Lighting N-Scale Passenger Cars; two options compared

We often discuss the advantages of lighting out passenger cars, so I took the opportunity to compare two of the simplest "out of the box" options in two Chicago and North Western sleepers:


Kato vs Easy Peasy (ala Rapido Trains):

Both cars lighted with flash; a slightly better effect from the Kato car on the left...


Kato lit car:

The Kato lighting strip with approximately fourteen volts of power; roughly what you would expect on DCC


Rapido "Easy Peasy" lit car:

Barely visible in a couple of windows; no improvement is available...


Kato vs Rapido lit:

Both cars lit side by side; what you would see in the operation of the cars...


Both options use a similar method; LED lighting conducted through a clear plastic strip with bevelled areas to deflect light into the car. The Kato method uses track power conducted through the wheels. The Easy Peasy method is self-contained, and battery powered. The EP method is more reliable, as you don't black outs when you lose track power top the car. But since the power is collected off of every wheel, it is a limited problem, unless the track is dirty.


IMHO the Kato method wins, though I may look into a EP hybrid, with brighter, and more frequent, LEDS in a car or two.

A place for all that "Other Stuff"

In the coming weeks I'll be moving some of my advice projects from other locations to this one. Anything that doesn't fit perfectly into another place, such as locomotive conversions, coupler conversions, model "purifications", and structure projets will be featured.

Stay tuned...