The name We Honest, through me off as well. We tried one order and liked the results. Thought that worked out well enough and did it again. At some point I lost track of how many times. The BVMR's had their layouts lit up and some of us are still ordering from him. He got to where he recognized my ordering. On one occasion he asked me if I was ordering for the group again? I was. I need to relight the buildings in Williams Junction. Plenty to do. So, George. Your layout is looking better and better over time. Funny how that works. Your never done. That's the best part.
Today is an "OOOPPpppssssss" Day ! First: Yesterday I went out to get my small shop vac out of THERR RV. I slipped on the step. Ended up twisting my bad knees and hurting my right hip when I hit the ground like a 252 pound rock ! So THE WIFE has me on strict 'light duty' until things are better. Second: I realized 9 years after the fact that I have NO Access underneath the back corneres of the layout ! When I built this thing there really was no plan for the corners. As things progressed and roads went in there....there really was no thought of street lights in those corners. Now that there is...I can't get under there to wire in the lights !! Here is a rough drawing of my dilemma. As you can see I cant get under the layout in the back right and left corners...Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I think I will just go back to bed.... .
mate, that sucks in more ways than one. Are you able to get in there with a Dremel or something like it? Sounds horrible to do, especially with the way the scenery looks now, but you could Dremel some channels in the roads for the street lights and then fill them in after ways. Would kinda look like most roads these days as well, considering how often they seem to dig them up.
Do the cabinets have doors or drawers? Can you cut holes in the sides of the cabinets? Drill layout top, attach long leads to streetlights. Drop leads into holes in layout. Using a grabber or stick with a hook, fish wires through hole in cabinet. Power up and test lights. Glue in place.
I thought the sawzall was a great idea actually. Kind of like using a pile driver to set a small wire nail for a picture to hang on
Yup...thought of this too. Other then cutting the top of the layout...which I dont want to do...this seems most logical. That beng said...being 72 years old...6'5" tall...and just about worn out...climbing under kitchen cabinets doesnt really sound appealing... The other bad news...my son has been transfered to the middle of Nevada for his job. This will make soliciting his help finishing this up a years long ordeal.... The bright side: (pun intenced) My layout is run during daylight hours. The lights dont really need to be on. Lights on would just be a photo-op in reality. .
Oh man, that bites to have your helper, ummm, I mean son moving farther away. Depending on how the doors are positioned, I bet you could drill a fair sized hole (1in or bigger) in the side wall on one cabinet on each side and use a coat hanger or dowel with a hook and fish wire without leaving your stool. The trick would be getting it hooked to the bus wire. That might require a bit more thinking. Well I have an idea but I'll ponder it first.
Sawzall a big hole inside the cabinets! I actually had to do this a couple of weeks ago to get heat out to a drain pipe that froze up in a similar corner. I cut a good size hole, with my mini sawzall, and put a space heater in there. Voila! The cabinet kept it's integrity because I left 2 -3 inches around the outside edges. Getting back up again was the only trick...... Even for this youngster!
since I am sidelined for a bit...I decided to see what I could do to make the lamp post on the business side of jeans valley look smaller. When you look at them it is the decorotive globe area that makes it look so big. The pole diameter is the same as the regular street lights. So I brought a few in and started working at my computer desk. The lamp on the left is the original light. The second lamp is one I cut the decorative portion off of. The last one is one I also cut the 'spike'off the top. Disclaimer: These are just test subjects. No humans where harmed in the making of these lights They are starting to look 'smaller' to my eye...just sayin !
If you have access to a 90° angle drill it would make drilling much easier and more likely to be able to perform from your stool. How many wire drops do you anticipate?
Maybe a dozen lights...24 wires. But they all could be twisted together once they are in the center cabinet. All the 'reds' together and all the 'blacks' together. That would only mean 2 hookup points to the buss wire.
Is there anyway you could used conductive tape laminated on the sidewalks and or curb faces to feed lights. When done paint tape to match side walks. Thin strips of tape could cross roads at intersections and be painted to disguise them as old trough style steel storm drains.
Looking at your layout photos, it looks like your side walks are styrene. Maybe you could pull them up and run conductive tape on the bottom side. To cross street, use thin strips of conductive tape painted to blend in with cross walk markings.
So...I continue working on the lamp posts. First pic is about what we agree on. We also figured with the lamps lowered the bases made them look REALLY bad. So i took the base off and put them back in at a sacle 20'. We believe once I file things so they dont look so 'thick' we may have a winner...from the 3' rule !!... .
