I have been spending the last couple weeks installing lighting kits in my passenger cars.
At the moment I am doing an A4um-61 passenger wagen from set 43929. It is the modern 28cm variation.

The piece in the first picture is the brass plate that clips over the coupler pocket "wings" and hold it in place.
This is the original from the wagen.



But, because the "tails" on the brass plate are not wide enough, I must use the replacement plates included in set 7319. M is apparently aware that these must be replaced because the replacement plates are included in the current conducting coupler kit. For those who may not be familiar, the metal clip that fits into the coupler arm and conducts current from the coupler pocket to this plate will clear the narrow ends of the brass plate and fall out as the coupler pocket swings from side to side in a curve.

This is the replacement plate included in set 7319



As you can see, it is about .5mm narrower than the original plate. Now you're probably thinking no big deal, but you'd be wrong.

In this comparison photo with the replacement plate in front and the original in back, you will see that the difference in width is enough that the small plastic fingers molded into the wagen frame will not hold the plate in place as it is too narrow. The "saw tooth" in the original plate indicates the clearance for the finger molded into the wagen frame. As you can see, the replacement plate in front does not go wide enough to be captured under those fingers.



So, the metal clip in the coupler pocket pushes the plate up and out as seen in this picture.



So it is a royal PITA to assemble the coach when the plates keep coming out of place. The wagen interior will hold the plate down once installed, but I am not sure it will not move under service. You can not run a bead of hot glue down one side of the plate as the interior fits very close to the plate and the side of the frame. This then holds the interior up and prevents you from assembling the wagen. Super glue, if applied carefully would probably hold it, but then so well you could not take it apart to replace a broken coupler pocket.

How did they screw up something so simple?

You might want to avoid all these problems and use the Train-Tech lighting kits. They require no pickups, no special couplers, and no decoders. The LEDs come on when the Train starts to move and when it stops they go out after 4 minutes. I have some arriving today and I'm going to try them out on some of my coaches. If they work well I will use these as my first choice for all my coaches.

http://www.train-tech.co.../interior-coach-lighting

Hi guys,

I got to thinking later that this was not the first set of X4xx-61 28cm cars I have installed light kits. I also did the coaches in set 43969 and I have another same set in my dwindling "to do stack". I compared wagens from both sets. Once I was satisfied they were identical, I opened one of the coaches from set 43969 and found this:

The original plate in the A4um-61 coach from set 43969:



It is the right width. I also remember that it did not have a problem with the clip popping out of the coupler pocket at the travel end point.

So I did a back to back photo of the clip from set 43969 and set 43929. The tails are wide enough from set 43969 that you can use the clips provided in the set.



I have done about 65 wagens now and these are the only ones that have given me trouble. It looks like these wagens use a clip .5mm wider than the norm. The ease with which you will install a lighting kit depends solely on which clips they installed at the factory. I have no idea why these 28cm wagens would use a clip different from all the other wagens. There might be a way to order the ones you want, but I do not know how to determine the right part number of the two.

My hopes too, but they were dashed. These coaches use a slider that uses an offset or asymetric mounting point. There is a small amount of clearance between the truck and slider mounting post. Normally this isn't a problem, but the asymetric mounting point means the deflection at the far end of the slider is greater than a slider with a center mount point. So these are causing some trouble at my switches. I am removing the asymetric sliders and installing a symetrical mount sliders into the diner. The center mount sliders have been good as gold.

Hi Lasse,

I fitted them in my CIWLcoaches very successfully. They were extremely easy and quick to fit. Have a look in my coaches thread.

https://www.marklin-user...h-lights.aspx#post482280

Just a thought Matt, but with all the compromises necessary with the replacement plates, have you not considered soldering the wire to the too narrow tail of the originals of the 43929 ? I too have those sets and will want to light them, but I haven't had a look at the plates and their connector tails.

I suspect this is another "China Syndrome"