# Lionel #60 Trolley: Conversion to LED



## ErnestHouse (Sep 6, 2015)

The incandescent lamps are always warm and I like them a lot over LEDs. But the #60 trolley suffered serious leakage of light through the ceiling. Even with foil lining, the spot over the bulb glows. It's also weakly lit when running at a reasonable speed (10v on my incline). SO I decided to convert it to "Warm White LEDs" from http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com.

This is the BEFORE:








The trolley body has a molded headlamp on each end that is exactly the right size for a 5mm LED. A 13/64 drill is perfect. I recommend making a pilot hole with an awl to keep the bit from traveling ever so slightly from center. A little clean up of the hole and voila.








There are LED mounts that provide a nice surface for gluing the LED to the body. They also have male/female plugs for the LEDs so I could make the body fully detachable. I added a third LED in place of the incandescent to even out the lighting. I used wax to hold it in place.








The "Warm White" LEDs are not the nice warm orange color of incandescents. They are clearly more yellow. But for the #60 yellow Trolley with red roof, it's acceptable. For me it's a nice improvement and I'm certain the grandkids will love the wash of the headlights coursing through the layout.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That looks great! For the next conversion, consider yellow LED's, they get closer to the incandescent look. Also, for my headlights in something like this, I use Liquid Tape to totally black out the back of the LED so that the light only goes out where I intend it to.


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## ErnestHouse (Sep 6, 2015)

I'll try the yellow next time….in this case, I wanted as much light as possible inside the trolley so the light they emit out the back helps even out the light inside which is a good thing.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

What a total difference in the two lighting types!
The "after" is really nice. Almost a surrealistic look inside.
And the headlamps look realistic.


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## Todd Lopes (Nov 11, 2015)

Congrats on your conversion. Looks great!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I love the look of the headlights shining down the track, it's the first thing I noticed about my LED conversions. It's so different than the old incandescent bulbs, they look like real headlights.


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## ErnestHouse (Sep 6, 2015)

Here's a video of the before and after: https://youtu.be/QRnLJ6bBotM

Parts List:
(3) Warm White 5mm Universal Solid LEDs for transformers
(2) 5mm LED Mounting clips
(1) 4" Wired Connectors for LEDs
(1) LED Holding Wax
Glue
Heat Shrink


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Nicely done Earnest. Good how to video. Merry Christmas. :appl:


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## PatKn (Jul 14, 2015)

Nice Job Earnest. :thumbsup:


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> That looks great! For the next conversion, consider yellow LED's, they get closer to the incandescent look. Also, for my headlights in something like this, I use Liquid Tape to totally black out the back of the LED so that the light only goes out where I intend it to.



I use Play Doh to cover the back of my LEDs. It's easy to shape, easy to remove and I have LOTS of it.


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## L0stS0ul (Feb 6, 2015)

I've been thinking about doing the same modification to my Lionel 6-18419 Lionelville trolley. It looks like it's very similar to yours. Nice work.

Do you have any trouble with the switch mechanism? Mine has a lot of play in the geared shaft used to switch the pole around at the top. It sometimes gets jammed up and won't switch directions.


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## MOVL (Aug 23, 2015)

Nice conversion! I like the look of the warm white LEDs.


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## ErnestHouse (Sep 6, 2015)

L0stS0ul said:


> Do you have any trouble with the switch mechanism? Mine has a lot of play in the geared shaft used to switch the pole around at the top. It sometimes gets jammed up and won't switch directions.


I picked mine up on ebay a few months ago and the switch mechanism has been flawless. The shaft however, is a little sloppy and flips a little more than 180 degrees. I don't like the collector on the roof anyway.

I didn't say much about it but the tin foil really helps even out the lighting. I used double stick tape and heavy duty foil. Will see how long it lasts.


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

Nice conversion, Ernest. Think I may convert my #60 with LED's too.


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Dave Sams said:


> I use Play Doh to cover the back of my LEDs. It's easy to shape, easy to remove and I have LOTS of it.


...and I always thought "play dough" was the money we spent on trains! :laugh:


Greg


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## ErnestHouse (Sep 6, 2015)

I've posted this in video and Christmas threads but am adding it here showing the modification in action. I really like the headlight wash as it sweeps around corners both coming and going:


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## Volphin (Dec 7, 2015)

Wow that is a great video! Very well done sir!


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks Ernest for the great idea. I finished my conversion using your post....it came out great and I really like the added light it throws from the headlights to the track when I dim my layout lights!

-Pete


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## ErnestHouse (Sep 6, 2015)

BFI66 said:


> Thanks Ernest for the great idea. I finished my conversion using your post....it came out great and I really like the added light it throws from the headlights to the track when I dim my layout lights!
> 
> -Pete


Hey that's awesome Pete but no photo, it didn't happen. :laugh:

I found the "Warm White" to be yellowish which was actually really good for my yellow #60 but when I used that color elsewhere… not so great. What color LED did you use?


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

ErnestHouse said:


> Hey that's awesome Pete but no photo, it didn't happen. :laugh:
> 
> I found the "Warm White" to be yellowish which was actually really good for my yellow #60 but when I used that color elsewhere… not so great. What color LED did you use?


Hi Ernest, I have ordered LEDs from Evan Design in the past and felt as you the warm white would be best with the yellow trolley. White, I found to be a bit harsh. I was going to show a pic, but I ran into a bit of a problem. I am using the #60 Trolley with the bumpers and it seems that one of the LEDs couldn't handle the constant impact. I Rechecked my wiring but to no avail. The LED seems to be dead. I have reordered another set of the warm whites and hopefully the problem was just a defective LED.

By the way, when I hooked up the LEDs, I powered them from the positive and negative sides of the motor......just a quick drop of solder that way. Do you think that may have been the problem?

Even though I have had some initial problems, I do think the modification really adds to the 
Trolley, so thankyou for taking the time to post this idea!

Will post pics when I finally get the kinks worked out with the new LED's!

-Pete


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

BFI66 said:


> I am using the #60 Trolley with the bumpers and it seems that one of the LEDs couldn't handle the constant impact. I Rechecked my wiring but to no avail. The LED seems to be dead. I have reordered another set of the warm whites and hopefully the problem was just a defective LED.
> 
> By the way, when I hooked up the LEDs, I powered them from the positive and negative sides of the motor......just a quick drop of solder that way. Do you think that may have been the problem?
> -Pete


Pete

I have LEDs in my #60 Trolley and haven't had a problem with them blowing due to impact. I think there may be a wiring problem. Did you have a resistor in series with your LED? If you post a picture of the Trolley with the body off, someone may have some thoughts for your. BTW, you can buy LEDs and resistors on EBAY for pennies. 

Good Luck.


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Hi Dave, do not believe that is the problem....One of the reasons I buy my LED's from Evan Designs is that they are rated for track power (18volts AC) The resistor is prewired into it.
Never had a problem with them before but then again I Wired them up in static models. 

Out of the three LEDs I Wired into the trolley, only the one failed.

-Pete


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

LED bulbs should normally survive serious G-forces. I've seen quotes of 30K G in testing, though I don't know what type of LED. They're encapsulated in the clear epoxy shell, so any failure from vibration is probably simply a product defect of a failure of the external leads. I know I used a lot of LEDs in aerospace applications, and the vibration testing is a lot more severe than anything your trains will experience, and LED failure was never an issue. We did have instances of them not being properly bonded to the board and the leads would break from flexing...


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