Wardell Station welcomes you

Wardell Station welcomes you
Wardell Station late 1950s

Sunday 1 April 2018

Groundhog day - revisiting the lighting

It is has been over a year since the lights have been working on the layout and it  was only finally finished yesterday evening. Below is the finished lighting with the added detail of a newspaper stand and added detail of figures.


Back to the wiring
Last year, I had a friend who electronics inclined view my layout and looked at the electrical wiring of the lights etc. I have a mixture of LEDS and bulb lighting installed , But both were supplied by AC power using a Tyco transformer I had lying around. 
However, he advised that the LEDS should be powered by DC and not AC. Using AC will reduce the life of the LEDS and they will flicker. He suggested purchasing a AC-DC rectifier which was about a dollar from Ebay. 

Above: Ebay rectifier.
He also tested the LEDS for voltage and suggested that the LEDS should be wired in two in series with a maximum of 10 LEDS per recifier. I had 25 LEDS on the Petersham (Wardell Section) of the layout. 

As I had to pull up platform and footbridge I decided to improve the wiring placement as well and include a newspaper stand.
Morning News
Before the internet commuters use to purchase the morning and afternoon newspaper. In Sydney we have the afternoon paper The Sun. I remember my mum, purchasing it. As I had set my station in the 1950s a newspaper stand would be appropriate. As I did not have a lot of space on the footbridge I needed a very narrow breath kiosk.
I found a Metcalfe OO/HO laser cardboard kit in Hobbyco in Sydney CBD as the basis of the newspaper stand.

Above: Metcalfe 00/H0 Platform Kiosk
Learning from previous mistakes I decided to test the wiring prior to installation on the layout. Below is the footbridge and ticket office.



After many months of wiring testing and installing three rectifiers which hold 24 lights between them the layout, the layout is now looking good for night operation.




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