[MOD] Recycling of a broken 4,5v signal post

[Paperinik77pk]

Hi all!

Sometimes things break up, but throwing them away is always annoying for me. So I keep them, and in some cases I find a new use to them.

This is the case of some red signals coming from 4,5v world - the stopping system was broken, the white plate broken and yellowed, plus the lever was prone to get stuck and not working properly. It can happen...

So after dismantling the old signal, I tried to make  it work again. the signal post has a metal lever inside, that is raised by the original plastic lever, basically sliding on a round surface. the red shell is composed by two parts. On this one, the bottom part was broken and split in half. I needed some glue to make it good again (I glued the interior side so nothing can be seen outside).

I decided to use this signal on newer PF track,so to have some scenery.  It has no more the stopping feature, since trains are now PF, but maybe it will have some in the future (a sliding color code, maybe? ).

So I recreated with very few parts a new base and a similar mechanism to activate the signal. First I put some gel glue on one end of the metallic pole, basically making a "plastic tip" to slide on the small half liftarm (plastic vs plastic is better than metal vs plastic).

I greased a bit the pole and the tip with Tamiya grease to make it work better.

 

And here it is, once repaired.

 

It's not so much work, there's no glue between the pole and the other bricks (it is just attached as a normal 4x1 brick).

It is a nice vintage addition, if you have a steamer around!!! Obviously It can be used also on 9v track, just replace the dark bluish gray plates with dark gray ones and the light bluish gray Technic axle (3L) with a black one

Ciao!

Davide

Edited April 6, 2020 by Paperinik77pk

[JopieK]

Very nice job @Paperinik77pk, it looks really nice that way and the signal is always a great addition, would fit nicely with the green 'HoMa engine' ;).

[Evans]

Nice modification! Did you use the hairdryer technique in order to separate the red mast and the white base? Or did you cut them?

I also have some not working properly, I was wondering if it could be remote-controlled with a string system and a lever, maybe even tied with a (non-Lego) circuit-breaker in order to use them with 12V trains, instead of light signals, to give more diversity on the network. Semaphores were still something in the 80's! I still have to dig this idea.

[Paperinik77pk]

21 hours ago, Evans said:

Nice modification! Did you use the hairdryer technique in order to separate the red mast and the white base? Or did you cut them?

I also have some not working properly, I was wondering if it could be remote-controlled with a string system and a lever, maybe even tied with a (non-Lego) circuit-breaker in order to use them with 12V trains, instead of light signals, to give more diversity on the network. Semaphores were still something in the 80's! I still have to dig this idea.

Ciao Evans! Luckily, this one was already without base - it was a part of an economic lot I got a long time ago on Ebay. I've another one that had the broken base - so I needed to remove it using the hairdryer .

Since there's a technic axle, I thought it could be nice to use a standard remote 12v actuator (normally used for switches) with some Technic gears (let's say - same mechanism as the automated crossing level of the time.

I sincerely do not know if a 12v signal control could be used to move also an actuator... it is something to try!

Edited April 7, 2020 by Paperinik77pk

[Testaciatta]

That's a very nice idea!

Would you be so kind to tell me what is the length and diameter of the metal rod inside the signal?

I have a broken signal I would like to repair. The individual parts are in good shape, just the glue has failed and the rod is missing.

 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Totally cool! 

I've those signals too and some are broken.

Nice idea!