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nyc caboose marker light - intermountain bay window 

This is the sixth of several different how-to articles with detailed photos and instructions for installing marker lights in a variety of N Scale cabooses.   

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These projects all started with the discovery of Layouts4U, a great model railroad supplier in England, offering complete caboose lighting kits at very reasonable prices. I highly recommend their products and service.

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​I opted for their magnetic latching reed switches with onboard battery (top left), which allow for simple installation and easy on-off activation with a magnetic wand.

lighting kits
NYC Caboose disassembly

I disassembled the Intermountain caboose by removing two pins from the bottom of each end railing and separating the body from the chassis (top right). I then drilled a hole in the top right end of the end wall and inserted the LED wire... but it never came into the car body! Which led to the discovery that there was a roof assembly cleverly attached to the top of the car body with eight pins. Once that assembly was removed, I found my wire and marked the parts with a "B" to ensure reassembly would match disassembly. I had to then drill a hole through the top of the car body to allow the LED wire to pass through. As with my Conrail caboose project, research revealed that the NYC also used marker lights at the right rear side suspended under the roof by semi-circular mounting plates. This was replicated by gluing the LED into a small piece of styrene and then sanding the styrene into shape. To route the wires, I cut notches into the top of the end wall on the car body and in the underside of the roof mounting rib (center right).

NYC Caboose parts

Once the roof and wiring challenges were resolved, I mounted the reed switch to the underside of the interior car body ceiling with CA and tucked the battery holder up against the end wall so it would not be visible on top of the car weights in the center of the body. Replace the body on the frame, and simply passing a magnet over the caboose will operate the marker light at your discretion.

NYC logo
NYC Caboose
NYC Caboose marler lights

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