After 20 years of quality service, the HC Sinclair Gas Station received some much needed lighting upgrades. Purchased in 1998, this gas station has been a pinnacle piece to our still-growing layout. My grandfather always enjoys quizzing people who visit the trains if they can guess the make and model of the 57' Chevy Belair that has pulled in and out of the station since '98. Yesterday we hosted our first trainshow and while I was showing off the piece, it occurred to me that it was difficult to see the car in the garage and pulling into the gas pumps. At 3:00 this morning I sat up in bed and knew what I could do. Earlier I purchased some miniature LED lights to work on yet another layout project and had quite a few left over that would work perfect. I went back to bed for 3 hours and then began disassembling the gas station. From the factory it had two bayonet type light bulbs that I left alone for the time being. When I took the garage portion apart, I looked where the "glass" roof was and realized there were six screws holding it to the frame of the station. (Glass is in quotes because it's really just plastic but you know what I mean). I decided to shave down the two middle posts where the screws would screw into and used the remaining holes in the "glass" as the base for my lights. They fit right into the existing holes and I glued them to stay in place. I screwed the remaining four screws in which was more than adequate to hold the lights and the "glass" portion to the frame of the building. My next light was installed right above the door going into the service station behind the gas pumps. I drilled a 1/8 hole above the door which again was the perfect size for what I needed. I glued it into place and wired the 3 LEDs into the existing wiring. After reassembling the gas station, this was the result. A video will be available and when it is I'll attach the link.
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