how to turn off track powered lights

BEEF BOSS

BEEF BOSS

Registered
Country flag
Hello, just so you know, I have not bought a lighting system yet so im looking on G Scale Centeral for answers for some of my questions, with that out of the way, I was wondering if there was a way to turn off the lights in a coach that are powered by the rails, because in the daytime I dont want any lights on in any of my coaches, caboose, or any other rolling stock.

Thanks!
 
Hello Beef - I would just fit a small micro-toggle switch (or similar) in an out of the way place on each carriage and use it to switch the lights on/off as required.
Best regards, Graham.
 
BEEF BOSS said:
Hello, just so you know, I have not bought a lighting system yet so im looking on G Scale Centeral for answers for some of my questions, with that out of the way, I was wondering if there was a way to turn off the lights in a coach that are powered by the rails, because in the daytime I dont want any lights on in any of my coaches, caboose, or any other rolling stock.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Why turn them off, they would probably not be visible in daylight, and if they were, then maybe they should be on.
 
Agree with all the above, but just to add a few options.

LGB locos often have an external power socket to which you can plug their coach lighting kits. The advantage of this approach is you don't need metal wheels and power pickups on your coaches, downside is you have wires along the train. By default these loco power sockets are always on but you could put a toggle switch or reed switch in the loco as above.

Or if you have DCC you could reroute the power to the external power socket from a decoder function output. You could then switch the coach lighting on and off with a DCC throttle function button, or the loco lights button.

If you have DCC then an expensive option is to put a simple decoder into each coach then you can control the light to each coach individually.

Not necessarily recommending these options, just adding them for completeness. The simplest option is in post #2
 
BEEF BOSS said:
Hello, just so you know, I have not bought a lighting system yet so im looking on G Scale Centeral for answers for some of my questions, with that out of the way, I was wondering if there was a way to turn off the lights in a coach that are powered by the rails, because in the daytime I dont want any lights on in any of my coaches, caboose, or any other rolling stock.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I'm tempted to say that I wouldn't worry - in daytime you're probably unlikely to see that they're on :think::think:
 
I'd say yes fit a miniature slide switch or toggle switch somewhere underneath and unobtrusive, if the coach doesn't already have such a switch. I would rather not be drawing and wasting power for lights when there's no reason for them to be on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom