A long lost Piko depot was recovered from the yard, and is undergoing a complete rehab, with a number of improvements…good project for a rainy day.
The building is just set on the base…(just in case anyone notices the bay windows are not facing trackside)
What’s that a solar collector on the roof?
John Miller said:
A long lost Piko depot was recovered from the yard, and is undergoing a complete rehab, with a number of improvements…good project for a rainy day.(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/johnm/_forumfiles/Lassen-Depot.jpg)
Obvious… that way the railroad can get Recovery/ReInvestment dollars from Uncle Sam for the station rehab!
Renewable energy credit on your tax return!
Yep, Solar cell for two led lights under cover and interior Station lighting. Re-worked garden stuff that cost $4 at Big Lots. Saves having to run wires all over the yard and they come on automatically as it gets dark so no fussing around with all the buildings. Batteries good for about 1000 cycles so that = 3 yrs for $ 1.25 battery.
wow, gave away the secrets… oh man the Russians are going to get this.
mike miller said:Great idea. Dollar Tree has them around here. Might have to pick up some for when I eventually get some buildings planted.
Yep, Solar cell for two led lights under cover and interior Station lighting. Re-worked garden stuff that cost $4 at Big Lots. Saves having to run wires all over the yard and they come on automatically as it gets dark so no fussing around with all the buildings. Batteries good for about 1000 cycles so that = 3 yrs for $ 1.25 battery.
Well the Lassen Depot is moving along rather nicely.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/johnm/_forumfiles/Piko-Depot.jpg)
Jon, with the exception of the engine house, everything else is solar lit. I can imagine the rivet counters probably do not like a modern device on an old structure…
Well don’t expect to get that long out of the batteries, a year if your lucky.
Thats about all I get with those lights.
Whally World has them also.
Great idea though.
David
mike miller said:
Yep, Solar cell for two led lights under cover and interior Station lighting. Re-worked garden stuff that cost $4 at Big Lots. Saves having to run wires all over the yard and they come on automatically as it gets dark so no fussing around with all the buildings. Batteries good for about 1000 cycles so that = 3 yrs for $ 1.25 battery.
Dave, what I do is buy the cheapo units and harvest all the parts. I then mount cell(s) and LED(s), wire and last thing I do is replace their NiCd battery (400-600 mA/hr) with NiMh (2400 mA/hr) and in some cases I parallel them so I get 4800 mA/hrs, same with cells for charging current. I also measure output of cells and use only the ones that producing > 2.0 volts. Average LED draws ~100mA/hr, so with three like in the station, I have a 300mA/hr draw. 4800/300 = 16. That way I have a potential “light” time of 16 hours so I never take the batteries all the way down. That is is the main cause of not getting the number of cycles that I do, after all these ain’t deep-cycle boat batteries…
Couple more touches and it goes on the “done” shelf.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jtmsmike/_forumfiles/Station7s.jpg)
I’ve been playing around with the same idea over the winter, with the only difference being I’m not mounting the solar panels to the roofs of the buildings, but will be mounting them on a “solar farm” hung on the fence. (Short runs of wires for each building–about 20’ each max.) I’ve been replacing the stock (cool blue) LEDs with warm white LEDs from a string of Christmas lights, and the effect is quite nice. I like how they come on at night automatically and stay on through the night. It’s cool to look out in the back yard and see lights shining from the stations. Plans this summer call for expanding more lights to more buildings. I’ve only had them in place since December, but I figured I’d start the experiment around the Winter solstice, so if they worked during the shortest days, they’d work during the longest. So far, so good.
The LEDs aren’t near bright enough to provide any kind of ambient lighting to the garden, but they do provide a nice, soft glow you’d get from oil or kerosene lamps in the pre-electric light era which I model. I just need to order a bunch more Ozark Miniatures lanterns to hang on the outsides of my buildings.
Later,
K
Kevin, my AA Citrus Packing Plant is lit that way. I have a pig-tail for the building LEDs running out about 8 feet for Cell/Battery unit. Gotta keep the wiring runs kind of short to eliminate power loss in the wiring as it is very small diameter/higher resistance. Interior of building has 40 leds placed behind windows, roof skylights and even drilled walls and used some for “security” lights by loading docks and front building entrance. The warm LEDs most of the time require 3 volt set up. Did you find some 1.4volters? Let me know where you got them if you did. They look more realistic thats for sure. I did McCloud Engine House with those but they take 4.5volts and that is an inside building so power wasn’t a concern.
I’m using the GE “warm white” Christmas lights. They’re actually 3 volts, but seem to work okay with this stuff which puts out around 2 volts. If I just use one LED per circuit, they’re brighter individually than if run them in parallel, but running them in parallel gives me more even lighting on the interiors, so pick your poison for the application. I’m still trying to find a coloring to put on the “cool white” LEDs to give them a warmer glow. I tried an orange Sharpie on one, and it looks pale greenish–not too far off from the pale green some railroads (including the EBT) used inside their depots. I still don’t particularly like it for a color, but it’s better than the blue.
Later,
K
It woiuld be nice to see it in place. Good looking Station and lited too!
Paul
Sorry E. Paul, believe it or not, I just build structures. Mt brother John is the engineer of the family.
Well, it is finished and on the shelf under cover…Next?
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jtmsmike/_forumfiles/Stationdone.jpg)
I think the wildland fire station is next on the agenda…
The Endhttp://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jtmsmike/_forumfiles/Buildenz.JPG