Visions Government Solutions puts towns and cities assessing data online in 9 states: VT, NH, ME, MA, CT, RI, PA and VA.:

https://www.vgsi.com/taxpayer-info/

Service is on a town-by-town basis; you won't find my house here because our assessing company has its own site.  But if you want the overall dimensions of the Amesbury MA Eastern RR station, select Massachusetts, then Amesbury, enter 32 Elm St. Click on the plan to show it in a separate window, then have your browser save it as an image. All properties appear to have a current picture of one side.

Good morning all, from my motel in central Pennsylvania.  Like many motels, it's next to a highway. This one's is only 2 lanes, but there's an industrial track a hundred yards away that's been switched at least twice since we got here.  The sun rises noticeably later here than at my home on the NH seacoast.  First thing will be a college tour, then a half day or so at Gettysburg. Focus will be on the battlefield rather than the tourist RR.

This build is based on an article and plan starting with page 22 of the October 1953 Model Railroader. The author, Paul Larson, became the editor of MR in 1956. Art Schmidt did the photography, it appears Paul drew the plan.  My MR only goes back to 1967, so I'm working from a photocopy provided by an RR-Line member some time back.

I got the materials and started work a few years ago, but stopped when I found water-based PVA glue made the roof sheathing curl. Weight and clamping didn't help, I was left with an ugly, highly visible joint. I'd previously built a couple of Northeastern/Ambroid wood open platform coaches using old Ambroid cement with no curling trouble at all.  Sadly, it appears I can't get anything in the same chemical family as Ambroid anymore.  I suppose I could try Goo, Weldwood or another contact cement.

Your thoughts?

Good morning, all.  The homemade bread was warm when I put it in the breadbox. Cold cuts and cheeses in the fridge, jam marmalade and peanut butter on the counter, honey over by the hot water urn with assorted teas. Coffee urn warming up with Joint Bar blend.

It's been mostly cloudy on the NH Seacoast, with heavier clouds forecast this afternoon. High of 70F expected.  I'm home doing paperwork.and paying bills.  If I get up to the attic layout, I'm feeling like going back to work on my 2nd freight car scratchbuild, a Swift 36' reefer from another old MR article.  But because I'm feeling good about the brass flat car, I may give the reefer a brass underframe instead of the wood used by the author.

Good morning, all. Muffins, fresh bread, butter and other things to go on it are on the counter and apples and pears in the basket.  The coffee urn is warming up with Ballast Fork blend, as is the hot water for tea.  The cook may have something more formal planned for later.

It's foggy and about 60F on the NH Seacoast, with mostly sunny weather forecast later.  I'm off to the Trolley Museum for track and mechanical work, then Planning Board after dinner tonight.  But before I go a couple of bills to pay.

The New Haven RR ordered 124 class NE-5 steel center-cupola cabooses during WWII. They're popular among Northeastern modelers because they passed to Penn Central, then Conrail. The B&M bought 20 similar cabooses, differing only in having two steps at each corner instead of three.  They've been imported in brass but I started with a RTR plastic model from Centralia Car Shops/Intermountain.



Four main subassemblies separated, with Tomar LED marker lamps, resistors (center right) and a compact bridge rectifier (lower right) I wish I'd written down the part number for - they're a convenient size for HO car lighting projects.



Tomar's marker lights look pretty good close up, except the stem that goes into the car body kept me from mounting them right at the corner, where the prototype's brackets were.



I had to drill holes in the weight and the interior molding to bring power from the trucks.



Simple phosphor bronze wire axle wipers collect power for the markers.

There's a thin, high haze over the lower Merrimack Valley, but plenty of sun is coming through. From high 50s overnight, the guessers say mid 80s this afternoon. And it seems today's haze isn't wildfire smoke (that arrives tomorrow) so "eat, drink and be merry..."

It's the last day of Newburyport's Yankee Homecoming, so in a bit I'm off to watch the parade.  Modeling unlikely today as I'm still working on my All-Crop 66 combine. After last week's rain, the wheat was "chewy" yesterday - that water content grows mold in storage. Should be "breaks leaving powdery surface" by mid-week.

I'm starting this thread for the whole Forum membership.  Demonstrations, experiments, Q&A, new materials are all appropriate. I'm going to start with my own oddball practices, but if you've figured out how to repair "over the throwbar" point contacts, keep old cork roadbed from getting brittle, repair broken Maerklin track connectors, or effortlessly fasten down Code 55 rail, let us know.

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Full size or model, trains need track.  These days the major scales have multiple ready to lay options for most common RR track and turnouts. However, minor gauges, trolley fans and modelers of specific prototypes are often required to hand-lay what they want.  I learned to hand-lay when it was the standard of my college club. I find its durability and flexibility justify the extra effort to build it.

Roadbed ranges from molded-to-the-track (E-Z Track & competitors) through cork, sticky plastic, plain and profiled Homasote to pine lattice stock. I've used all except the sticky plastic; my experience with other people's modules hasn't encouraged me.

Subroadbed is a tradeoff between light and sturdy. Careful planning and construction can produce light but stable support, but the extra effort required usually limits it to modules. Home and club layouts today often use strips of plywood instead of the second-growth lumber most readily available.

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The NMRA Achievement Program's Civil Engineer certificate used to require detailed track. Here's what I did with mostly Detail Associates parts on a hand-laid Code 100 HO turnout. Yes, Code 100 is really large rail in HO, but that was what the HUB Module standard required.



Joint bars and a strip applied to model a bolted frog (much less common these days than before 1980).



Post-1900 turnouts have special slide plates to support the points, and other special plates to support and position the closure and stock rails where they're too close together for conventional tie plates.  I didn't try to do physical tie plates, as they're normally only 1/2 inch thick; I painted them on.  Proto-48 and the related projects for other scales offer physical tie plates these days.

I'm up early enjoying the cool of the morning: The lower Merrimack Valley is 70-ish with a few high clouds, headed for the high 80s with late afternoon thunderstorms. I stopped by on my way out to the Trolley Museum:  The urn's warming up with Tie Plate blend, hot water's on, pastries, fruit and cereal on the counter. Don't know what the cook has planned for later arrivals.

I'm wearing long pants, sleeves and a vest. Several bands of rain expected into early Wednesday, but tomorrow's high is claimed to be 84F. Those who are troubled by scales, skip ahead: I weigh a bit more than I ought to so eating only the minimum through the weekend.  Coffee and hot water are heating up, fruit is on the counter.

I have some Flying Yankee editing to do, then get my kid's friend to her late afternoon flight.  The kid will need to learn how to deal with Boston traffic, but Driver's Ed north of the border didn't include even a taste. He can watch me this time.  Hope I can get the new signal to a photogenic stage in between and after.

Good morning, all. It's overcast on the NH seacoast with smoke from Canadian fires visible but not so thick I can smell it. Rain expected tonight and tomorrow. My wife just returned with an upgraded driver's license, so I'll leave the kitchen and counter to later arrivals.

I was passing by and opened up but only a light breakfast: Coffee urn warming up with Track Wrench blend, water for tea and hot chocolate (still cool enough for that in NH), fruit, bagels & fixings, bread to toast or just butter, fresh milk and OJ.

The NH seacoast cooled off late last night after the thunderstorms passed; this morning has been cool with a lot of high haze - hope it's clouds rather than Canadian smoke. My wife and stepson went to his school's graduation and sometime this afternoon he'll bring back a guest. Until then I'll model railroad.  First order of business: locate 25 tiny rectifiers I finally need 12 years after I bought them. IIRC they arrived packed in a tube, but for 7 mm rectifiers the tube could be less than a foot long.

More wet weather forecast for Monday & Tuesday, but maybe a haying (or track work) window later in the week.

Good morning, all.  On my way out I thought to open the lounge: Urn is heating up with Tie Crane blend, hot water for tea or cocoa, fruit, cereal, rolls and pastries on the counter.

The NH seacoast is clear and headed for the 70s. Modeling today is unlikely: first to Seashore for track work, then home to a Selectboard meeting postponed due to Monday's holiday.

Good morning!  The urn is loaded with Track Chisel blend and hot water is warming up.  Fruit, cereal, fresh bread and sweet pastries on the counter with juice and fresh milk.  What the cook may do awaits the cook showing up.

It isn't raining or even cloudy over the lower Merrimack Valley. Temperatures are forecast to reach 60F this afternoon and the 70s later this week! My blueberries aren't blue yet but as usual with a damp spring, they will be abundant.  I should run the mower once the grass dries off this afternoon, but otherwise today I'll be working on the layout.

This 2017 thread documents researching and modeling a distinctive bridge type that survived longer on the B&M than anyplace else, as far as I know:

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12-Feb-2017:

The Boston & Maine used wood for many bridges into the 1920s. Our Library of Congress' Historic American Engineering Record documented a couple (links valid 5/2025). This one still stands AFAIK:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/nh0283/

This one in Arundel, ME was replaced in 1995, but it's a better example to follow for the Chipman St. overpass west of Bexley Depot on my B&M Eastern Route layout:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/me0275/

The Sinnott Rd. (Meetinghouse) bridge from railroad west (Boston side):



The signal bridge stands but is unused - 8 years later I still need to photograph it.... The end of one of the enclosed trusses:



One of the angle braces keeping the skewed trusses from folding up or falling over and collapsing:



I wish I'd known where this was in 1990; when I cross its replacement I'm about 5 minutes from Seashore Trolley Museum.

Our chickens and barn cat are fed, so I'll load the urn with Crescent Wrench blend,lay out some donuts and fruit and leave the rest for when the cook gets in...

Shortly I'll be off to Seashore, this time to work on Track Dept. machines.  The NH seacoast is sunny with high haze, headed for 70. The forecast for tomorrow through the weekend is damp again, so gather ye rosebuds when ye may!

The original 2016 RR-Line thread was all HO scale. It started as a general discussion, but most of the pictures explain how I did removable lights on Walthers and Rix 'wood' injection-molded poles. All the vendors seem to still be in business but Walthers seems to be moving from their incandescent 12V products toward LED lamps

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1-Jun-2015: CZN17940 asked:

QuoteI'm in need of some modern HO street lights and was wondering if anybody
had any names of companies that make them.

Walthers carries quite a few modern metal-post lights from European manufacturers. Some might look reasonable in US settings.
In 2007 Walthers manufactured some North American prototype lights, but though they're still on the web site, none have been in stock for a long time (link obsolete in 2025, walthers.com is still there)  I could use several of the #2310 and #2311, but in 2007 I hadn't even designed the scenes I need them for.

Older era modelers are using kits for gooseneck lamps (Micro Lumina, N Scale Architect, maybe others) in street settings.

quartergauger48 (Ted) replied:

QuoteThere is a company on EBAY, Called 'WE Honest'.
I have ordered street lights and figures from them several times. They are very well made, LED with metal poles. You need to solder a resistor to one lead. They come with the resistors. 11 lights for less then 20 bucks. I received them in less time then from companies right here in the states....one week.

2-Jun-2015:
Tabooma_County (Al Carter) agreed:

QuoteI've ordered from "We Honest" several times with no problems, and the street
lights I ordered were well made.

So did k9wrangler (Karl):

QuoteWe Honest did me well, too. What did I order? Me Forget....

quartergauger (Ted) posted:

QuoteHere is a shot of a We Honest street light'..

2-Jun-2015: Frank; This link gets me We Honest's USA EBay store. They appear to have a Chinese language store, but I do not know where else they do business: WEHONEST eBay Store

There's a 'Street Lights' item in the Categories menu on the left. None that really match my area and era, but I'll keep watching them.

Robert_Goslin replied:

QuoteDavid Here's a couple I found recently. Haven't used them as yet, but guess they're O.K. Kytes Lites from England:

Kytes Lites (works 2025)

QuoteAnd this one, from China I think. Go to site and type in HO scale lights.
They also sell plenty of other model RR items too.

Ali Express (many vendors)

3-Jun-2015: Several of these vendors seem to be filling their buckets at the same set of wells. Aliexpress seems to be a 'small lots and overseas' division of Alibaba, the big Chinese on-line retailer. On-line reviews are mixed, but not beyond what I'd expect from "Americans buying clothes in general" plus "doing business half way round the world with a language barrier".

At that time, bang for the buck hadn't overridden my concerns about web and personal information security.

quartergauger (Ted) replied:

QuoteWe Honest is Okay thus far'...Pay Pal only, But I pay, pay pal with a credit card. If there is any problems, the CC company takes responsibility.
I agree though with you on your point'...

vikramgoel (Vik) added:

QuoteAnother company I have used is Express models in UK. They have a number of modern street and station lights. They also have lighted yard towers all in LED.

Express Models' home page

30-Jul-2015: I need a few HO "post" or "yard" lights. At least around here, the power Co. tends to use an inexpensive fixture when doing one of these un-metered installations, so the commercial 'cobra head' units on metal poles won't do:



Here I've filed the end of a "Yello-Glo" 3mm LED flat and bent the leads over, making sure they didn't touch. Then I slipped insulation taken off a 24 GA ethernet cable wire over one lead and bent the other down. I drilled the plastic pole #72 (.0224") and pushed the straight lead through. I'm about to solder #30 wires to each lead and paint the whole business. More when my shipment of 3.5mm audio jacks/plugs arrives.

3-Aug-2015: History tells me I need to keep my light poles removable, particularly on my modules that go to Hub Division shows. Out of the blue, I thought of the small plug/jack sets they use on earbuds (before they switched to radio).



This 3.5 mm set made by Switchcraft (839-1224-ND and SC1455-ND) cost about $2.50 from DigiKey in 2015. I used 3/16" brass tube (a loose fit on the body of the 'ring' side) to connect the light pole and the plug. I drilled a #66 hole in the tube for the red #30 wire soldered to the 'tip' lug in the center. Then I soldered the tube to the body to make the 'ring' connection via the blue wire soldered to the tube.

The Walthers pole above is filed to a press fit in the 3/16" tube. Before assembly, I painted the wires Scalecoat Graphite & Oil and cut the original stub off so it won't touch the 'ring' wire connection. I soldered the wires to the LED leads after the pole is pressed into the base. Then I'll glue them to the post to look like conduit for ground wires.

5-Aug-2015:



Above, the pole is assembled with the lamp leads glued down. They needed re-painting once the whole business was installed. The electric meter is made from .060 x .100 styrene and a slice of a clear styrene sprue. The jack is mounted in a .250 hole in the bit of hardboard. I'll solder wires to it before I attach it to the underside of the scenery. I eventually found my hot glue gun...

A short thread from July 2024 about a prototype restoration activity I'm involved with. In Reference Pix because many normally-hidden aspects of the historic train are shown.

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In 2021 I was one of a group of B&M fans who got together and re-constituted the Flying Yankee Restoration Group. At the time the FYRG was down to one or two board members and very little activity since well before COVID. We worked out a plan centered on a new business model for the restoration. Then we convinced the State of NH, owner of the train since the 1990s, that state ownership without any state funding was a dead end. Along the way we decided "Flying Yankee Association" was a better way to describe ourselves. The previous name is strongly associated with fundraising for two earlier restoration efforts, each of which stalled when funds ran out.

The FYA bought the train and its stored parts from NH for $1 on July 24. Sunday July 28 through Tuesday July 30 our rigger moved the train from Lincoln NH to Conway NH: First phase was 5 containers of parts plus the 3-car articulated train's 4 trucks:



Loading containers that had been stored on State property in Twin Mountain, NH.



And unloading them in Conway NH.



The center plate of a 1935 high-speed drop-equalizer passenger truck.

Rick checked in:

QuoteA worthy endeavor.
Good luck with the restoration.

As did Tom:

QuoteLooking forward to this adventure James.

Jerry (Trains1941):

QuoteGood luck with the restoration James. Keep us up to date.

And Karl:

QuoteExciting times! Great job guys, get to work!

Thanks, all. Our next goal is to get the train and parts under a roof, which will have to be built new - buildings with 220 feet of track inside are pretty much nonexistent in the White Mountains of NH. The train has to stay in NH for the next 15 years, and we've found an interested partner for operations (someday) in the Conway Scenic.

The second day of the move was spent loading the three cars on our partners' trucks behind the Granite State Scenic RR station (formerly Hobo Railroad) in Lincoln, NH.



The observation (3rd) car was the first lift.



Inevitably there's a dogs breakfast of cribbing, chain binders etc. under each end of the carbody. And even with experienced riggers getting that right takes time and thought. Unless you're moving multiple identical vehicles.

A brief thread about completing a discarded project for my passenger car fleet:

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4-Feb-2023: The HUB Division has an energetic Donations Chair; he and his volunteers bring a lot of stuff to our annual Marlboro MA show. A few years back, I saw an old AHM/Rivarossi P-S lightweight 10-6 model on one of their tables: one truck loose, no couplers, roof made removable and an interior featuring a full passenger load of LPs.



The interior partitions are cardstock and Goo, by the color. Doors are drawn on. Floor covering is green blotting paper. And of course, one of the bedrooms is occupied by a young lady just out of the shower. I'd actually been thinking about a PRR lightweight 10-6 for quite a few years. By the mid-50s they regularly reached Portland, ME on the State of Maine, and even Ellsworth or later Bangor on the Bar Harbor Express. I don't know who built it, but I thought a few bucks for his (pretty sure) work was a good beginning to a "layout" car.

AHM/Rivarossi introduced a line of HO scale full-length heavyweight and lightweight passenger cars modeled after recognizable US prototypes in the late 1960s. They were injection-molded in Yugoslavia and continued to be produced through the 1980s, later under the IHC name. The line inspired a lot of prototypic passenger car modeling from painting/decaling to major cut/splice projects.  Many got written up in magazine articles. In particular, the heavyweight 12-1 Pullman was the basis for a lot of early efforts modeling accurate heavyweight Pullmans of various different plans. Lots of AHM/IHC Pullmans and lightweights were sold; they're still widely available used.

PRR Modeler (Curt Webb) commented:

QuoteThe interior should look great through the car windows.

ACL1504 (Tom) commented:

QuoteInteresting project. I wonder if the Goo was used to hold a figure up against the walls.
I have a set of ACL heavyweights and Southern heavyweights all by IHC. They've been under the layout for at least 20+ years.

I added ice A/C to a Rivarossi 12-1 using New England Rail Service parts, and I turned another into B&M parlor Elm. Again, NERS ducts and details but with etched brass sides from Concord Jct. Car Shops.

k9wrangler (Karl) said:

QuoteDidn't Walters or someone make interior kits made of card stock and seats, toilets, etc? WAY back in the day? Of course if so you're required to use Goo....

I think you're right, Karl. Either I have one or I remember them from the catalog, won't know till I look.



I got out Liljestrand's picture book of PRR sleepers. Huron Rapids carried #8342 (though it's not visible in Bob's pictures). It was built March 1949 with PRR 2E-P5 trucks and ran till Feb. 1968. The Railway Prototype Cyclopedia Vol. 6 article translates that to Pullman type 41-NP.

The Rivarossi truck pivots are not centered on the trucks, even with 4-axle cars and the die work was ok for the 60s. But Walthers' 41-NP is much better. I filed a flat spot outboard of the old pivot centered in the side skirt opening. I experimented with styrene till the body height was about right. Walthers' passenger trucks have a drop-center bolster which sits very low compared to other passenger trucks. I wound up stacking 2 blocks of .060.

Then I removed Rivarossi's sketch of a diaphragm from the end. Once the American Limited diaphragm is installed, I'll have to replace the grabs and repaint the ends, but I don't like big gaps in my passenger trains.

6-Feb-2023:



Before I started my layout, I built and detailed a lot of passenger cars. I've applied many air, signal and steam hoses. The plastic castings are vulnerable and it's been years since I've found any more of Cal Scale's metal hose sets. So I did the grabs from Tichy phosphor bronze and then made hoses: .032 steam, .025 air (a brake hose I have measures 2") and .020 signal. Steel hammer on rail anvil to flatten the ends, mount in holes drilled in the floor. The blind end is most likely to be visible, given how the roomettes are laid out and people installed, so I'll make its drop steps a little smaller. I'll blacken the metal parts before painting.

I won't touch side and roof grabs till I see how well I can match Rivarossi's Tuscan Red. BTW the floor casting claims this was made in Italy.

12-Feb-2023:



I'm satisfied with the end details and how Floquil Tuscan Red matches up with AHM/Rivarossi's version. The only weathering I've done is a mist of Scalecoat NYC Dark Gray on the underbody and over the trucks. I'll put a little more time into that and dirt on the ends to disguise the paint mismatch.

Then the project sits till I get around to lighting. Probably a rectifier bridge and two current limiting diodes, one for the rear markers, the other for 3-4 LEDs in the people spaces. I doubt I'm the first to think of clear plastic sprue as a light diffuser, I'll see what's on the web.

deemery (Dave) commented:

QuotePRR Modeler mag has an article on a passenger car including lighting: The Keystone Modeler Vol. 123

The Keystone Modeler index site

Thanks, Dave. I've known Andy Miller since the 1970s but I don't usually read Keystone Modeler (not his article, but it uses his circuit). Also it reminded me the aisle safety bars are easy to add. I'll check the beading wire one of my GFs gave me for stainless of the right diameter.

Some information in this 2022 thread was made obsolete when Rob Paisley discontinued selling these particular detector cards. But I think his schematics and maybe circuit board art work can be found in archives, and there are other commercial products with similar functionality.  More generally relevant LED/detector issues are also discussed.

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16-Jan-2022: My two long (~30 cars) staging tracks are about 60% hidden behind the backdrop. I made a window behind a building flat so operators could see their train before it reached (and maybe shorted) the gaps at the east switch. And I rigged up a turnout position indicator in the upper floors of the same building, using a relay driven by a contact on the twin coil switch machine. But I didn't draw the whole circuit, so it took me a while to figure out what I'd done four years ago.

I chose Rob Paisley's 8-phototransistor 'Inverting Photodetector' card. I ordered Orange and Purple LEDs from LED-Switch.com, so occupancy wouldn't be confused with signal aspects. And I chose a panel location where it could be seen from the south half of my attic. Here's the panel, masked and all but one hole drilled, ready for the final coat of paint:



David_J_Buchholz asked:

QuoteSo what does the card do? How does it work?

17-Jan-2022:  The Inverting Photodetector has 8 places to connect phototransistors. which conduct electricity when infrared or visible light shines on them. And it has 8 connections for LEDs, each of which turns on when its phototransistor is dark ("inverting"). It runs on 12 VDC. Rob Paisley's long description used to be online, but may be archived under www.circuitous.ca/8PhotoInverting.htm

desertdrover (Louis) commented:

QuoteNice choice, I had gone with the Circuitron BD-1 system years back. When you can't see where those trains are staged you need them.
The biggest challenge, as you know is having super perfect track, because you can't get to the trains easy without crawl spaces and other obstacles.

17-Jan-2022: I glanced at the BD-1, Louis; they have several features I don't need, and the lowest price I saw for a BD-1 is as much as Paisley's card with 8 independent sensors. The visible end of Saugus staging is easy to access. The rest is a hands-and-knees crawl with little headroom once behind the layout. The code 100 flextrack was laid more than 10 years ago and hasn't given trouble. Here's the schematic display panel in progress:



In this photo, the invisible railroad-east (towards Portsmouth) end is to the left. I need to show two things: First, where the train is relative to the left turnout:: Leftmost LED shows it's too close, the next LED's sensor is a foot from the first's. Second, at the center: where the ends of trains are so I can store two short trains on one long track. Again, the sensors are a foot apart.



I needed 9 wires from the Paisley card, so I used 24 GA solid for the cathode (positive) feed and old Cat 5 network cable for each LED's operate lead. Telco color code puts Blue first, then Orange, Green and Brown. All the occupancy LEDs are orange - purple was a bad purchasing decision as they need 3 VDC where the orange lights on 2 VDC.The two unwired LEDs will repeat existing turnout position LEDs, once I figure out and document how I wired the existing ones. The block at the right end will anchor the cables.



Two of the phototransistors Paisley supplies, ready to be pushed into holes between the rails and wired to the control board. As with the LEDs, there's one common line but this goes to the 12 VDC ground. I have one more 4-phototransistor harness to wire and install, then I can start hooking the components up.

18-Jan-2022: "First Light" was not the occupancy, but the switch position indicator repeater:



Narrow_Mark commented:

QuoteI like the set up. Also wondering if the now ready availability of webcam type devices means there's a video option to consider?
I had a temporary 50' LGB shuttle line set up with trains running from a staging area inside my garage through a tunnel opening crafted in a temporary plywood access door out to the street as a covid-distanced Halloween candy delivery system in 2020. Used a simple diode arrangement so that I could not overrun the end of the track out by the street and set up a web cam at that end which linked to a laptop inside the garage for me to monitor activity. Also had a buzzer set so that the kids could summon a train pulling a candy gondola. For what was very much a lash-up, it worked well. Just a thought.

19-Jan-2022: Video would give an overview and answer a range of questions, but I'd need two cameras, one for each critical point. There aren't good camera angles; the ceiling is too close..  And the farther the viewer is from the display, the larger it has to be. A signal light conveys simple information quickly and effectively from a distance, and these LEDs are visible from anywhere in the south half of my layout. Of course, I'll find out what my operators think once the current wave of contagion passes.