Right said FRED - part I

This arrived in the mail the other day, another TradeMe purchase:

Wires and LEDs.

It's the circuitry for a FRED, or Flashing Rear-End Device. It's the flashing thing at the back of trains that replaced guards vans in 1987.

If you've ever wondered whats inside shipping containers, this won't help.

So I've removed the top off a 40-ft container that will eventually be permanently attached to a UK wagon with the FRED circuit inside and a battery pack (I thought of doing track pick-up but with AC current being used for DCC you'd need to add in an annoying rectifier and step down the voltage to 3v... too much hard work!).

The kit itself came with two different LEDs to attach - a small and really small one. I think I'll use the really small one.

Here's a video of the FRED in action on Westimaton's YouTube channel.