I powered up the layout yesterday to move the trains out of the way for some work on the station and noticed something amiss: the lighting in the station building was not working. This was the only lighting on the layout where I had used incandescent bulbs instead of LEDs, largely because of accessibility problems which made it simpler to push a pair of bulbs up through a hole below the building than to attempt to fix a couple of LEDs in place. The big downside of bulbs, of course, is their short life, and these were far from new, so I suppose I had been asking for trouble.
So, the nettle has been grasped: the station board is on its side once more – I don’t think I need to move it to the workbench – and using a hole-cutter, knives and drills I am making my way up through the baseboard and the plastic base of the building into its atrium where I shall place a couple of pre-wired LEDs. I have to say that images of the Hatton Garden burglary sprang unbidden into my mind as I drilled my way in!
Work still in progress but unless I am interrupted I am hopeful that all will be back in place tonight with the station lit even better than it was before! Meanwhile, thanks to a birthday gift I now have more people standing on the station – it was to place these that I need to move the trains out of the way.
UPDATE:
Task completed, for now, anyway. I can see me wanting to improve this in due course (especially now that I can see that light leak under the building!!!), but now I really must try to get the layout into a more complete state. You never know when I can start inviting friends to see it, or even take it to exhibitions!
Innsdorf Modellbahn 