nbrodar wrote: As it happens, the main light switch from my layout room, is on the wall behind Lampson Yard.
Oh, I get it! The LIGHT SWITCH is behind "Lamps On" yard! Har!
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Hi,
As others have mentioned, paint the switch/toggle to blend in with the background building. That's an easy fix and probably as good as anything else.
That reminds me of when I began layout construction in a large spare bedroom, which has one long horizontal window (above layout level). I picked up a custom set of sky blue metal mini blinds, and painted the window frame a similar blue with clouds, etc that blended into the walls backdrop. It wasn't cheap, but its been there doing a fine job for 15 years!
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Autobus Prime wrote: nb: Here's an idea - don't conceal the switch. Build a light-switch factory next to it, build a frame on the wall around it, and add some wording like "DON'T BE TURNED OFF - USE MONOCO SWITCHES", or something like it, converting the switch into a giant advertising sign.
Here's an idea - don't conceal the switch. Build a light-switch factory next to it, build a frame on the wall around it, and add some wording like "DON'T BE TURNED OFF - USE MONOCO SWITCHES", or something like it, converting the switch into a giant advertising sign.
Now thats thinking.
Johnnny_reb Once a word is spoken it can not be unspoken!
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Autobus Prime wrote: vdoubleyou wrote: Paint a face on the switch and paint a dress too, and put some fake flames comming out the window and it will look like the towering inferno in HO scale!!! Maybe some firemen with one of those trampaline looking things down below. Come on guys, lets get the creative juices flowing!This thread needed some sillyness!Bobvw:Silly? You want silly?Make a Green Giant billboard out of it. Paint the top half of the Jolly Green Giant on the top half of the light switch. Paint the bottom half of the Jolly Green Giant on the bottom half of the light switch. And...
vdoubleyou wrote: Paint a face on the switch and paint a dress too, and put some fake flames comming out the window and it will look like the towering inferno in HO scale!!! Maybe some firemen with one of those trampaline looking things down below. Come on guys, lets get the creative juices flowing!This thread needed some sillyness!Bob
Paint a face on the switch and paint a dress too, and put some fake flames comming out the window and it will look like the towering inferno in HO scale!!! Maybe some firemen with one of those trampaline looking things down below. Come on guys, lets get the creative juices flowing!
This thread needed some sillyness!
Bob
vw:
Silly? You want silly?
Make a Green Giant billboard out of it. Paint the top half of the Jolly Green Giant on the top half of the light switch. Paint the bottom half of the Jolly Green Giant on the bottom half of the light switch. And...
And be sure to put a raincoat on the Jolly Green Giant.
- Harry
Build a billboard sign around the lightswitch advertizing a circus. Buy a toy elephant and cut the trunk off. Glue the elephant's trunk over the swith handle, and voila! - a complete disguise with a 3D billboard.
P.S. Don't forget to paint the rest of the elephant on the sign.
What a neat idea to use the thing as advertisement! If you cannot stop something from happening, make it a sales feature!
Another alternative: bore a small hole in the sw handle and connect it to an automotive choke cable that can be reached somewhere else; or.. just replace the sw or its light with a motion-sensitive one.
Great idea Autobus Prime! I really like that one. Almost makes me wish I had a switch in my backdrop so I could try it.
Hal
Autobus Prime wrote: nb:Here's an idea - don't conceal the switch. Build a light-switch factory next to it, build a frame on the wall around it, and add some wording like "DON'T BE TURNED OFF - USE MONOCO SWITCHES", or something like it, converting the switch into a giant advertising sign.
nb:
See? If you ask enough people, SOMEONE will be an outside the box thinker and will have the perfect simple solution.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I've been trying to ignore this love fest for several days now, but I just hate to be left out.
Replace the light switch with a radio remote, then put something in front of it but not attached to the wall. I have them in all my rooms that have ceiling fans. They are almost flush with the wall.
OR ... Replace the switch with one of the rocker or push button switches. They, too are almost flush, though you would not be able to cover it.
OR ... Use the system you have chosen with the switch sticking through the window. To comply with code, you might have to make the building it is sticking through into a switch plate. That shouldn't be too hard.
OR ... Make a small piece that looks like a window air conditioner and glue it to the switch.
OR ... Turn the switch on and leave it on, put a building in front of it and add another switch somewhere else in the room.
Personally, I would just replace it with a black or dark brown switch and otherwise do just what you originally suggested.
Use a "bendy" straw , paint it what ever color you want, glue it to the switch to look like an exhaust pipe like Chuck suggested. Maybe 3 minutes of work and you'll most likely be the only one that knows it's there.
Why make it harder than it is? Geez, guys!
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
I guess it all depends on what you like and dislike. It also depends on who is going to be throwing the switch. I had one that was high up in the sky and pained the same color blue as my sky. I was the only one operating it until one other fellow saw me turn it on, then he got to it with his dirty hands.
There is another choice. You could bring you building out about an inch, close up or glass in the window. Then run a wire up from the switch handle to the roof of the building. You could either put a small loop in the wire and leave it, or cover it with a roof-top A/C unit or something. At any rate, you might want to make a rule that NO ONE turns the light on and off except you.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Umm...like...wow...such nastiness. Of all my threads, I think this one has been the worst, "mud slinging" wise.
I do appreciate the constructive comments about moving the switch. However, moving it up in the stud bay is not an option, as it is already at the top of the allowable code height. As my wire fishing skills aren't that good, moving to another stud bay is out as well.
bogp40's suggestion of using a wireless remote switch is an interesting one. My other option is of course to do nothing to hide the switch, but I don't really like it:
I think this is a much better look:
So please keep it civil and keep constructive comments and suggestions coming.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
I can't believe how this tread has deteriorated into a "mud slinging" contest (and not on the switch) over something as simple as a 15 minute job of moving a light switch up a few inches.
If you're afraid of any local code violations or just don't care to move it, then by all means leave it to be poking out a window of the building.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
KingConrail76 wrote: Nick,Neat. Thanks for sharing your idea. Personally, I do think it is clever.With 2,000+some posts, I'm sure you were prepared for the barage of suggestions for change and unsolicited assults you've received, but regardless, it's a pitty that some people can't heed the "If you've got nothing good to say..." adage.As for those that worry about "dirt", OK...I get your point on "body oils", but for God's sake...if you're that dirty that you leave hand prints on the walls when you turn on a light....WASH!!!....GET A SHOWER....something...
Nick,
Neat. Thanks for sharing your idea. Personally, I do think it is clever.
With 2,000+some posts, I'm sure you were prepared for the barage of suggestions for change and unsolicited assults you've received, but regardless, it's a pitty that some people can't heed the "If you've got nothing good to say..." adage.
As for those that worry about "dirt", OK...I get your point on "body oils", but for God's sake...if you're that dirty that you leave hand prints on the walls when you turn on a light....
WASH!!!....GET A SHOWER....something...
The switch is obviously going to be installed and used for at least a few years, so yes, dirt, body oils (which, BTW, accumulate on the skin within hours of washing, even if you do nothing), soap residue, etc, will quickly be transferred to the switch, especially if it's the room light control. He'll need to install a hand washing sink in the room to accomplish what you suggest. And if you think your hands will be clean all the time, you've obviously never built a layout.
The other problem is he'll have to change the switch anyway. That cream colored switch will stand out like a sore thumb, and need to be changed for a darker color.
To the "good things to say" statement, when someone posts a proposal like this, they expect comments, both good and bad, usually to help them see potential problems they may not have thought of. The idea of a forum is exchange of ideas, not just "attaboys."
jktrains wrote: KingConrail76 wrote: Nick,Neat. Thanks for sharing your idea. Personally, I do think it is clever.With 2,000+some posts, I'm sure you were prepared for the barage of suggestions for change and unsolicited assults you've received, but regardless, it's a pitty that some people can't heed the "If you've got nothing good to say..." adage.As for those that worry about "dirt", OK...I get your point on "body oils", but for God's sake...if you're that dirty that you leave hand prints on the walls when you turn on a light....WASH!!!....GET A SHOWER....something...So this should become simply a place to get attaboys.Well, King - what should he do after working on the layout and his hands are dirty?
So this should become simply a place to get attaboys.
Well, King - what should he do after working on the layout and his hands are dirty?
I dunno......maybe WASH THEM...
Just to be clear, I never singled YOU out when I commented about the remarks made about "dirt", as you were not the only one MAKING those comments. Apperantly, however, YOU'VE chosen to come at me with your guilty rage. Wrong move.
jktrains, my problem is your choose of words. You could have simple said that you would think the area would get dirty and or something may get broken. It was nothing more then the way you went about stating you commit.
As for the OP he will commit in do time I'm sure.
Another witty response from Geared Steam.
I'm not sure what this means, I guess its your attempt to make me out to be you, which would be a condensending and quite judgemental member of this community, and self appointed authority and critic of this community.
Then based on your logic those electrical components should only be sold to a licensed electrician and not to the average person.
Please point out where I made that statement, putting words into my mouth won't fly. With any home improvement, its is left to local ordinances to determine who can do what to your home.
Although I do appreciate some of the work you do, it does not give you license to attack other people the way you do. Your response could have been much more tactful, but as many of your posts reflect, you would rather browbeat under the pretense of trying to make people better modelers.
I guess you can throw a tantum again and start new thread about home improvement and layout room rules.
Have fun
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Geared Steam wrote: jktrains wrote:Think about it, if it did, why would hardware stores and home centers like Home Depot and Lowe's be able to sell electrical boxes, light switches and wall outlets? Do they only sell them to licensed electrical contractors? NO - they sell them to the do it yourselfer so they can do exactly what's been suggested, move an outlet or a switch. Yea right , good argument.......not.Thats like saying buying a HO loco makes you an engineer.
jktrains wrote:Think about it, if it did, why would hardware stores and home centers like Home Depot and Lowe's be able to sell electrical boxes, light switches and wall outlets? Do they only sell them to licensed electrical contractors? NO - they sell them to the do it yourselfer so they can do exactly what's been suggested, move an outlet or a switch.
Yea right , good argument.......not.
Thats like saying buying a HO loco makes you an engineer.
Another witty response from Geared Steam. As was pointed out in another reply, the National Electrical Code allows a homeowner to do exactly the type of work discussed - moving an electrical switch. Then based on your logic those electrical components should only be sold to a licensed electrician and not to the average person. The argument and point is valid.
So, let's get this straight. Someone makes a posting, says "Hey everybody look what I did" and everyone's simply supposed to say nothing but "wow what a great job" or "neat idea," instead of actually offering some advice and maybe pointing out something the poster overlooked, you should remain silent. Nice attitude to have, very helpful too. Then this isn't a forum, its simply a bulletin board.
Interesting that the OP hasn't said he's offend by the comments.