Projects

Street Lights
K83 Decoder
Bilevel Car Lighting Modification
4335 & 43351 Light Kit

 

 

 


 

If you have the time and patience, then you might want to make your own street lights.  I made four different types of street lights and most of the material was from old refrigerators.  The cooling tubes on the back of the fridge is what you are looking for.  Once the tubes are removed and allow to air out for a while outdoors, the odor of Freon and the oil will dissipate.  The tubing on the fridge's are not all the same size so do check before using.  The size of tubing I used was 3mm, 5mm and 7mm outside diameter.  I was able to get 12V light bulbs small enough for lamp posts at a surplus store for 50¢ each.  Clear plastic tubing just large enough for the bulb to fit inside makes for a good glass housing.  The cap for the lamps are made from left over flashing used to finish sidings on houses.


The above picture shows some of the parts used to make the lamps.

All connections are soldered together with regular soldering techniques.  On one end of the 3mm tubing the inside of the tube has to be drilled out to accept the 28 gauge coated wire (wire used to make relay coils).   Insert a length of 28 gauge wire which is about twice the length of the lamp post.   On the bottom end of the lamp post solder a length of stranded wire to the 28 gauge wire and cover with heat shrink tubing.   Pull the wire into the lamp post so that the shrink tubing is near the top of the lamp post.  Cut the excess 28 gauge wire and solder to one side of the light bulb, give a coat or two of liquid plastic to insulate before it is drawn inside of the 3mm tubing.  The other end of the light bulb is soldered to the underside of the 3mm tubing.  At the bottom of the street light a length of stranded wire is soldered to the 5mm tubing to complete the circuit.  Give the tubing a coat of paint and it is ready for installation on your layout.

The above pictures are the actual lamps which I made and will use on the layout.
These lamps are fully functional.