LEDs as Lionel Highway lights replacement bulbs

! After Brian Schindler mentioned it on the HRW forum, I

wanted to see whether it could be useful and advantageous to replace the light bulbs from a Lionel Highway Light with a white LED. They could work at lower voltage with less current, run "cold", and be much more resistant to all encounters on a track, being from flying cars or grabbing hands. In addition, Lionel replacement bulbs are tough to come by.

! The following is illustrated for the highway lights but would

work perfectly well for any of the yard lights and or floodlight towers that Lionel (or other brands) sell.

! The first step is to decide which LED to use. Here is a sample

of LEDs that are all bright enough, all are about $1.00 or less. They are found at www.superbrightleds.com. o White LED:

" Part number RL5-W6030 (5 mm diameter LED)

" Part number RL5-W2545 (3 mm diameter LED)

" Part number RL3-3030 (5 mm diameter LED) " Part number HF-2070 (5 mm diameter LED,

housing with a top lens) o You can easily also do the same thing with any of

their other LEDs, i.e. any color or flashing LED products.

! To wire an LED is very simple:

! Which resistor value to pick depends on which DC power supply is available for powering the lights. The following table will give you the value required for the resistor (in Ohms) for the LEDs listed above and for typical power supplies:

LED Vdiod Idiode (mA) Intensity (mcd) Angle (deg) Resistor at 5V Resistor at 9V Resistor at 12VRL5-W6030 3.4 30 6000 30 53 187 287RL5-W2545 3.5 30 2500 45 50 183 283RL3-W3030 3.6 20 3000 30 70 270 420HF-W2070 3.6 20 2000 70 70 270 420

! In case you do not have a power supply of either 5,9, or 12V or if you use another LED, use he following formula to calculate which resistor value to pick: Resistor = (Vsup - Vdiode in Volts)/(Idiode in Amps) where Vsup is your DC power supply voltage, Vdiod is the diode forward voltage as given in the table above, Idiode is the continuous DC current of the diode, and the calculated resistor value will be in Ohms.

! Once you have found the resistor value required, find at your

local electronics store (like Radio Shack) or any on-line supplier (like DigiKey) the nearest standard value which is just greater than the one you calculated or got from the table. For resistor standard value table see http://www.elexp.com/t_rescht.htm.

! Now let's assemble the stuff. You will need the LED you've selected, the resistor, some heat shrink tubing, a couple of wires (24 gauge or smaller), and your favorite soldering iron. Of course you'll need also a Lionel light fixture.

! First thread the two wires through the light fixture. Then cut about 1/2 inch of heat shrink tubing and put them on the wires on the side where the wires exit the light fixture at the top. Next solder the resistor on the LED directly, on either pin (you might consider cutting the pins of the LEDs a little).

! Next solder the two wires to the LED/Resistor, making sure the positive wire is connected to the longest pin of the LED.

! Next, place the heat shrink over the pins of the LEDs and using your wife hair dryer, shrink the things.

! Insert the Led as far as it will go into the light fixture and reassemble the cap of the light fixture.

! At this point, using a small pair of pliers angle the LED at about 45 degrees.

! That's it. Reading this will probably take more time than actually making it ☺

! Here are the results. On the left a regular Lionel light powered at 18V AC, on the right a Lionel light fixture with a RL3-W3030 at 5V. The LED light is much whiter and much brighter. Best results for this should be with the 5 mm LED I mentioned above, the W6030 will give you more light, the W2545 will give you a wider illumination angle.

! For an easy tutorial on LEDs see http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm

Last Update: 1/10/16 Drop me a note