The Very Last White River and Northern Railroad

[DKS]

They would be synchronized with the air moved by the ceiling fans.  Duh.

Back to work!

Lee

I actually tried adding flicker circuits to all of the table candles, and it didn't look good. @VonRyan agreed. What I did that looked good was add a little orange tint to the LEDs.

Maybe famed trombone trio Tom Mann and his Menn can record something for this.

I'll have to hear some of this first...

[wm3798]

Someone else will have to dig up video.



As I recall, their greatest hit was "Nathan 3 Chime Horn, with Doppler"

Lee

[DKS]

As I recall, their greatest hit was "Nathan 3 Chime Horn, with Doppler"

I'll have to give my monitor a good scrubbing after spraying it with soda...

Anyway, today I solved a special effects problem. I'd wanted to add fireflies to the layout, which I haven't done since the White River and Northern II (circa early 1980s). It went like this: I inserted a few hundred fiber optic strands in a field made from thin foam rubber; the fibers stuck out of the ground like weeds, and I painted them green, then I filled in around them with other vegetation. The other end of the fibers were connected to a mechanism that slowly moved yellow-green lights past the fibers. The result was strikingly realistic, and I've wanted to reproduce the effect ever since. Now I may have the chance...

Below is an ancient print of the field after planting the fibers but before adding the vegetation.



And here is the mechanism. I used the same device to make a campfire effect as well, which I may one day also reproduce. The copper-colored discs contain colored lights, and rotate within the black frames, which holds the fibers in a flat ring around the discs. The device was quite complex: each disc contained several layers of lights, which would come on in sequence to make it appear the fireflies were growing in number.



For my new version, I've devised an all-electronic solution. Several Christmases ago, after the season ended, I found a slew of "falling star" effect icicle lights on sale for dirt cheap, so I bought out two stores' worth and dismantled them (below left), thinking I'd use them for a fireworks display I'd never built. Around the same time, I'd stockpiled hundreds of yellow-green 3mm LEDs (below right) I'd intended to use for a 1:1 rock garden display I'd never built. Fast-forward to today, and I'm seeing all of this as the perfect way to make a "solid state" 1:160 animated firefly effect, since they blink on and then fade out gently, with a nice delay before the sequence repeats.

   

   

Each unit (above left) is relatively easy to dismantle and break down to its core component: a PC board with all of the electronics. Within a few minutes, I had a bunch of my yellow-green LEDs wired up to a board and winking away (above right). It'll be tedious building dozens of these units and then bonding a few hundred fiber optics to the LEDs, but if I do a few a night...

[wm3798]

Does each unit provide a series of "winks" or does the unit wink all 8 LEDs at the same frequency, thus requiring several units to get the desired effect?

Also curious how much acreage you're going to dedicate to this marvelous effect? 

This will be a zen masterpiece. 

Lee

[DKS]

Does each unit provide a series of "winks" or does the unit wink all 8 LEDs at the same frequency, thus requiring several units to get the desired effect?

Also curious how much acreage you're going to dedicate to this marvelous effect? 

This will be a zen masterpiece. 

Lee

Each unit provides a series of seven winks in sequence, followed by a delay, then repeat. With a couple dozen units going, the winks will quickly become randomized, thus achieving an effect similar to the original device. Currently, the plan is to populate the areas tinted in green, below, although I may add more areas in the future depending on how many of these units I can stand to make, and how effective they are.

[wm3798]

That's a LOT of fireflies!  I'd probably settle for 2 or three units and settle for maybe a little less random.  But I'm a slacker.


Lee

[peteski]

I would give DKS a thumbs-up for another clever re-purposing of a Christmas-lights closeout item, but I ran out of thumbs long time ago.  So I have to settle on a banner image instead.  Thanks DKS!

[DKS]

As a final touch, I'll connect all of the flicker units to the odd-looking contraption below, which I built around 1998 for the White River & Northern IV to control building lights across the layout. It's a 20-channel photo-sensitive relay bank; each photocell reacts to environmental lighting a little differently, so as the ambient light in a room dims, circuits are triggered in a pseudo-random nature. In this new application, it will bring the fireflies "online" gradually.

[wm3798]

I'd like to see you explain THAT to a TSA agent...

[DKS]

But I'm a slacker.

And I'm a glutton for punishment. (Also retired, so heck, what else have I got to do?)

I'd like to see you explain THAT to a TSA agent...

Heck, some of the bizarre model animation stuff I've built over the years I'm sure look just like bomb-making components...

[CRL]

I'd like to see you explain THAT to a TSA agent...

He’d have to explain it without using his hands due to the handcuffs.

[DKS]

Spent the last couple of days assembling the illumination system for the fireflies. This involved bending the leads for 140 LEDs to various shapes, soldering them to the 20 holiday light modules, and testing them (below).





After building a "rack" to hold the modules (above), I drilled #76 holes in the ends of the 140 LEDs, then bonded fiber optic fibers in each of them (below), at which point the whole bizarre-looking contraption was ready to install on the layout.





It'll be a while before I get to see the finished effect, since the scenery has to be well along first. But at least I know in advance that the effect will work and be worth all of the effort.

[wm3798]

When that's done, we're going to need an animated banner showing the winking and blinking of each tiny bug behind.  Arhatship.  Look it up.

[packers#1]

I feel very blessed to be able to follow along on this DKS masterpiece from the start. The attention to detail is just phenomenal as per the usual! A question for running trains; will you be rolling from the town to the resort via a throttle or will there be some sort of automation circuit?

[Dave V]

This is some next-level $hit right here, yo...