This outfit has been very helpful, everything they have suggested has worked out great.https://thefiberopticstore.com/Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Some years ago I bought a kit that included fiber optics with LED's. A bunch of fiber optics inside heat shrink around top of LED's of different colors. LED's triggered.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Thanks. That is good to know. I don't plan to make a lighted Christmas tree, but instead plan to drill holes around the roof line, windows, etc and make it look like Christmas lights on the outside of the building. But, a tree is an interesting idea.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
I buy my end glow fiber optics off eBay and it comes in all sizes from .5mm to 3mm.I don’t like fiber optics for structure lighting or street lights but for a tiny Christmas tree it would be great.I tried side glow for lighting passenger cars but LEDs work much better. I use 3mm LEDs for most of my fiber drivers. I dill a small hole in the lens and super glue the fibers in the hole. If I have room for heat shrink I use it to cover the connection, if not I just paint the LEDs black to seal light leaks. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I am scratchbuilding structures for my Master Model Railroader certificate and thought doing someting with a Christmas theme would be fun and different... especially since my regular layout is set in May! So, I will add snow and Christmas decorations and such.
I want to add Christmas lights to the building, and think drilling holes and running fiber optics will be easier than trying to cram lots of tiny LEDs inside my structure (I don't know if I will build it in HO or O scale yet, but it is going on a small display base). What I don't know is:
1.) What diameters of fiber optics are out there, and is bigger diameter (thicker) fiber optics better? Does bigger = able to transmit more light, or able to transmit it for farther distances?
2.) For the light power source, are LED lights or bulb lights better? I could buy a cheap set of Christmas tree lights and butcher them up for the colored source lights, or buy colored LEDs. But, I don't know which will actually result in brighter light at the end of the fiber optics.
At this time, I am leaning towards an O scale building to give me more room to work with. The electronics don't have to fit inside the building, but I will be able to bend the fiber optics easier.
Thanks.