as they do corrode up over time.   I wouldn't recommend them in any car that can't be easily accessed by popping off the roof or the battery.   But MAN, do they look good.

[thomasjmdavis]

I think at one time the "easy-peasy" lights were available from more than 1 supplier (Rapido).

Checking the little sheet of instructions included with one of my cars, it says that Walthers N scale passenger cars are equipped with electrical contacts (which it is- little brass strips that fit into the underframe) and to use Walthers lighting kit 933-1099.  The search for which on Walthers site yields no results.  A google search took me to the Walthers L&N sleeper page (listed as "out of stock" and "discontinued").

Edit- NOTE: I am assuming (and we know how much trouble we can get into doing that) - the new Railsmith cars have the same electrical contact as the original Walthers cars did.  I have a Railsmith on order, but none in hand to check.

[peteski]

Edit- NOTE: I am assuming (and we know how much trouble we can get into doing that) - the new Railsmith cars have the same electrical contact as the original Walthers cars did.  I have a Railsmith on order, but none in hand to check.

They are just like Walthers cars -- that is what I mentioned in my earlier post.  Electrically that is (if I somehow was not clear enough).