I would welcome comments for wiring of the tail sign on the Walthers 85' ACF tail observation vista dome, City of Portland. I have seen a youtube video on the subject with narative, which discussed the use of LEDs. I belive a balast resistor, and capacitor would be needed, and wired to the pickups.
I welcome comments from anyone having done this, who could provide diagrams and component values.
Hi,
I looked at my C-o-P dome-obs and didn't see an easy way of illuminating the tail sign, especially one which was originally neon.
UP_City-dome-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I think Walthers did a fantastic job of replicating the "Neon-under-glass" look of the original.
Do you have a link to the YouTube video that shows the way the other modeler did it? I've illumated other, more traditional tail signs but not one as complex as this one.
UP_City-dome by Edmund, on Flickr
I suppose you could fit an SMD LED into each end of the plastic but there sure isn't much room to play with in there. Possibly a piece of electro-luminescent display piece behind the clear insert. Still that would pose a challenge.
Regards, Ed
EdIs it even doable? It looks like three separate pieces.
Click to enlarge
I can’t find any video on the illuminated tail sign.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
UV reactive paint and a UV LED up near the roof of the car to shine on the sign? Really reaching but there's not going to be an easy way to get even illumination across that sign with 1 or 2 LEDs. Ed's idea of an EL panel would work, if the sign is hollow and there is a way to remove the solid backing behind the lettering to replace with the EL panel and not destroy the lettering itself. It might work to have an LED on either side with a plastic light pipe between them, but again the solid backing would need to be replaced with clear plastic.
It is a pretty fantastic looking sign as-is, even has the interconnecting bits of the neon tube between the letters.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I wonder if the Ellumiglow "VynEL" product might be adaptable here.
I recall several suppliers of EL "experimenter" kits. Of course the trick is to cut the stuff small enough to fit behine each of the three segments of the tail sign, wire them up and have enough room inside the car to hide the inverter electronics.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/415
https://microstru.com/Experimenter-Kits.html
I could see having some succsee in G scale, perhaps O but having a successful installation in HO would be a challenge in my opinion.
Something like the California Zephyr neon tailsign might be doable or was it the City Of New Orleans or Panama Limited (don't recall) that had neon signs on the side of the observation car?
Those you could do with a red LED illuminating a translucent panel with a negative film overlay to allow the red light to shine through.
Neon Zephyr by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed