the holder in the holiday projectors. I printed the artwork and
took it to my local print shop to have a high contrast line nega-
tive made. I then cut out the images to the proper diameter and
inserted them in the image holders of the holiday projectors.
Now I am talking about two projectors. Innovative train tech-
nologies offered two different circuit boards with two differ-
ent thunder and lightning sequences. It didn't seem right to
have the lightning always flash in the same place, in the same
way and the same thunder sound. Two circuit boards with two
projectors, which are purposely out of synch with each other,
solves the problem.
One lightning bolt would
strike the top of the Kansas
City Power & Light Building
while the second would
strike over the area of
the Sheffield Steel plant. I
used a set of Hi-Fi Heathkit
speakers at those separate
locations under the layout.
With a 10” woofer and no
additional amplification,
those thunder/lightning cir-
cuit boards put out remark-
able sound!
I purchased a third holiday
projector. This projector
was different than the first
two I had found. It had a
rotating wheel with space
for five different images.
Getting Real - 4
8: The moon is shining
through a break in the clouds
as the night time thunder-
storm rolls through Kansas
City with a bolt of lightning
striking the top of the top of
the Power & Light building.
8
This meant that for the
lightning flash, it can dis-
play any of five different
lightning bolt patterns. That
turned out to be very effec-
tive! Visitors are always
impressed with the final
effect and always ask if it's
going to rain! The answer
is no, this is where I quit!
There is a limit to what I
will try.
That's all for this install-
ment. Next time, it’s back to
laying track.
9: The third holiday projec-
tor that I purchased is capa-
ble of holding five different
lightning bolt patterns.
9
10: One of the three light-
ning bolt patterns.
10
11: For minimum visual
impact the three pro-
jectors are clustered
on the ceiling and are
painted sky blue.
11
MRH-Aug 2013
