Great find!

I'm going to need some lighting like that. Thanks for the tip!

Dollar Store Street Lights

How about doing a "How To Do It" post.

Such as dimensions, size of tubing, height of pole, etc.

Richard

Small plastic earring backs

Try Ebay as well, search under "small plastic earring backs"

This I like

This I like, dollar store here I come.

Now there...

earring back lights

I've played around with these things for years trying to put them to some use. Always a scale problem for ho. Could never find smaller ones.  I'll keep looking knowing you can get these results. Thanks.

What kind of dollar store

sells a pack for $1.50 ? .........DaveB

What kind of dollar store?

I don't know what the dollar stores are like where you live but around here there is very little that is actually priced at a dollar. Vast majority of it is more.

Depends on the store chain....

Family Dollar and Dollar General which are in my area have things from a dollar on up. Sometimes two, five or even more for some items. Another in this area called the Dollar Tree has EVERYTHING for a dollar. I like to go in there and make a nuisance of myself asking how much stuff is....nah not really just playing.... but my kids and I joke around about doing that all the time.

Michael

A "quick" how to

Here is a drawing of the way I built the light.

The thin kerf along the back of the pole is a trick that I use often. Being done with a razor saw, it is so thin that once filled with caulking it is indistinguishable from the grain of the wood once painted. You could run a dozen magnet wires through it easily.

The notched part at the bottom of the pole is to protect the delicate magnet wires and keep them from breaking. If you run the 38 ga. wire out the bottom it will, most likely, get broken off during installation. I solder some phone wire, about 22 ga., onto the thin wires and cover the whole thing in hot glue. If you wrap some masking tape around the bottom of the pole and build a cylindrical "mould" you can squirt the hot glue into the end and rebuild the notched part of the pole and imbed the wires all at once.

Keep in mind that these are O scale lights. I'm not sure if these earring backs come in different sizes. Really not my area of expertise.

Dollar Tree has EVERYTHING for a dollar

 I think that's the name of the store we have here in town, I got a nice scientific calculator for $1. They can't be getting rich selling those :> )  Also got some neat little plastic flowers that are solar powered and wave their leaves like little fans. ...DaveB

Conduit.

 I like the outcome as is... but... and slightly off subject... a conduit running up the side of the pole would be a super detail, even if the actual wire is still inside the kerf groove.

There is plenty....

.... of stuff that can be "cross-scaled". Usually looking at items intended for scales smaller than yours will bring useful items at the hobby shop, but those  blessed with open minds will get treasures just anywhere. You need to train your mind to look at something not as scale-specific but scale-usable. Jose.

Great innovation, Rick.

Great innovation, Rick.

Lampshade arms

From Model Tech Studios [ link] if you don't need operating lights.

Outstanding!

Outstanding idea!

Gary Christensen

Conduit

Sea-rail,

I've done a few with conduit running down the pole. But most of these will be small town 1930s. It appears that most of the lights like this were powered from an overhead wire running from a small box on the pole near the base of the lamp arm to the nearest source of power, or to the next light.

That being said, it is fun to add extra conduits, signs, vines and the like to the poles. Even an staggered row of track spikes running up the pole to represent the hand grabs that some had.