First LED signal project

[Ralph]

I'm pretty low tech with electrical projects but I've been wanting to have some sort of illuminated signals for a long time. I finally decided to go with bi polar red/green LEDs to create indicators of track polarity. That's useful at this location where hidden track is sometimes used for staging. Its good to have a way of knowing for sure which way trains on hidden track are going to move!

Any way, I soldered LEDs, resistors and lead wires, and threaded them through a Bachmann signal bridge. Here are the resutls:

[e-paw]

Nicely done sir...can you go a little more in-depth into your wiring and control system ?

[Ralph]

Thanks! My signals are pretty simple and probably not for everyone, but here's how it works: Each of the three LEDs has a resistor (included in the package) soldered to it with lead wires coming off each leg of the LED. Here is the work in progress.



I threaded the wires through thin black plastic coffee stir straws and fed them through a hole I drilled into the bases of the tower's upright supports. The wires were threaded through the benchwork and then back up to the tracks where they were then soldered for power. It took a little trial and error touching the wires to to the powered track to figure out which wires controlled which LED, and how they needed to be attached to the track to get the appropriate light indication, but once I got a green light on all three LEDs when track current would have a loco move toward the tunnel, I was in business.

The thing about these signals is they do not automatically change from green to red when a train passes through them...that's a concession I make since I don;t have some sort of logic board controlling them, but they do indicate red when power is routed the opposite way so I can have cool looking train meets with the proper signal indications as shown in the second photo above in which a train on the main is getting the high green indicating "proceed" into the tunnel while the "siding" and the turnout leading left toward the siding are "red" for "stop".



This is a pretty easy way to get operating signals (to a point) cheaply, for modelers like me who don't have much expertise in electronics!

Oh! More budget saving....I used grommets for the signal heads, cutting off half of the protruding part to make shades for the the lights.

[BR60103]

It took me until almost the last picture to spot the tubes for the wires. Nicely done.

[JaBear]

Oh! More budget saving....I used grommets for the signal heads, cutting off half of the protruding part to make shades for the the lights.

What a 8-) idea. I must remember to steal it one day.
Cheers, the Bear.

[faraway]

Really very well done signal model bridge

[Sumpter250]

Oh! More budget saving....I used grommets for the signal heads, cutting off half of the protruding part to make shades for the the lights.

What a 8-) idea. I must remember to steal it one day.
Cheers, the Bear.

"Plagiarize, plagiarize, let no one Else's work evade you eyes, remember why the good lord made your eyes, so don't shade your eyes, But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize - Only be sure always to call it please 'research'." - From the song "Lobachecsky" by Tom Lehrer

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer (born 9 April 1928) is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater.

[Ralph]

Wise words from The Great Lobachecsky! I love it!

[Charlie B]

What needs to be said is done best with this
That is the Cheap Chuck approval rating of 10 (maximum)
Charlie

[lajry]

Hate to say this after all the good work done on those signals but it should be in front of the Xover not on top of it. That's the way it's always done on US RRs. There should also be signals on the other side of the Xover but just coming out of the tunnel it's not possible. Guess you have to pretend there are signals on the other end of the tunnel. If it's a real long tunnel they're probably inside.

[Ralph]

Yeah, had to make a compromise there because of some space issues and benchwork practicalities.

[lajry]

Yeah, had to make a compromise there because of some space issues and benchwork practicalities.

Can the signals just be moved in front of the Xover?