# Con-Cor Passenger Car Lighting



## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I have Con-Cor passenger car sets and I am wondering if anyone else has installed lighting in this manufacturer's passenger cars.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I have found one source of LEDs and parts (wipers and wiring, screws, etc) that works out to about $39 per car if I do the install, about $60 per car if they do it. This is OK for one car I had in mind initially, but to light a couple of six-car sets, well, it would be cheaper to sell the Con-Cor cars and buy the same sets by Kato and use Kato light kits. Or do nothing, just continue selling off trains and hang onto the Kato sets and the one Con-Cor car I will get upgraded. This can be an expensive hobby, and I haven't gotten into building a real layout again yet.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I draw the line when upgrades and such become more than the car is worth…..the cost will never, ever be re-couped…..but, if doing such improvements pleases the owner, that is the only thing that matters….

It seldom pleases me, so I don’t do it….


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

It's a good point about holding improvements to rhe cost of a car. There's no way I could ever recoup the cost of a $60 improvement to a Con-Cor smoothside Amtrak observation car. Years ago I bought an Amtrak four-car Kato smoothside set, an add-on to a six-car Kato set. I couldn't find a Kato observation car, so I bought a Con-Cor version. Looked perfect with the Kato cars. Then I lighted the Kato cars. Probably a mistake. After I sell some more stuff I'll probably have that Con-Cor car lighted.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I don't think I'll light the Con-Cor NYC, SP Daylight or modern Amterak stuff, though. That would be $60 times about 22. Nope. I need to get rid of some more of this stuff.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

After examining several Con-Cor passenger cars, it appears they were not meant to be taken apart and were probably cemented together. I don't want to break the cars trying to get them apart to install lighting.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Some cautious work with a hobby knife would enable you to remove the shells. How much effort are you willing to expend on the upgrade?


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

pmcgurin said:


> After examining several Con-Cor passenger cars, it appears they were not meant to be taken apart and were probably cemented together. I don't want to break the cars trying to get them apart to install lighting.


So then abandon the idea, and maybe next time invest in cars that are made for lighting….


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I thought about trying to open the shell up to remove it from the chassis. That might be possible. An email from Richmond Controls, the lighting supplier, indicated that a hole would have to be drilled into the pin that holds the truck on. I saw this going beyond my skill level, and beyond what my eyes can see. The website indicates that they can install their lighting kits for $20. So the costs would be $34 for the lighting parts plus $20 for installation plus the cost of shipping to the company and back. Around $70 by my estimate. I am thinking about it, but, as someone else said, if the cost of an improvement exceeds the cost of the car, maybe not. The Con-Cor Amtrak observation car cost $10 back when I bought it.
What I have done is to put LED lighting in a Kato Amtrak business car and use that on the end of the four car Amtrak lighted set. It's not perfect but I already had the business car. I hadn't thought the cost of lighting the Con-Cor cars would run so high.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)




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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)




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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

So dies that mean you succeeded?


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

No, I gave up on lighting the Con-Cor cars for $60 each and put an LED Kato lighting kit in the Amtrak business car I already had. I had looked for a Kato Amtrak smoothside observation car off and on for about fifteen years, because you can put a light kit into that. They are out of production, though, and not apparently in the resale market. I can see now that, if you want lighted passenger cars, it only makes sense to buy rolling stock that has a built-in upgrade path. I could have bought the lighting kit for the Con-Cor observation car and then tried to open it up abd drill holes for wiring to wipers picking up power from the track via the wheels. Maybe ten years ago when I could better. What I really need to do is to build a layout and get the track off the picnic table. I set that up to test locos to sell all of it, but I found I liked running them too much. I sold the locos and ro;;ing stock I knew I wouldn't use, and there is more to sell. Takes up too much space in the basement in boxes and tubs. 

The layout plans and layout pics here have inspired me to want to build some kind of layout again. Thanks to all of you for that.


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