N&W Caboose Lighting -or- When One Thing Leads to Another...

[Fluesheet]

2% Solution
While I was on this project, I wanted to solve the other 2 % flickering, which would require all wheel power pickup. At this point, the caboose is picking up one pole from two wheels on one truck, and the other with the two wheels on the other truck. To pickup power from the insulated side of each wheelset, I’d need to devise a wiper for the backside of the insulated wheel.

This would lead to obviously better lighting across dead spots such as frogs, but also better reliability over time as wheels and track conditions changed. Stumbling across the 1905 link in my previous post had already given me the idea to use Kadee centering springs, and it’s a good one.

Backside Wheel Wipers
This photo shows the three steps to create the additional wipers for the backside of the insulated wheels. From right to left:
- Stock Kadee #5 centering spring
- “Arms” bent and base of spring shortened
- Base drilled for a 1-72 screw (I may use an 0-80 next time).




Wiper with wire lead soldered on, drilled and tapped truck bolster, and shortened 1-72 screw (it had to be shortened to prevent contact with the wiper on the opposite side)




Fitting to the Caboose
The big problem was how to get the power from the wipers on one side to the kingpin on the other without having a mess of wires. Unfortunately, my caboose is sealed, so after weighing some options such as installing metal brake piping and rods/levers to carry current, I landed on the much simpler solution pictured below.

I glued .015” phosphor bronze wire alongside the center sill. One end of one wire is connected to wiper pictured above, the other end is soldered to a washer through which the kingpin screw passes on the opposite truck. This way, power picked up on either end enters the carbody in one place. No internal rewiring needed.





100% Success!
This last photo is mainly to display how the bent axle wiper looks installed. That arch in the middle was the key. The result is 100% flicker-free operation – and it did give me some ideas about how to do it better the next two times…..



The weird thing about this adventure? Not only am I still intending to light the cabooses under construction, and not only will they have the additional pickups described here, but I plan on adding the originally planned capacitors as well. I've got some of the work done, and it's a good learning opportunity for me.

Finally signing off,
Matt