ref lgb 29650 twin railcar set

p.williams

staying alive
when i bought one of these, i was very dissapointed to find out that the control car is only fitted with interior lights. although there are headlight lenses fitted at one end , these do not work.
has anyone successfully made the head/tail lights work, if so, how, please and where were the extra parts bought ?
 
Wow I had no idea, I'd be disappointed too, especially for what they cost (the original offering had two fully powered and lighted cars!, some with EAV in the olden days-alas I digress).

While I do not own your set-the last LGB made Wismar triebwagon set , I am pretty well versed with the anteaters. (identical but for its hood and bumper/luggage rack).

Here's what I recall. There is a plastic "v" shaped light conduit, which carries the light to the 2 lower lamp openings. The top roof lamp is lighted from behind using a light carrying bar from a bulb in the the roof light assembly in the passenger compartment and only lights white, running forward. The lower lights are lighted via the conduit.

This transparent conduits are the crux of the vehicle lighting. It is unique as far as I know among LGB models. There is no behind-the-lens-bulb. The bulbs sit in the chassis and shine upward or outward, as the case may be, via the conduits, in essence giving the lens illumination, but not really a 'beam'.

There are two 5 v red and white bulbs on each end of the vehicle, below the light conduit on each side of the inverted "v" , each pair of bulbs (white or red) being directionally lighted (ive not seen anything other than 5v, but on early ones, its possible they might have used 18 v, but I don't know). These shine into the conduit and transmit the light.

To answer your question, on the assumption you do not have the lighting board and are not simply missing the bulbs,
and may or may not have the conduits, I would find some warm white 5mm LEDS, with resistor and diodes that will take up to 20 volts or so-more if you run DCC, and simply hook them directly to the track pick up in the chassis-I don't run dcc so I don't know if this would work (flicker etc) , I run analogue , and when ive re-lighted, things are fine.

Or, less desirable in one way (fit into the existing light holes) you could find the 3mm red/white LEDs which are available for the obvious benefit of color changes-these LEDs are white on one polarity and red on the other-cooool!-but youl then need to find or fit a lens and position the LED to stay in position.

The real problem is the roof mounted light -you will need to run wires along the inside of the windshield pier (or someplace else) down into the chassis for power, or, most simple, wired off the roof light, using a diode for directional changes.

I suggest the 5mm LED as they will, I THINK< fit the existing lamp holes -LEDs can be cut flat to flush mount, but this will change the focus-it will be a wider spill if so trimmed (you can use rail nippers-works great)-if you leave them domed -you will get great pencil beams-if you don't cut and sand them down, you will have a very soft dispersed spill on the 'beam' or what's left of it, FYI.

To my knowledge the red/white color feature is not available in 5mm, only 3 mm-but you might check.
I have no other suggestion, (other than using the original board and inserting lamps, if this is indeed an option.

Otherwise, you 'could'......use my method and have double lamps at the low ends (ie add a hole and a bezel) and have the top roof light only lighted white in forward direction-less elegant and would irreversibly modify the model, (something which I try hard to avoid when 'improving' stuff). Or single roof lights, using the power from the overhead light , making them directional.

Another option might be to mount incandescent bulbs directly into the openings, and wire-but id be afraid you may likely melt the plastic if lighted brightly for too long-this is why I suggested LEDs-or you will need to think about some sort of insulating collar. Incandescents will get very hot. I have learned this the hard way. Trust me on this one.

You will need very long wire leads if you wire to the chassis or motor directly, if im not mistaken, to accommodate removing and replacing the shell ,etc
It sounds more complicated than it really is. The thing to do is source the LEDs and resistors and diodes and assemble them, then install,
I have done this on rail trucks and the 2090 and Schoemas and its worth the hour or two itll take you. LED light is quite powerful and nicely focused.
good luck, buy spares.

You ask where are the parts, I use Evan Designs lighting , a Denver based , US outfit, superb product and service (search the web site and look for ideas) -they have all this stuff ready to go.

im sorry if this isn't a help to you across the pond-with all the customs nonsense.
Perhaps someone else can give you a local source or EU source.
 
[size=12pt]
I wonder if one of the switches isn't in the correct position? I just checked the manual from the GBDB site, and here is what it says:​
This model has a four-way power​
control switch mounted under the​
floor of the railbus (Fig. 1, 2):​
Position 0: All power off​
Position 1: Power to lights​
Position 2: Power to lights and​
motor​
Position 3: Same as 2, but without​
taillights (factory preset)​
[/size]
[size=12pt]
Trailer:​
[/size]
[size=12pt]
This model has a four-way power​
control switch mounted under the​
floor of the trailer (Fig. 1, 3):​
Position 0: All power off​
Position 1: Power to lights (factory​
pre-set)​
Position 2: Same as 1​
Position 3: Same as 1, but without​
taillights
[/size]
 
the specs must have been changed, keith,
my control car instructions are :-
pos 0 = all power off
pos 1 = interior lighting on (factory preset)
pos 2 = see pos 1
pos 3 = see pos 1
there is no mention of working exterior control car lights.
the power connecting cable only supplies power to the interior lighting to the control car - there are no power connection to the wheels.
on my model, the 'pos 3 = power to motor and lights, however not to red rear end light (factory preset) refers to the power car.
however, lgb has covered it,s back -
on the rear cover of the instruction book it states the following :-
<"we reserve the right to make technical alterations without prior notice">
the answer to the problem might be that my model is of hungarian origin.
 
The entry on the LGB website for the 29650 makes no mention of the headlights:

http://www.lgb.com/en/products/narr...ww.lgb.com/en/products/narrow_gauge/sets.html < Link To http://www.lgb.com/en/pro...rrow_gauge%2Fsets.html

as opposed to the 29655 version, which does appear to have them:

http://www.lgb.com/en/products/narr...ww.lgb.com/en/products/narrow_gauge/sets.html < Link To http://www.lgb.com/en/pro...rrow_gauge%2Fsets.html

The phrase 'The headlights change over with the direction of travel' only appears in the second (later) version. Which does imply that you should at least be able to get the spares.
 
Hi I still have an lgb original two car set / lights + 2motors - mint -only sat in glass cabinet -for sale if any one is interested please pm me regards Dave
 
This set was bought new,pre-ordered after lgb announced it's reintroduction.i queried the lack of lights with the selling dealer-he was surprised as well.
I have looked on my lgb spares cd but can find neither this set or the pig nose model listed under any serial number
Obviously, if i could source a lighting board for one end, i should think it would be simply a matter of wiring in a supplimentary dcc controller,set to the same number as the power car to control the lighting.
Incidentally, the control car is unpowered
 
This set was bought new,pre-ordered after lgb announced it's reintroduction.i queried the lack of lights with the selling dealer-he was surprised as well.
I have looked on my lgb spares cd but can find neither this set or the pig nose model listed under any serial number
Obviously, if i could source a lighting board for one end, i should think it would be simply a matter of wiring in a supplimentary dcc controller,set to the same number as the power car to control the lighting.
Incidentally, the control car is unpowered ie no motor
 
Back
Top Bottom