The series # for all Atlas locomotives s/b printed on the outside of the box. I don't know what a series 1000 is for an RS-36, but if it has a series 10 000, and likely the golded white LED, the circuit board on that locomotive makes you crank the throttle to about a scale 70 mph to even see the light. I feel your pain.
One thing to consider is the bulkiness of the circuit you will build/buy. Manufacturer's like to put as much weight as possible and keep the circuit boards thin to fit everything under the shell. Maybe open up the locomotives and research the height of the circuits you will build to see if your radio shack components will fit. The aftermarket constant lighting circuit I bought for my old Athearn Blue Box gp38-2 did not. It was useless because of this.
BTW, The RS-36 has a funky two part shell that is not easily removed without a lot of patience and care. Its a two parter. You may want to remove the delicate handrails before you remove the shell because they can flex and snap if you're working the shell a lot.
The GP-38-2 shell is a one piece deal that just slides off after you remove the couplers and boxes. Much easier.
Lights coming on brightly at idle may be poor wording. In my case, the LEDs shine brightly with the very first initial dial off-of-zero of the throttle. It then takes about 15% of the throttle to get the locomotive to move on my Atlas RS-11/C424 modification. So, yes, the LED shines brightly long before the motor turns and the engine moves. Effectively, its at idle. I don't know if Atlas intended it to work this way, but it does, which is why I modified all of my Atlas locomotives to that circuit board set up. I just modified them to what I knew worked and didn't try to reinvent the wheel.
After 50 years of technological "improvements", what you think should be very simple, like a light (that you pay for) actually shining when the locomotive moves, is really not. Why, I don't know.
One thing to consider is the bulkiness of the circuit you will build/buy. Manufacturer's like to put as much weight as possible and keep the circuit boards thin to fit everything under the shell. Maybe open up the locomotives and research the height of the circuits you will build to see if your radio shack components will fit. The aftermarket constant lighting circuit I bought for my old Athearn Blue Box gp38-2 did not. It was useless because of this.
BTW, The RS-36 has a funky two part shell that is not easily removed without a lot of patience and care. Its a two parter. You may want to remove the delicate handrails before you remove the shell because they can flex and snap if you're working the shell a lot.
The GP-38-2 shell is a one piece deal that just slides off after you remove the couplers and boxes. Much easier.
Lights coming on brightly at idle may be poor wording. In my case, the LEDs shine brightly with the very first initial dial off-of-zero of the throttle. It then takes about 15% of the throttle to get the locomotive to move on my Atlas RS-11/C424 modification. So, yes, the LED shines brightly long before the motor turns and the engine moves. Effectively, its at idle. I don't know if Atlas intended it to work this way, but it does, which is why I modified all of my Atlas locomotives to that circuit board set up. I just modified them to what I knew worked and didn't try to reinvent the wheel.
After 50 years of technological "improvements", what you think should be very simple, like a light (that you pay for) actually shining when the locomotive moves, is really not. Why, I don't know.
but I noticed the guy on the bay who routinely sells Atlas parts is selling the item I'm talking about, complete with resistors and simple dummy plug, IF the photo can be believed.
(no joke! my washing machine shakes the whole house!)
