PRR Position Light Signal - Chapter 3

[nscaleSPF2]

Well, we finally let Verne out of the back room.  He was locked in there so long that we thought we lost him.  Here's what he was working on.



The above part is a little rough.  Hopefully, the remaining ones will be better.

This is the third chapter in my attempt to create a scale, lighted, PRR position light signal.  For those of you who want to retrace the journey, chapter 1 (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28968.0) describes the development of a Shapeways signal head that was lighted with hard wired LED's.  To be charitable, this solution was less than optimum because the hardwiring part was messy and time consuming.

Chapter 2 (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=36631.0) was intended to get rid of the hardwiring process.  The idea was to solder the LED's to a circuit board and attach the board to the rear of the Shapeways lens hood.  I got a lot of advice from several members of theRailwire in that thread (thanks guys), and here are the results.

The circuit board with the LED's already soldered in place is sandwiched between the Shapeways lens hoods and the eye brackets.



Like so:








Wires fed thru the hole in the mast, circuit board coated with epoxy and painted:



The circuit board is 0.4mm thick.  It was designed using Cadsoft Eagle software, which took a while to learn.  The boards were manufactured in China and cost $100. for 20 pieces.  I soldered the LED's and electrical leads to the boards.  I would rather not name the manufacturer of the boards, as this was an unpleasant experience, and would not use them again.

The Shapeways part had to be redesigned, as there was no way to use the old part.  While I was at it, I also shortened the lens hoods to make the LED's more visible, as I plan to use the signals to control traffic on the layout (thanks Michael Winicki.  Oh, and please don't tell me that this is not prototypical.  You can see a similar signal head here:   https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=39424).

[MichaelWinicki]

Very nice!

[jereising]

Well executed!  Good job!

[eric220]

Lookin' good! What's the word on price/availability?

[Lemosteam]

Hi @nscaleSPF2 , great comeback and an excellent solution!

What size LED are they? 0603?

I have had success with wiring wormholes in the RP, you could replace the mounting brackets with a part that includes the top of the post with cap and a pilot diameter to accept the brass tube and have the wires pass through the RP before entering the tube.  This would also minimize the risk of scratching the magnet wire on the brass tube.

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[Ed Kapuscinski]

zomg.

I'm going to need ones with lower heads too.

Sign me the F up!

[glakedylan]

oh, yes! this is fantatic
thanks
Gary

[eric220]

zomg.

I'm going to need ones with lower heads too.

Sign me the F up!

This too.

I think @Lemosteam has an excellent suggestion there! If I might make one refining suggestion on his design, make the RP mast tall enough to support the lower arm, even if there are no supports for a lower arm. That would make them useful by themselves as a mast for arms on a signal bridge.

https://goo.gl/images/xYurFW
https://goo.gl/images/SRk8yt
A particularly unusual installation: https://goo.gl/images/QDlqkR

You could still use brass tube to extend it and make a stand alone signal, and the two parts would make painting the two-tone scheme simpler. ( https://goo.gl/images/e1zP1R https://goo.gl/images/dVWcS8 )

[jmlaboda]

Great to see you have been able to make progress on this project!!!  Looks like we might yet be able to have some decent signals!!!

[chicken45]

THE RAILWIRE BRAINTRUST AT WORK!

[unittrain]

I'll take several too!!

[unittrain]

Just was thinking what about attaching the leds to a really thin say brass target and then run the wires to a circuit board under the layout table (it would possibly make the soldering easier and the target thinner) I dont know much about this though, but I do know I will definatley purchase these signals your developing they're looking really good.

[eric220]

@unittrain there are a couple of problems with that. First, there needs to be some kind of baffle between the LEDs or the light will bleed between them, obscuring the aspect. Second, in my experience with the Alkem signals, 9 wires is about the limit of what you can stuff down a brass tube.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

As I said, I'm definitely excited so that I can someday replace these...

[MichaelWinicki]

As I said, I'm definitely excited so that I can someday replace these...

Aren't the bottoms suppose to be silver?