To paraphrase Vane Jones, "Knowledge is of little value until shared with others."

Monday, September 3, 2012

Installation of Elevated Junction Tower

Many years ago a then Chooch, now available through Berkshire Valley, Elevated Crossing Tower was purchased and built. There was never a suitable location on my layout for the building. After installing the new track signals, a potential location started to grow on me. Why not use the tower not for a grade crossing but instead for the junction where the CRT Westchester branch joins the main line? It could be called "Westchester Junction".


But 1st, if you are using signals with miniature light bulbs, getting the same amount of color from like color bulbs may be a problem. You may have to deepen the color of a bulb. Up until recent times most glass bulbs were colored or tinted with clear (You can see through it.) lacquer paint. Within the past couple of years, to make the paint more environmentally friendly, the solvent base has been changed to a water miscible formula. The new "tints" or "stains" as they are called do not color the glass as well as the lacquer base tints.
These are the new glass tints or stains available at Michaels.
 

The other way to deepen the color of a glass bulb is to use a Stanford's permanent marker of the same color. I hope they are still made with a lacquer based tint. Also, I don't know if a yellow marker is made. However, if you have to use the new water miscible tints there is a way to use them and still get reasonably good results. After dipping your brush in the tint, wait about a minute or so before applying the tint on the glass bulb. The stain will dry a little before application. You may have to apply more stain after the 1st coating dries.


Other ways to get all the aspects to have the same color concentration is to use LED's instead of bulbs or better yet use new Keil-Line signals. They come with plastic lenses for the aspects. The colors are almost guaranteed.


After the installation of the elevated tower was complete, standing there admiring my work, the thought came to me the tower was controlling an important point on the layout called "Westchester Junction". Should the signals at the west and east of the Junction be part of the automatic block system or home signals controlling the Junction?
Suitable signs still have to be made and mounted for "Westchester Junction".
 
 
James Bond in a Toyota 2000GT Open-Top model, driven by his girlfriend Aki, is trying to escape from Blofeld in "You Only Live Twice". Bob the watchman is holding them for an approaching train.


The beauty of the matter is, it's a hobby. There are other trolley modeling items to take care of. The question of the signals can be answered and fixed if necessary later!

Cheers,
Ed


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