Richard -

At Seashore, we're actually transitioning to Maine's toughest season, mud
season! In between the time when snow starts melting, but before the days
get warmer and sunnier, the area turns to a soft, squishy mess. I've heard
some describe March and April as the only months of the year they can't
stand up there. As the spring progresses, we'll do more shunting projects
to shift cars from winter storage to better work locations in car barns or
elsewhere on the property. We're a museum of very distinct seasons, in
many ways!

At some point in the next couple months, we do plan to spend more time with
P 1700, and will hopefully have it into the shop for servicing and work,
but that also needs to be worked around the needs of servicing the rest of
the operating fleet for our busy summer season. I'll be sure to keep the
car's interested supporters informed as we make progress. As always, we
continue to be very grateful to our friends in Sydney and beyond for the
advice and insight.

As to the LED's, while I cannot speak for the restoration staff directly, I
don't see that we would want to move in that direction - I think it would
be considered too drastic a deviation from as built (even if the
advertisements were a later-life addition).

-Jeff Bennett

On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 5:37 AM 'Richard Youl' via TramsDownUnder < tramsdownunder@...> wrote:

> While LED ‘fluorescent’ lamps quite possibly are a better alternative, the

> ones I have pulled apart and played with are certainly intended for a.c.

> supplies. Maybe there are other designs available.

>

> Seashore also has some former Boston elevated subway cars in their

> collection, and I suggested a good starting point would be to see if any of

> these older cars have fluorescent lamps of the same design as the Ps used..

> Certainly if the subway car lamps are compatible, and eight were available,

> it could well be the simplest restoration solution.

>

> Something we can’t fathom here is that at the moment Seashore is totally

> snowbound, as it is every winter, and they can’t even get to any of their

> subway cars to check out what lighting they have.

>

> One way or another, it certainly would be great to see the lights shining

> on the P again. While it is likely that majority of P class were equipped

> with these illuminated advertising panels, it seems that SPER’s 1497 was

> never one of them.

>

> Richard

>

> On 12 Mar 2019, at 7:13 pm, Malcolm Rowe mal.rowe@...> wrote:

>

> I have used these devices - although in the 8' version - on a carnival

> ride many years ago.

>

> For the application that Richard is considering (backlighting Women's

> Weekly ad on a P car) I would have thought that an array of LEDs would be a

> far better solution.

>

> Mal Rowe - who remembers the kids on the ride seeing the ballasts explode

> thought it was parts of the special effects

>

> On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 8:46 AM Matthew Geier <

>matthew@...> wrote:

>

>>

>> https://www.lightonline.com.au/philips-tl-x-xl-low-pressure-mercury-discharge-40w-single-pin

>>

>> Intended for explosive environments as no 'spark' is needed to start the

>> tube.

>>

>> Rated at 100v. I guess you put 3 in series with 3 series incandescent

>> for current limiting....

>>

>>

>>

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>

>

> --

> Mal Rowe - AU

>

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