LED Lights for 00

I would like to fit on my layout some LED signal lights, but I am not sure what to use, such as the combination of lights on points and where to use them. I am building a layout dated around 1980's. I would also like to scratch build, so any help on what LED's to use and the size.

Reply to
Paul
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3mm diameter LEDs fitted into brass or Plastruct tube built signals is about as easy as it gets. You need a resistor for every LED, possibly different values on each colour to get the brightnesses equal.

Add an accessory switch to a Peco pointmotor and you could make basic red/green or red/yellow signals that show when turnouts are set for a given track. You can either use a double pole switch for track sections or make a relay from a Peco point motor and add-on accessory switch to drive the signal.

Those options don't give precisely realistic signal operation but they do give useful indications for operators. You can use multiple accessory switches for more realistic indications: eg for a station platform track the 'green' could be wired through both the point accessory switch and the block section switch, so that with the turnout wrongly set the 'red' LED is always on and the 'green' can only come on when the turnout and block switch are correctly set. If you have a station throat of say six turnouts then the 'green' feed can go through all of them. That does leave the possibility of both 'red' and 'green' aspects being on on the same signal when the turnouts are wrongly set but the section switch is on - that's something you want to know about as the operator! Three (or four) aspect signals 'red/green/amber' look more like the prototype, and the 'amber' LED can be wired to the 'red' LED of the next signal beyond. Wire for what will quickly become a 'birdsnest' can be cheap telephone wire. This comes (in New Zealand anyway) in 24 and 48 wire bundles in a grey plastic sheath and can be picked up at business building demolition sites etc etc. Colourcode and stick a label on each wire! Making your signals operate to railway rules is entirely possible, but do it the easy way first.

A word of warning - this can develop into a whole new hobby with the model railway existing only to operate the signals :-)

Greg.P.

Reply to
Greg Procter

Knightwing make some nice mouldings to make varies multi-aspect signals that you can up and add your own lighting. For automatic operatation you might want to think about train detection as well.

Chris

Reply to
Chris

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