Kato interior lights & DCC

[westfalen]

Has anyone added the DCC decoder to any of their cars and if so, what kind of control do you get?

 

I think eventually I would to outfit my Super Chief and Daylight this way, but it is a very expensive conversion that is low on the priority list.

I've put the new Rapido Trains 'Easy Peasy' lighting kits into one of my Super Chief sets, they just drop straight in and as they are battery powered they don't care if your layout is DC or DCC, and there is absolutely no flicker from dirty track or wheels. You get a magnetic 'wand' to turn the lights in each car on and off. The observation and RPO will need one to be cut short to fit, but that should be no problem. I haven't tried these in any Japanese rolling stock yet, but give me time. Some more arrived yesterday so I will have to look into both.

 

BTW, are you aware that the Super Chief, Daylight and Broadway Ltd observation cars have a hidden slot underneath that accepts the Kato FL12 function decoder to control the tail lights (and backup light on the Super Chief). For some reason I have never seen any documentation anywhere from Kato about this.

[David]

Even in macro mode my camera does not want to take clear pictures of very small objects. I've scanned the instructions since those have diagrams of all the pieces - there is a section marked "Not for U.S. or European models" which seems to cover dissassembly but it's exclusively in Japanese.

[Bernard]

David - Thanks a lot. The photo and the directions explain everything.

[TaeOH]

Has anyone added the DCC decoder to any of their cars and if so, what kind of control do you get?

 

I think eventually I would to outfit my Super Chief and Daylight this way, but it is a very expensive conversion that is low on the priority list.

I've put the new Rapido Trains 'Easy Peasy' lighting kits into one of my Super Chief sets, they just drop straight in and as they are battery powered they don't care if your layout is DC or DCC, and there is absolutely no flicker from dirty track or wheels. You get a magnetic 'wand' to turn the lights in each car on and off. The observation and RPO will need one to be cut short to fit, but that should be no problem. I haven't tried these in any Japanese rolling stock yet, but give me time. Some more arrived yesterday so I will have to look into both.

 

BTW, are you aware that the Super Chief, Daylight and Broadway Ltd observation cars have a hidden slot underneath that accepts the Kato FL12 function decoder to control the tail lights (and backup light on the Super Chief). For some reason I have never seen any documentation anywhere from Kato about this.

 

I think did hear about the decoder for the tail lights, I was also hoping for a dimmer function with the regular decoders, because these cars are really bright on DCC.

 

Where did you get the Rapido lights sets? I would not mind trying a set out.

 

Thanks

[bill937ca]

 

Where did you get the Rapido lights sets? I would not mind trying a set out.

 

Thanks

 

Rapido is a Canadian company.    Here's their web site.

 

http://www.rapidotrains.com/light_n.html

[Bernard]

 

Where did you get the Rapido lights sets? I would not mind trying a set out.

 

Thanks

 

Rapido is a Canadian company.    Here's their web site.

 

http://www.rapidotrains.com/light_n.html

 

I can't find on the site how many light kits come in a set or is it 8.95 per light unit? (I hope not.)

[westfalen]

 

Where did you get the Rapido lights sets? I would not mind trying a set out.

 

Thanks

 

Rapido is a Canadian company.    Here's their web site.

 

http://www.rapidotrains.com/light_n.html

 

I can't find on the site how many light kits come in a set or is it 8.95 per light unit? (I hope not.)

I got mine from M.B. Klein but he only has six left after I got another 20. They seem to retail for around $5.99, there is only one kit per pack but you do get batteries and the magnetic wand with each kit. They could probably do it cheaper by selling bulk packs without the wand, I'm going to end up with about 30 of the things.