Crossing Paths

Crossing Paths
Model Melbourne trams

Friday 25 September 2015

Lights are on.

The work at the moment is concentrating on structure lighting, on the junction module, the servo, the depot administration office and the terraces are now fitted with internal lighting. The old house is not far behind, but will be fitted with a quick connect plug and socket so I can remove the house for depot photos. I even knocked up a hills hoist.


Even the incinerator is illuminated
(The missus will be impressed with the washing on the line)

While the soldering iron was hot, other projects got a go, including an effort of interlocking tram signals for the depot, considering that for a tram to enter the depot, it has to 'bang road' against traffic coming from town and the depot. It involves the combination of a micro limit switch (point direction), a DPDT switch (car in/car out), plus some spare LEDs acting as a diode matrix, feeding a set of pole mounted modified LEDs fashioned to look like tramway 'T' lights, the concept seems to work and is waiting for the Soldering of lights festival beneath the modules.


Testing the 'brains' of the tramway signals.

 
Set against leaving the depot.
 
 
Set against through traffic,
 
 
with a repeater for traffic coming from the Ammo Factory.
 
 
Set against Depot entry.
 

The other episode of cauterised flesh is the lighting assembly for the interior of the depot shed, this features LEDs sourced from Christmas lights soldered along a strip of double sided copper clad PCB board together with some code 100 rail for uprights.  The other trick that I employed is insulating the lighting circuits from the contact wire by cutting gaps on the strips where the contact wire (code 80 Peco N gauge rail) is soldered to the PCB strip.  Bridging wire for the lights are soldered over the contact wire pads.

The concept of this arrangement is that the depot shed to be constructed from foam board, covered in brick paper, complete with a roof that can be 'plonked' over lighting rig/shed overhead, and removed on the occasion of a stalled tram, a dewired trolley pole or a tangled pantograph.

 
In the daylight.
 

The code 80 N scale rail with a wheel type trolley pole,
 


and with the slider type trolley pole.
 


then at night
.


"Let there be light"

The reason for the lack of posts at the moment is due to the bride tying up the internet connected laptop with her studies, leaving myself to compose posts on the tablet/smart phone in text form then uploading the photos for the posts when the laptop becomes available, this issue will cease about Cup week (early November) when her studies finish for the year.

From under the wires minus fingerprints,
Glenn.