Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Coach lighting

Decided to leave the problems with locomotives alone for a while and get on with something else. This DR coach is a real favourite of mine, and on the old line probably got more use than almost anything else. I just like to see it trundling around as part of a short train. Seems very evocative of minor narrow gauge lines in their declining years, running a passenger service for the benefit of local people going about their daily routine. Anyway, as it's one of my favourite vehicles and gets used a lot, it seemed a good idea to equip it with lights for evening running. It also runs in a very short train, which means that I didn't need to equip a whole rake of coaches with on board lighting! The coach acquired a string of 3v lamps some time ago, which were pleasingly effective. However, the wiring left something to be desired as I hadn't really worked out the best way of hiding everything without cutting holes into the coach. I finally plucked up the courage to tidy it all up, concealing the batteries (2 x AA cells) inside the toilet compartment with a small on/off switch protruding just below the solebar. If you didn't know it was a switch, you'd think it was just part of the moulding. I also took the oportunity to add some passengers. Overall, quite a satisfying project which (for once!) seems to have worked out pretty much as planned.