I have a question re the Walther’s hanging traffic lights, the single head ones. These - http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Walthers-HO-2302-Hanging-Traffic-Light-p/933-2302.htm Problem is, I have no idea how to install those, has anyone had any experience with those? And how to install them? (I have experience with the other Walther’s traffic lights + controller.)
I’ve only seen a handful of prototype installations and those were all seen quite a few years ago. If I remember correctly, the four sided hanging signals were suspened from a steel cable attached to two light posts and/or building structures on opposite (diagonal) corners of an intersection. The electric power wires to the signal were wrapped around the support cable so there would be no strain on these wires. It should be fairly easy to string a support wire across your intersection then position your signal head and wrap the electric wires around the support wire. I would probably wrap one electric wire in each direction away from the signal head so the power wire/support cable combinations don’t get too far out of scale. The electric power wires themselves should be strong enough to suspend the signal head from the support wire, at least on the model.
This is one I did some time ago:
I made the supporting poles with coffee stirrers, a slightly larger tube at the bottom and a washer for the base. The top is the head of a larger brad.
I have another one at another corner that I made with brass tubing for poles. It’s a lot more solid than these thin-walled coffee stirrers, and I would recommend that. It also has a more modern look, painted silver, than these which are done with Moss Green. These are the brass-tube ones, to the left of the locomotives:
For both of these, I used the hanging light for one street and a two-sided light for the crossing street, for a total of 3 faces. In the first picture, the fourth side faces the back of the layout, so I didn’t bother with a light there. The bottom one is a T intersection and only needs 3 faces.