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oldelpa

Member
Gotta couple of questions for my modeling betters. My grandson in trying to get 3 of my engines to have better headlights replaced what was there with diodes (?) and left off the electronics that were there. Is there a fix for this? I don't know where the electronics are (old Atlas and LifeLike Proto 2000 engines bought 30 yrs ago). The engines wink at the turnouts etc. Is there a capacitor or something that can be installed?
Speaking of turnouts....my layout has all Atlas Custom Line turnouts (10), which I understand are not the best, and I'd like to slowly replace with something better. Will these turnouts interfere with other brands if I mix and match for awhile? I'm on a fixed budget so costs are important. TKS Tom
 
You'll need a 500 ohm resistor, this is DC right? Also, to get it to work in when the polarity changes is going to require some diodes. I'll fool with this and get back to you. Most likely someone here has the proper solution.
 
Tom - I have over 115 Atlas Custom Line turnouts, and I have only experienced performance issues with a small handful. There are others that look more prototypical, but unless you are having issues with them, why change them? If you find others with the same geometry and code (height), mixing won't be an issue.
 
I would keep the Atlas turnouts unless one of them breaks somehow. Like Willie, I use Atlas turnouts and they function quite well. Be aware that the geometry of other brands of turnouts will not match that of the Atlas turnouts.
 
oldelpa said:
Gotta couple of questions for my modeling betters. My grandson in trying to get 3 of my engines to have better headlights replaced what was there with diodes (?) and left off the electronics that were there. Is there a fix for this? I don't know where the electronics are (old Atlas and LifeLike Proto 2000 engines bought 30 yrs ago). The engines wink at the turnouts etc. Is there a capacitor or something that can be installed?
Speaking of turnouts....my layout has all Atlas Custom Line turnouts (10), which I understand are not the best, and I'd like to slowly replace with something better. Will these turnouts interfere with other brands if I mix and match for awhile? I'm on a fixed budget so costs are important. TKS Tom
Click to expand...
For the leds , you need a 1 amp bridge rectifier and a 1000uf 25v capacitor. Connect the AC terminals of the bridge to the track power and the DC terminals to the capacitor . Make sure the polarity is correct. Then connect the leds to the capacitor with a 1k ohm resistor for each led. You could also use a led driver such as NSI50010YT1G which would limit the current to 10ma regardless of the voltage. The led driver is the black device in the photo. It must be installed properly or it will not current limit.
 

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oldelpa said:
My grandson in trying to get 3 of my engines to have better headlights replaced what was there with diodes (?) and left off the electronics that were there. Is there a fix for this? The engines wink at the turnouts etc. Is there a capacitor or something that can be installed?
Click to expand...
The short answer is to fix the winking, yes, especially with light emitting diodes. Are you saying they didn't flicker when they were straight bulbs? We would need a wiring diagram of how your grandson did this to be able to say exactly how.
oldelpa said:
Speaking of turnouts....my layout has all Atlas Custom Line turnouts (10), which I understand are not the best, and I'd like to slowly replace with something better. Will these turnouts interfere with other brands if I mix and match for awhile?
Click to expand...
What problems are you having with the turnouts? Just the winking lights you mentioned above? I've used Atlas Custom Line for decades with very few problems. Other brands are Walthers, Peco, and MicroEngineering. Several versions of those brands have hot frogs, so you need to be prepared for the extra wiring involved, or be certain to buy the ones with insulated frogs. I've heard of people reworking all those brands in various ways too in order to make "them bullet" proof. Way to much work for me.

But for your base question, you should be able to mix and match all of the various brands based on rail height and width. BUT one should mention the Atlas #4 custom line is closer to a #5 turnout if you are tying to do a drop in replacement. A straight #4 will be too tight.
 
I had Shinohara turnouts and Atlas. Shinoharas were of poor quality as far as my opinion of them. Got rid of them and installed Atlas. No more problems.
Mike CGW
 
Yeah, I was thinking of going with Walthers.....but boy are they expessive. I'll stick with the Atlas. Anybody know what the electronics were for in the old Atlas and LL proto 2000 engines. Directional lighting maybe? I thought I read that the engines came with a small capacitor so the lights wouldn't blink and the engine wouldn't stutter? I guess if they don't blink real bad and don't stutter why worry! o_O
 
oldelpa said:
Yeah, I was thinking of going with Walthers.....but boy are they expessive. I'll stick with the Atlas. Anybody know what the electronics were for in the old Atlas and LL proto 2000 engines. Directional lighting maybe? I thought I read that the engines came with a small capacitor so the lights wouldn't blink and the engine wouldn't stutter? I guess if they don't blink real bad and don't stutter why worry! o_O
Click to expand...
I've seen somewhere on the forum where a member made their own lighting unit using a capacitor to eliminate the flickering, but I can't find it.

I'm sure you can buy lighting boards that are drop in replacements for most locomotives.
 
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