Help I am looking for advice

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi my name is Kevin and my hobby is making wooden clocks with a scroll saw.
I tried to attach a photo but had no luck.
The clock has a railway crossing and I would like to have flashing lights and the two steam trains have head lights I would like on and a stream engine whistle sound, I would like all this to happen on every hour.
Is this possible with an Arduino.
PS. I have very little electronic skills.

2

The picture is missing. However, I will say that this should definitely be possible with an Arduino. It will take some dedication on your part to learn what you need to accomplish your project but Arduino is intended to make that as easy and fun as possible.

3

This Simple Image Guide may help

...R

4

Thanks Robin2

5

![](http://Train Clock.jpg.)

6

Still no good. You can click the "Preview" button to check whether it worked or not.

7

attachment Train Clock.jpg.

8

Nope.

9

Last try

10

Last try

11

I believe this is the image KevinTreasure is trying to post:

352×647 73.2 KB

12

Any arduino could do the job. It's hard to judge the scale of your clock but I'd guess you'll want one of the smaller ones so that it and its batteries will fit in the clock housing - assuming that you don't want to run power to the clock.

You'll also need a real time clock (RTC) and something to play the steam whistle sound.

It will be beneficial to learn about sleep mode so that you maximize the life of the batteries.

One minor issue is that you may find that the RTC and your clock don't stay in sync. You can adjust for this in the code though once you establish how they drift apart.

13

wildbill:
One minor issue is that you may find that the RTC and your clock don't stay in sync. You can adjust for this in the code though once you establish how they drift apart.

It would be an interesting challenge not to use an RTC and instead to update a synchronizing variable for the millis() counter to keep in step with the clock pendulum.

...R

14

Thanks Pert that is the clock, you guys are so helpful I've ordered my Arduino and watched a lot of you tube videos on the subject thanks to wildbill's advise on different ideas.
I think an MP3 player,a real time clock and some LEDS may get the job done if I can get them all in sink.
Cant wait till my bits arrive.
Cheers and thanks again Kev