Last year’s BANTRAK set up at the B&O museum made me realize it was time to do something about my Conrail caboose fleet’s lack of lighting. Luckily, Evan Designs products made resolving that problem a cinch.

Conrail’s standard for caboose marker lights was a blinking orange light. In many cases this was a simple battery powered construction flasher. To replicate this I used an Evan Designs “Slow Flash” LED. This LED has the flashing logic built in which meant that all I had to do was mount and power it.

Powering it is easy because Evan Designs also sells coin cell holders that are just small enough to fit in N scale cars. It’s also possible to get these with switches as well, making this a very easy project.  Here are the parts I used:

First I tested everything out to make sure I had it all figured out. Following manufacturer’s recommendations I didn’t even solder anything, instead just twisting wires together and taping them up to keep them secure.

My biggest struggle was how to handle the power switch. I really wanted a latching reed switch like the Easy Peasy lighting system uses but couldn’t easily find what I wanted. Luckily, after removing the weight from the car (which you have to to fit the battery in), I was able to find a spot on the floor of the car where the protruding switch would be hidden by an equipment box and the car’s center sill. It’s a tight space but I can easily turn the light on or off with one of my house keys when I need to. I used a drill bit and a file to make the opening and some CA to hold it in place.

I removed the car’s cast on light housing on one end and drilled a very small for the wires. I fished everything and then attached the LED with a tiny drop of LED.

The car is now a real attention getter in public and is especially handy when lighting is poor and you’ve got a busy layout with a bunch of other operators.