The first step is to cut the lighting strip into 3 sections for the upper level:
As described previously, I made all the connections across the 3 sections:
Time for a quick test:
For the connections to the lower level, I decided to use connectors instead of longer soldered wires. It's a bit of a test since it would be more convenient, but the wires and connectors take more space, so potentially more visible from the exterior. Also, in my previous post, I used the very thin wires, but one of them actually broke from the soldering ...
In my previous attempt, I managed to only use double-sided tape to position the lighting strip on the lower level. This time around, it turned out to be more difficult, likely because of the larger wires soldered on the strip. I found myself to use super glue ... not ideal!
After a full day to cure, the result seems acceptable - obviously hoping I will never have to change it ...
Connecting the connectors was easy on one side and a bit more challenging on the other side. I should have left a bit more length to make the connection easier.
So, everything seems to work. Time to close up everything! And here, I got two issues:
It's still very tight on the upper level with the wires and the seats. I had to remove one of the seats from the ends where there are 3 seats next to each other. I doubt we'll be able to see anything from the exterior
On each end, we can see a big plastic rectangle - probably toilers and something else. Those actually go up all the way to the ceiling and were pushing against the lighting strip. So I could either move the strip or whittle down this plastic block a little bit. I chose that option 😁
After updating the decoder configuration, it's done and working. Quite happy with the outcome since we cannot really see any of the wires or connectors:
Now that I removed the previous LED strip, I can focus on the ESU strip. I start with the intermediary car; it's the easiest since there is no cabin or decoder. A full ESU strip and a shorter one with 6 LEDs would work well for both levels:
I follow one of my previous post to connect the "full" strip with the shorter one:
And it works nicely!
Time to install those into the car:
Everything looks great for the lower level, but on the upper level, the lighting strip in the middle section actually stands too low as it is at the seat level. 😓
I'd need to cut the "full" strip into three sections so that it follows each level of the ceiling. More wiring ....
A quick add-on to my previous post … For the middle car, the interior is somewhat symmetrical, but the exterior body and coupling are different on each side. It is therefore important to know which side goes where.
I found this picture that shows exactly what I need:
While looking for the pictures above, I came across a great video on Instagram:
Besides the correct orientation of the intermediary car, it shows that the interior light is more on the "yellow" color.