Detailing and Motorising the Corgi Blackpool 'Balloon' Tram

[CWJ]

Hi All,

 

Returning to RMWeb after a 10-year break, I find myself without the space for a layout but itching to do some modelling, so I've decided it would be nice to have a tram running along a high shelf on the wall of my shed / summerhouse / man-cave.  I'd probably prefer a railway, given the choice, but a tram doesn't look as silly if it has to negotiate sharp, 90-degree curves at the corners of the room.

 

The Corgi / Original Omnibus die-cast models seemed like a good starting point so I got my hands on a 'Balloon' in 1990s livery as I remember them from many happy visits to Blackpool.

 

 

There will hopefully be three parts to this project:

 

1. Modifying and detailing the Corgi body and interior to make the tram look less like a shiny diecast toy.  I'm aiming for something that looks from a distance like a recent Hornby or Bachmann model of a 'Balloon', if such a thing were to exist.  There have been so many permutations of window and body features on this fleet that I'm modelling whichever are easiest rather than trying to emulate a specific car on a specific date.
2. Adding directional head and tail lights, and interior lights with some kind of constant-brightness and flicker-free functionality.   This would be much easier if I already had DCC equipment, but I don't, so it'll be DC.
3. Designing and building low-profile motor bogies using coreless micro motors.  It doesn't look humanly possible for these to be squeezed under the floor, so the interior floor height will be artificially raised to the bottom of the seat cushions; I'm hoping this will leave the interior looking suitably empty from most angles.

 

Cheers,

Will

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[CWJ]

Before I start showing you exciting pictures of the model being hacked up, there were some less glamorous preparatory tasks to do first. 

 

I didn't want to drill holes for lights if I couldn't make them work, so I put together a test circuit.  The first photo shows (L-R) a pair of Zener diodes to allow the lighting to see a few volts before the motors kick in, a filament bulb to represent the motor load, a white headlight LED, a red (extinguished) tail light LED, a bridge rectifier, an anti-clicker capacitor, a 3.3V voltage regulator and a tiny white interior light LED mounted on a bit of PCB so I can handle it.

 

 

The second photo shows the same circuit with the voltage turned up so the 'motor' (bulb) comes on.

 

 

And the third shows the voltage reversed so the headlamp goes off and the tail lamp comes on, although it's not very clear in between those resistors.

 

 

The interior light is on at all times and remains a constant brightness.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[stewartingram]

Couple of points, trying to help. The 'old' tramway was before the modernisation, operated as a much different beast. Lights were not used much in daytime, and if they were, they were very dim, leds are MUCH too bright. Also interior lights were not on much in daytime, ths is something that has crept in over the years. One variation I can remember though; 723 was refurbished (quite distinctive flush windows etc) and it acquired what amounted to a car foglamp above the cab, so in effect it had 3triangular lights on the front like a class 56 or a European diesel.

At the Doncaster show, I purchased a very nice & hefty new book "Blackpool Trams 1968-1985" by Nick Meskell. Slightly before your 1990 period but an excellent book, describing the details of (i think) every livery variation he could find - and some of those variations are small! Pricy (£40) but to me an excellent book. Might be worth asking the local library to get you a copy?

ISBN is 978-1-907648-36-6, published by Train Crazy Publishing.

[CWJ]

Stewart, I know exactly what you mean - I'm not a fan of bright LEDs and in particular lights in the wrong place, such as cab lighting while driving or tail lights on the back of a loco while hauling a train!  So if I was running this tram in daylight there would be no need for interior lights, however it will be on a display shelf in my home bar (AKA shed) which will mostly be used in the evenings with nice dim lighting.  I've gathered one or two illuminated features including a full-size DMU destination blind and a tail lamp, so I'm hoping the illuminated tram won't look out of place in that context.

 

Having said that, I'd like the lights to look prototypically dim, in fact that was one of the reasons for my test circuit.  My photography doesn't show it very well, but I've chosen current limiting resistors which give the dimmest possible light when the tram's at full speed, while just remaining on at the lowest speed.  I've also chosen tiny '0603' LEDs for the interior to give an impression of the bare lightbulbs used in the real thing, rather than just a couple of larger LEDs in the middle of the ceiling.  I'll put the tramcar together and see how the lights look.  If I can't get them to look convincing they can always be disconnected.

 

Many thanks for the book recommendation, too.  From the many photos I've seen online while preparing for this job, you could write a lengthy book just about Balloon modifications over the years!  

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

Another couple of prep jobs which aren't very exciting but essential if I want my motor bogies to work smoothly...

 

Firstly, the traction motors.  These are absolutely tiny, measuring just 6mm diameter by 10mm long, and they came from Nigel Lawton (http://www.nigellawton009.com/6V6mmx10mmMicroMotors.html) whose website includes other drivetrain components for miniscule 00-9 locos.  On test the motors had a noticeable whine at higher speeds and I was concerned this may be amplified by the (proposed) etched bogie frames and diecast bodyshell.  I tried wrapping one in a layer of heat-shrink sleeving in the hope that this might act like a rubbery vibration damper between the motor and the bogie frame, and then conducted a highly scientific noise test.  I took the sleeved motor and held it against a nearby metal radiator while under power to amplify the noise.  I then did the same with the unsleeved motor.

 

 

 Anticlimax Alert: I couldn't tell any difference whatsoever, so given the difficult space constraints of the bogie, I won't bother with the heat-shrink.

 

Next, I had to work out the vertical spacing between the worm drive shaft and the axle gear.  These are spare parts for Tenshodo motor bogies, obtained from the Tramfabriek Ebay shop.  

 

 

I made it 3.75mm, which would be slightly closer together than shown in the photo.  This level of precision is one reason why I need to etch the bogie frames rather than attempt to drill holes accurately.

 

I then designed the bogie, each of which has one motor, a reduction belt stage and the final drive worm above to both axles.  This drawing is really just to show the layout and how the drivetrain works, the frame / gearbox may end up looking different.

 

 

Forgive the crude representation of the worms and gears, I wasn't trying to draw their teeth properly.  At this stage I'm just trying to find out if it's feasible really, as this is much smaller than anything mechanical I've ever done before!  The wheelbase is 19mm, the wheel diameter 9mm and the whole thing is just 10.8mm above rail level.  I designed it with the ability to have a wheelbase of between 16 and 22mm to suit other Blackpool cars I may build in future.

 

Now I've worked out the bogie design is technically possible, I've put its design to one side while I start tinkering with the body.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

One more slightly tedious job before we get to the interesting stuff.  The paint job on the Corgi model is one of its strong points, and I don't want the hassle of a full re-paint if I can get away with just touching up the areas that I need to tweak.  Somewhere on the internet it was recommended to use Humbrol No. 2 'Emerald' and No. 41 'Ivory' for Blackpool Transport green and cream.  The cream looks a close enough match, but Corgi's green looked a bit more bronzey than the Humbrol, so I tried mixing it with small amounts of black, orange and/or yellow.

 

 

The colours aren't reproduced very well in the photo, but to the naked eye the test patch nearest the doors looks pretty much identical.  This was mixed with 5 parts No.2 (Emerald) and 2 parts No. 154 (yellow).  The No.2 on its own is a much worse match to the naked eye than it is in the photo! 

 

I'll keep my little test card for future reference, but I'm now happy to go ahead and take a file to those window frames.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

Finally for tonight, something a bit more substantial than my earlier ramblings - I've started modifying the lower deck's interior moulding.

 

 

First up, the floors above the bogies need to be raised by a couple of millimetres.

 

 

I found this little rotary saw blade perfect for this job, it was very controllable and didn't melt the plastic like a cutting disc might.

 

 

Half an hour later and after tidying up with a scalpel, I'm left with a holey floor and a pile of plastic crumbs.  Lovely!

 

 

The underside looks rough but it doesn't matter; styrene sheet will be glued to the bottom of the seats for mounting the bogies.  I no longer needed the three screw bosses so these were removed next:

 

 

The bosses nearest the cab fronts can be carefully snapped off with thin-nosed pliers, but I couldn't think of a way of grinding or filing the other three flatter ones away without damaging other parts, so they were crudely drilled out with the kind of bits you keep for DIY rather than modelling!  I'll be covering the holes anyway.

 

I needed to make room in the front 'wall' for the head and tail lights, but I didn't want to completely remove it as it gives strength to the interior.

 

 

So I drilled 1mm holes 3mm above the base and then opened them out to 4mm, before cutting down from the top with the little circular saw.

 

I've run out of megabytes for this post.  To be continued...

[CWJ]

The last 'destructive' job on the interior, before I can start adding things to it, is the staircase.  I wouldn't fancy my chances of squeezing through this gangway:

 

And on the real tramcars the staircase does not encroach on the second window as shown below:

 

 

So I marked up the staircase mouldings, which conveniently are separate from the floor, to thin them down in two dimensions.

 

 

After some work with the saw and scalpel, part of the side wall has been removed.

 

 

...which means the centre gangway is now accessible, at least to passengers who haven't indulged in too many chips on the seafront.

 

 

Tonight's content is a condensed record of about 2 weeks' work, so updates will be less frequent from now on.  I'll carry on getting the messy, destructive tasks done first, so the bodyshell might be my next victim.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

I was hoping to have an update by now, but I can't start cutting holes in the bodyshell, or build the trucks/bogies, until I've etched some brass parts.  If anyone is interested in the emotional rollercoaster that is my etching 'journey', here's a link:

 

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

My brass-etching efforts are now good enough to produce the combined bogie frames/gearboxes, but not yet refined enough for detailing parts.  The tinkering continues, but here's a preview of a bogie frame etch:

 

 

And quickly folded into shape and with bearings loosely in position:

 

 

This is a bit experimental but hopefully it will make more sense when I've added the transmission components and wheelsets.   Even if it makes sense, that doesn't necessarily mean it will work of course!

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

At long last I have some actual progress to report!

 

My experiments with home brass etching have finally resulted in some usable parts:

 

I'm hoping this one will make a big visual difference to the front ends of the tram (and indeed the rear ends, depending on where you're standing).  The windscreen will be folded down the middle to fit tram's pointed nose, just as soon as I come up with a method!  The outer frame has a half-etched line down the back to help with alignment, but other than that I'll just have to use my initiative.  Photos of Balloons often show the cab window open so I've made it as a separate posable part.  Needless to say, these window frames are very fragile so I'm handling them very carefully until they're securely attached to the tram!

 

At the back of the cab I've made a representation of the bulkhead wall.  I included more detail than necessary, and the imperfections don't really matter.  Those holes in the lower panels will be filled in though - just part of my etching process that I haven't quite perfected yet.

 

This piece provides a floor to cover a large former screw hole and fold-up partition screens with handrail brackets.  You might just be able to make out the corresponding hole in the floor, so the handrail can run floor-to-ceiling like the real thing.

 

On the upper deck, Corgi's moulded bannister is the wrong way round, so the little passengers wouldn't be able to get a seat upstairs!  I've made a replacement with half-etched panel detail and holes for handrails.  The bit that folds behind the seat isn't really necessary but it strengthens the partition and gives it somewhere to be glued onto.  Again there's a hole which will be filled, and I've only noticed when looking at the photo that the left-hand side needs straightening out.

 

I've etched doors so that I can set these slightly further back than the existing cast ones and replace the cast handrails with finer separate ones.  I'm hoping these doors might look capable of actually opening, instead of looking like they're sealed together with thick glossy paint!  The rim around the windows is also finer, to represent the simple rubber seal of the prototype.  Yes, I know, there's another hole to fill!  But that's a lot less work than building doors from scratch.

 

All of the above are just plonked loosely in position to see if they fit.    Next, on to something even more fiddly...

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

With this next part, I'm pushing the boundaries of what can be etched and what, realistically, I'm remotely capable of assembling!  The Corgi Balloon has a solid block to represent the front bumpers and towing block/slot (tram equivalent of buffers and coupling), and I thought this was an opportunity to give my model a bit of finesse ...but only if I can pull it off!  So that block won't be filed off my bodyshell until I can assemble the etched replacement.

 

The coupling is folded up into a box shape in the middle and positioned loose on the bumper etch which hasn't yet been folded into shape.

 

Here you can see what I mean about the Corgi model.  This livery variant is particularly unfortunate because the bumpers were painted black, so it looks like the big rubber bumper from a go-kart!  I'm half-way through folding my bumper here.

 

And here is is all bent and folded into shape.  The towing/coupler block will be soldered together and filed down to look a bit more square, as it's too tiny to fold up perfectly.  Although these brass parts look chunky in close-up photos, the bumpers are very fragile indeed so I'll need to strengthen them with solder here and there.  I hope that doesn't spoil their appearance too much but they wouldn't last two minutes just glued to the front of the tram as they are.

 

That's all for today, but now I've been able to make these parts I can crack on with hacking the body and interiors apart.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

Edited March 20, 2023 by CWJ
Spelling!

[CWJ]

One of the etched bumpers fell apart while I was handling it, so I don't think they'd be strong enough even with soldered folds.  I've modified the artwork to reinforce the weakest areas and will re-do them in stainless steel for extra strength.

 

In the meantime I've continued on the tram body.  

 

 

I intend to flush-glaze the cab fronts so the moulded glazing needed to be removed from both ends.  I carefully marked the cuts so that they'll be hidden behind window frames/pillars, using a try-square and fine permanent marker.  They were then removed using a razor saw.

 

 

That will do for now, but I might need to remove a bit more plastic later when I come to fit the etched brass windscreen.

 

 

I then drilled some holes in the 'ceiling' of the glazing unit to make room for the interior lighting LEDs.  This type of plastic is quite brittle so I used the pillar drill on a high RPM but lowering the bit slowly and carefully.

 

 

Here are the three main parts that make up the bottom deck.  The holes in the glazing unit will be painted black to prevent the light from the LEDs fibre-opticking* its way down the windows.  (* if that's not a word it should be!)

 

More to follow...

[CWJ]

Next it was time to remove the bogie sideframes which are an integral part of the body casting.

 

 

One 'bogie' removed, one to go.  The masking tape is to protect the paintwork...

 

 

...from all this!  I removed the bulk with a coarse file, then used medium and fine ones to tidy up the edges. 

 

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but to me this looks so much better already, even though it's only an empty shell of half a tram!  The challenge is on to build some working bogies now.

 

To be continued...

[CWJ]

What's that?  You want MORE pictures of a Blackpool tram being hacked to bits?

 

Finally for today, I made a start on drilling out the headlights for LEDs.  I had hoped to come up with a clever way of marking the centre of each lamp so I could drill in exactly the right place.  No doubt someone on here will know the perfect technique, but it eluded me!

 

 

So here are the headlamps with a 1.5mm hole drilled as close to the centre as I could manage by eye using a cordless drill (i.e. not a mini-drill).   Not remotely central!

 

 

Thankfully this metal is fairly soft so with a bit of naughty sideways jiggling of the drill bit I was able to expand the holes towards the centre of each lamp.   By the way, this was a bit tiny to see clearly so I used these close-up photos to help me.

 

 

The headlamps were then opened out to 2mm to make the holes round again.  Not looking too bad now.  I had also started to drill out the tail lamp on the right using a 1mm bit in a pin vice (the archimedes screw type).

 

 

The headlamps were finally opened out to 2.5mm, still using the cordless drill but on a slow speed now as the lamp frames are quite thin.

 

 

Here's the result: nice thin headlamp frames and the first tail lamp drilled out to its final size of 1.5mm.  It'll look neater once the paint's touched up, but the black bumper needs removing first - that'll be fun!  At this point I was summoned back into the house but I hope to do a bit more on my lunch break tomorrow.

 

That's enough of that, we'll all be seeing tram headlamps in our sleep now.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

Having drilled out the head and tail lamps at both ends, today I started on the windscreens.

 

The first challenge was to create the nose-end fold in my delicate etched windscreen.  You can see what this looks like with the separate opening window in place in the first photo 5 posts above this one.

 

I bent the windscreen in the vice using a metal block (business end of a small try-square) to give a neat fold.

 

...which worked better than I'd expected.

 

 

As a reminder, here's the unmodified model:

I don't like to get all critical on the internet about products which someone somewhere has worked hard to create, but the Corgi Balloon is what it is - a fleet of diversely-modified tramcars represented by one robust casting.

 

Here's a real one with the windscreen layout I'm trying to replicate:

Photo: David Dixon

Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

 

...and here's mine after I filed open the die-cast windows and plonked my etched windscreen loosely in position:

 

Obviously it needs gluing, gaps filling, the opening window adding, painting, glazing and generally tidying up, but I hope it will give me flush glazing and a finer appearance.

 

Now give me a few days to summon up the motivation to file out the windscreens at the other end.  Only a small file will fit so it's a long job!

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

[CWJ]

While I put off filing out windscreens for a second week, I shall relate the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Pantographs.

 

The Corgi trams come with two types of pantograph depending on the age of the model.  The better of the two doesn't look bad, but it's a non-functional plastic part.  My tram had the worse one which looks very crude; it went in the bin so fast that I didn't get a photo of all of it, but you're not missing much:

 

 

I don't have any drawings or dimensions to confirm the size of the pantographs on the Balloon fleet, but even if I did this wouldn't help because model pantograph manufacturers don't always advertise all of their dimensions.  So it was a case of trying to find something that looks right.  

 

Copyright Stephen's Transport Photos (CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

 

Compared with a heavy rail vehicle the pan looks quite small in proportion with the vehicle body, so I ordered an N-scale pantograph.

 

Forgive the masking tape and missing details while my bodywork conversions are underway.  To me this pan looks far too small, so I ordered a 00-scale one...

 

 This one seems too big for this tram.  So finally I ordered a TT-scale pan:

 

Although I would like to say that this one is 'just right' to complete the Goldilocks reference, I think it actually looks slightly too small, but a much better match than the other two.  Unless someone makes an extra large TT pantograph or an unusually small H0 one, this is probably as close as I'll get.  It was only available in red but it will be getting weathered to a mucky-brown colour anyway so that doesn't matter.  

 

Just in case anyone is taking notes, here they are side-by-side:

Left: Sommerfeldt No.966 for N scale, ordered online but I can't find any record of where from.

Middle: Sommerfeldt No.881 for TT scale, from modelmasters.co.uk

Right: Halling PAN-SDS for H0 scale, from https://themodeltramshop.sumupstore.com/ (listed as '00 scale diamond pantograph', Halling packaging describes it in German as 'scissor pantograph with double contact strips')

 

If you're wondering, no I don't have an unlimited budget to buy loads of pantographs!  It's just that without a convenient model shop to go and measure them up, buying online was my only practical option.  The unused ones will have to go on Ebay.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

Going back to the bodywork, the cab corner window frames are shaped in such a way that the actual glazed area is much smaller than it should be.  I'm hoping that by filing out the window frame and flush-glazing, I may be able to make these windows look much more convincing.

 

Here's a corner window as manufactured.  As you can see, the frame is kind of bevelled so the opening gets narrower towards the inside of the tram.  I imagine this is perhaps a limitation of the casting process.  The outer edge looks about right to my eye (see prototype photo in my previous post for comparison).

 

After opening out with needle files this window (at the opposite end) looks much more like the real thing, with a finer pillar between the corner window and the windscreen (etch to be added).  I know it looks a mess with the chipped paint... maybe one day I'll learn to only take photos after everything has been either stripped back to shiny metal or painted nicely.

 

I've bought some 'Glue 'n' Glaze' from Deluxe materials and will have a go at glazing these small windows by applying the glue across the opening, but they might be slightly too big for that, in which case I'll have to cut them to size, which will be tricky with only one straight edge!

 

Next I cut back the cab ceilings to make room for saloon lighting.  I'd like the lights to be dim but evenly distributed along the whole saloon.  Not very exciting and it won't win any metalwork awards, but it's another job ticked off the list.

 

Marking out the cut with a marker pen and scribed line.  I used the left-hand one of those two beads on the bodyside as a guide for my try square to get both ends identical.

 

And this is what both ends now look like after removing the ceiling with a cutting disc and tidying up with files.  I've left the cab ceiling in place because it gives the body a lot of strength and I won't be having any cab lights.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

Edited April 14, 2023 by CWJ

[CWJ]

After work today I tackled the job of cutting out the cast passenger doors.

 

3mm holes crudely chain-drilled to and bulk of waste removed.  I could have done this much more neatly to make a prettier photo, but it doesn't really matter.

 

I then went into all four corners with a round needle file.  I could have used a square file at the bottom as only the top corners are rounded, but the radius gives a little protection from the big flat file I was about to use for the edges.

 

I only have two sizes of file in my workshop: big ones for DIY and tiny needle files for modelling.  Thankfully I could get a big one in to tidy up the vertical edges, but for the horizontals I had to just use a tiny file.  It still needed a bit more tidying up at this stage.

 

The door etch loosely plonked in position.  It won't be recessed quite this much when finished, and I'll add a strip of styrene around the back to cover the gaps.  I don't claim that these doors look much better than the original cast ones, but hopefully their flush glazing will be a big improvement and being a separate part they might not look like they're sealed shut by an inch-thick layer of glossy paint!

 

I needed some light relief from filing so just for fun I put some of the parts loosely together for some work-in-progress photos:

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[wagonbasher]

Your commitment to this model is very impressive.   I am very impressed, home etching and looking forward to your power bogies.

 

I dont mean this as a 'wouldnt it have been better....'  its a genuine question , i dont know the answer to.

 

How does the Hadfield Balloon plastic kit compare with the prototype, I see you can still get them second hand?

 

 

Andy

[Strathwood]

How is progress going on this project, please Will?

 

I have enjoyed reading about your work so far.

 

Kevin

[NickBrad]

Some great progress there, it may inspire me to tackle the 2 Grimsby trams I have currently in the post.

[CWJ]

On 15/04/2023 at 18:23, wagonbasher said:

How does the Hadfield Balloon plastic kit compare with the prototype, I see you can still get them second hand?

 

Thanks for the kind feedback, all, but the tram has been on hold while I turned my attention to summer DIY jobs etc. (and an N-scale trolleybus). I hope to start on it again soon.

 

Yes, I saw the Hadfield kits on Ebay too. I can't remember why I chose the Corgi model, perhaps it was my naive idea of keeping most of the nice paint job. We'll see how much of it survives 🙂

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

A bit of progress today.  Having done all the destructive surgery, it's now time to gradually start putting the tram back together.

 

Although I bought a lovely set of etched brass lifeguards, I decided that they wouldn't last very long in such an exposed position, so I decided to retain the plastic Corgi ones which are really tough. They're glued with MEK to small remaining sections of the original 'floor plate', which is in turn glued to the underside of the interior moulding.

 

Next I replaced the missing floors with new ones, raised up by about 2.5mm.  These are 40 thou styrene, glued to the underside of the seats.  I could have used 20 thou but I had the 40 thou in black which means less painting effort later. I drilled 2mm holes for the bogie pivots.

 

Third and final job for today was laying self-adhesive copper strips on the underframe. This will create accessible 'busbars' to the motors and lights without filling the interior with wires. My copper tape was too wide so I cut it into two thinner strips using a craft knife and straight edge. This stuff is basically only foil so it cuts easily.

 

It looks a bit garish from below but won't be visible when the tram's complete. And yes, these strips will be conducting track power so it won't matter if the wheels touch them.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[CWJ]

Today I've installed the head and tail lights, just in one corner to see if I can assemble them correctly.

 

Having tested the LEDs to find out what series resistor was needed to give the correct brightness, I drew a schematic to avoid confusion over left/right, back/front, positive/negative, etc.  The top and bottom lines are the track power, and each of those four rectangular clusters will be one PCB containing a head and tail light.

 

I'm using surface-mount components which are absolutely tiny, so I did a scale layout drawing to make sure everything would fit.  The green T-shape on one LED and the diagonal chamfer on the other are markings to show their polarity.

 

The circuit board is not really a PCB but a bit of modified Veroboard.  It's just big enough to hold the components, and just small enough to fit behind the headlight holes.

 

I trimmed the copper strips to avoid any chance of unwanted short circuits...

 

...and soldered on the components, starting with the LEDs because they're in the middle. It won't win any beauty contests but it will soon be hidden, and in my defence surface-mount components were never meant for human fingers!

 

I found some very thin wire which will lead to the copper strips I laid under the floor.

 

The PCB roughly in position, where it will be supported and protected by the interior moulding, allowing me to disassemble the tram for maintenance.

 

It works!  Although the lamp looks bright in the photo, it's actually nicely dim.  

 

And the red.  These photos show the light bleeding between the two holes, which I'll sort out next.  I'll also be making some kind of lenses.

 

Cheers,

 

Will