I’ve been using 1156 auto tail light bulbs to do DCC short management on my HO Siskiyou Line and here’s a video clip to see it in action! If you go to:
… (second video clip down) you’ll find a 3 minute clip demonstrating the tail light bulbs doing their thing.
I also mention how I wire the Siskiyou Line to short proof the layout so only the train causing the short shuts down, and trains even in the same power district tied to that same booster keep right on running!
Just to show you I’m not crazy, the video clip demonstrates this very thing in action on the Siskyou Line, so you can see it really works.
If anyone has any questions about how this is done, I’m happy to try and answer them.
I happen to have a bunch of 1156 and 1157 light bulbs in my toolbox! Pretty neat that something that’s been around for decades is useful for today’s DCC technology. [C):-)]
You really have contributed a lot to the hobby! [4:-)][tup]
Yes, the bulbs are simply amazing. Considering that they cost about $1 each and that as car tail lights they are intended to be turned on and off every day for months on end means each bulb ought to outlast the layout!
Since the bulbs only light when you get a short (and then prevent the short from even registering), it all woks very well indeed.
Remember, if anyone has any questions about this technique, be glad to answer them.
If you take one block and follow the wiring you should see that the feeders on one side of the train block are fed from a sub-bus that’s protected by a single 1156 bulb.
Each train block sub-bus is fed with it’s own 1156 bulb.