Lamp post

[martin.ojaste]

Hi,

I'm working on the SWSM Shipyard and wanted to light the yard area. There are two lamppost that are wooden poles with brass wire and a dummy light fixture attached to it. I would like to make these working LED lights. I've order the SMD LEDs and related supplies.

Where I need some suggestions in what would look best in getting the LED wires from the lamp fixture to the main building. The choices are,

- running the wire down the pole without a pipe or with a pipe
- or run through the air to the main building
- or how to run in down the centre of the pole somehow
- or any other suggestions?

What would be the most realistic way to do it?

\marty

[dougkast]

Joel Freedman, 1st place winner of the 2012 Expo Big Diarama had lamp poles with hidden wires. I'm not sure how he did it, maybe one of the other member spoke with him about it.

[Slim Jerkins]

Hi Martin

If you want most realistic I would think that running the wires through the air is probably the most prototypical for the era. Of course you'll have to dress the wires so that the sag and look properly scaled. Anders Malmberg ran his wires in the open for his Krakow Garage model. I'll post some pictures of it in a separate reply.

You could get away with running the wires down the pole if you want. The magnet wire that you solder to the LED is very thin and easy to hide/camouflage. You could scribe a thin groove down the length of the pole and glue the wire into the groove.

-slim

[dougkast]

Slim's correct...early era wiring would have been run overhead, not underground due to cost. Underground wiring was mostly done in a city setting.

[martin.ojaste]

Ok, through the air it shall be.

I guess it has to be two strands tied to glass insulators on both ends. Then would they have pipe/conduit at the building side to feed it into the building on the first floor?

Also, where should the magnetic wire come out of the lamp shaped tubing? I assume a hole in the bottom edge with a loop to the insulator is the most realistic. I thought of running the tube through the pole and tiring it to the insulators at that point; while easy to do, it's not realistic.

I figure black epoxy will do as the lamp support mounting bracket unless there is a better way.

[dougkast]

Here's a couple of photos from a diorama from "Rail Scale Miniatures" at the 2011 Expo. Hope this helps.

Link: www.railscaleminiatures.com/delwins.htm

[martin.ojaste]

Thanks, yes it does help.

It tells be that the feeder into the complex is 240vac, single phase. The three LED lamp poles are wired in series with the return buried in one of the poles or tucked behind a pole. It is not obvious how the the wires got into the fixture itself. Looking closely at the wires, it looks like they are nylon and the lights are powered from inside the pole.

I wonder what vendor supplies the vertical insulator bars and transformer?

\marty

[jbvb]

It could be Walthers' insulators, but it isn't their small or large transformer.

[bparrish]

Yes.......... overhead wire is probably best but a bit impractical if it is anywhere near hands and arms during operations.

Consider this.  Make the pole out of brass tubing as the brass becomes one side of the circuit and you only need to have a single wire inside the tube.

Here is a photo of a gas lamp that uses the brass tube idea.



Here is a photo of a Woodland Scenic lamp post that has Miniatronics bulbs with two wires and a brass shade.  The wires trace the pole and are held on with super glue.  The pole is planted and small hole is next to the pole to get the wires below the bench work.


see ya
Bob

[DACS]

I just noticed that it has been 120 days since anyone posted here, but, I thought I would go ahead and put this out.
You could use size 18 beads for your insulators.  I used these for my enginehouse build for knob and tube wiring.  Wiseman Model services also has some insulators and such.

Dave HWCRR
Seattle