Model Railroader – September 2019

September 2019 39

What do you do with a finished
model railroad? My 25 x 37-foot HO
scale Virginia & Western RR (V&W),
most recently featured in Model Railroad
Planning 2017, has been complete for
several years. During that time, I’ve
focused on sharing the railroad through
regular operating sessions. My friend
Steve King guided the initial sessions
with his introduction to timetable-train-
order operation (TTTO) and other sug-
gestions. After a few bumpy starts, V&W
operating sessions evolved into an
enjoyable three to four hours of friends
running trains.
However, being a builder at heart,
I had to find a new area to explore. I’ve
operated on many model railroads that
follow one of two approaches to model-
ing the time of day. The first approach
uses the same time of day for every oper-
ating session. The second approach uses
a 24-hour, around-the-clock schedule
where a new session starts at the point
when the last session stopped.
In this latter approach it’s incumbent
upon each crew member to remember

whether he or she is operating at

2 o’clock in the afternoon or in the

wee hours of the morning. I thought

about using this approach for the V&W

and actually darkening the train room

to simulate the third trick (night shift in

railroad jargon). I would also need to

light the trains, structures, and other

details on the V&W. Follow along as

I describe how I prepared my layout

for nighttime operation.

Train preparation

For night running, it’s imperative to

know where the front and rear of each

train is. Most locomotive models have

operating headlights to mark the front of

the train, but few caboose or passenger

car models come equipped with operat-

ing marker lights to indicate the rear of

the train. For my cars I installed warm

white 3mm LEDs for interior lighting

and Tomar Industries light-emitting

diode (LED) markers, as shown in photo

❶. The markers display red to the rear

and yellow to the sides.

I run the V&W with Digital

Command Control (DCC), which also

provides a constant voltage for powering

rolling stock lights through contact

between the rails and metal wheels.

However, flickering can occur from

interruptions in wheel-to-rail contact.

Electrical circuits are now available

that use supercapacitors to provide

uninterrupted power to light-emitting

diodes (LEDs). [This technology has also

been used in many recent locomotive

models equipped with “stay-alive” cir-

cuits. – Ed.] The circuits are small

enough to fit into HO cabooses and pas-

senger cars. These circuits reduce track

power to 2.5V or less, so that a small

capacitor (1 Farad or less) is all that’s

needed for continuous power. I studied

circuits used by a few model manufac-

turers, then made my own circuit boards.

[Ready-made, supercapacitor-equipped

marker light boards are available, such

as those from Richmond Controls,

http://www.richmondcontrols.com. – Ed.]

Next, I had to modify the car trucks

to pick up track power. Some of my

❷ Caboose modifications. Doug

made supercapacitor boards to keep

caboose lights from flickering. He used

Kadee trucks equipped with track

power pickups on many of his models.

❸ Multi-room lighting. Doug installs

lights in individual rooms rather than

relying on a single light source. The LEDs

are wired in parallel so that if one fails,

the entire building doesn’t go dark.

Leads

bent into

gooseneck

Kadee power-pickup caboose trucks

Supercapacitor

Circuit

board

❶ Markers and interior lights. The Night Owl makes an evening stop at Falls

Church. Doug installed Tomar Industries markers on observation cars and cabooses

and used warm white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for car interiors. Paul J. Dolkos photo