The next pic is a custom built DT-400 holder my neighbor and I built. We cranked out 14 of them. Total cost of materials, less than 15 bucks at Home Depot.
The next four are Dwarf signals made from PCB Vertical indicators. They came with two green LEDs so I replaced the bottom one with red. I used 1/4 square styrene for the base painted concrete. I know they are not prototypical but they are close enough. I have less than 90 cents in each. A Tomar Dwarf runs around 8-10 bucks. Now I can sit on my butt and run trains all day without getting up. I use DS-54’s with peco twin coils and micro switches on each T/O. I now have T/O position lights and panel push buttons for my yard. I love being Lazy.
Looking good. I like the signal bridge. If you’re looking for something similar try Bachmann #45134, IHC #5014 or 5015, or Model Power #419. All three make the same basic signal bridge.
Ken - Actually there are hoods but not very large so they don’t show up. I thought about cutting them off and making some deeper ones out of black coffee stirrers that I have but I opted for the lazy route.
Nick - Tks for the info. I will check them out. It was a fun project and would like to do several more if I can find a cheap bridge.
Terry[8D]
Selector - Tks we designed them so I can run a loco with it in the cradle. All the buttons are accessible. I had to do something because I kept drop kicking my DT-400’s all over the floor.
Terry[8D]
Terry, those look great and the price certainly is right. Can you tell us what you used for the sides? It almost looks like wooden “outside corner” trim, or do I need new glasses?
Steve - The sides were cut from a solid piece of 1 1/4 x 3/4 Poplar. We then made two cuts to remove the inside section and it does look similar to trim but much stronger. We beveled all the outside corners for appearance . So far I have assembled five of them and have them on the layout. Turned out much nicer than I had hoped they would and it is nice to be able to run a loco without removing the Throttle from the holder if you want to. I can take more pics from different angles if you like.
Terry[8D]
Terry,
Fantastic, thanks a million! When you said 1 1/4 x 3/4 Poplar, I was thinking I’d use my router table. Now I see why you made two cuts, although I’ll still use the router for the first pass on the beveled edges.
Excellent job on the holders, and excellent pics showing us your design. [tup][tup][tup][tup]
Steve - That is exactly what we did. Before cutting the wood we beveled the edges with the router. When I had it assembled I hit the edges with my palm sander to smooth it up. Eventually probably will paint it to match the Facia color (which is non existant at this time)
Terry[8D]
Nice work, Terry!! An inspiration to us all! One of our club members has an “around the neck” holder that he had his wife sew up for him. He uses it for his DT-4r throttle. Pretty cool way to do it as the throttle is always right there as he walks around the layout.
John - I am pretty rough on my DT-400’s. I have dropped them so many times I am amazed they still work. A testament for sure for the DIgitrax folks. Now I have a pocket on both sides of each of the plug ins. Haven’t dropped one since.
Good idea with the around the neck. I need to get more of the IR plugins so I can go more wireless. So maybe I may have to try the around the neck thing to keep them off the floor.
Terry[8D]
