Yesterday I saw (and edited) the final proofs for an article that will be appearing in the January 2012 issue of Classic Toy Trains, due on newsstands 6 December.
The article, “Smart wiring for the gateman,” shows some different ways to wire the venerable Lionel gateman accessory, first introduced 75 years ago.
The article runs two pages, and goes a bit beyond running wires. I also presented a simple electronic circuit, made from Radio Shack parts, to make the accessory run more quietly and reliably.
I write a lot of how-to/tips-and-tricks stuff–I always have–and that’s exactly what this is. It was fun designing and building the circuit, as that’s something I don’t think I’ve done since I was in high school.
This is the first time I’ve written something train-related for a national publication. The gateman isn’t a bad way to start.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.