I’d like to get some suggestions on setting up lighting for my train room. I’m in the “blank slate” design stage, so all ideas and concepts, mild-to-wild, are encouraged!
My main question is about the best practices for wiring the over-the-layout task lighting, but general comments about overall room lighting, lamp types (perhaps for photography?), dimming for day/night operation, special lighting effects, basic do’s and don’ts, etc., are all certainly welcome.
Assuming ample room lighting, my first thought is to install track lighting terminals centered over the layout sections since that seems to be the most flexible and forgiving arrangement, but I’m ignorant on lamp types, etc. I’m also open to down lights, overhead valences that conceal florescent and/or other types of fixtures, and just about any other ideas. Here’s the spec’s:
The layout is still in the planning stage. The space is in a separate building, slab-on-grade, one story brick construction, 23’ x 18’ with a 9’ ceiling. The (evolving) HO track plan is a walk-in, around-the-wall layout with a center peninsula, all situated length-wise in the room. The around-the-wall portions are 3 to 4’ deep with 5.5’ deep blobs at the ends, the center peninsula is 5.5’ wide. If a picture would be worth more than my thousand words, I can email you a MS Paint file.
All this is located in the hot and humid southeast, so while the space will be air conditioned, the heat output from lighting is somewhat of a consideration. For general room lighting I’m thinking of having surface mounted, (but could be flush mounted) 4 four-tube florescent fixtures in a square pattern
What I use are ordinary shop-lite fixtures with special “daylight” bulbs. These bulbs are expensive however. Onecosts $14. They’re flourescent bulbs that reproduce natural sunlight perfectly. Whereas most flourescents wash out colors, these don’t. Colors pop! They show up just as they would outdoors in the sunlight. They’re worth trying.
hardcoalcase:
I hear you…lighting can be a real hard decision!
I can’t shed any light on the latest / greatest lighting for photography, except that what I’ve seen; is really bright, gives off a lot of heat and I can’t afford it for the general lighting of my pike. If I ever need to have high quality photos…The high buck photographers can bring their own!
But, what I can share is that over the years I’ve played with any number of combinations of lights and have settled (as Jeffrey has) on fluorescent, but mine are in combination with a string of white and a string of blue Christmas lights on dimmers.
First off, the fluorescents are ecconomical, give a good effect and don’t give off a lot of heat. My fluorescents are 4’ single tube fixtures that are mounted low and forward on my lighting valance, giving the effect that the sun is behind my shoulder as I view the diorama. I tried high and centered thinking that this would illuminate everything very well, and wasn’t pleased at all with how the shadows fell even leaving some areas “in the dark”…at least somewhat.
The Christmas lighting strings are something I saw while touring layouts at the San Jose NMRA convention. Can’t remember off the top of my head who it was, but he had a great pike that had nothing but the strands of lights…
It worked well in the settle settings of his dioramas, but I felt the need for a bit more light (his was a bit on the dim side) and went with a combination of fluorescent and the Christmas strands that I hoped would be even better with the ability of manipulating the light being able to simulate daylight, dusk, dawn or night! So far I’m pleased!
I have a few comments/suggestions for you to consider…
With track lighting, you have the flexibility of moving and adjusting where the lights are and where they are directed. You can go with either standard incandecent or halogen. They can easily be dimmed and (if you have separately controled tracks) you can use different colours to similuate sun- or moonlight.
However, you would be wise to line the track up with the edge of the benchwork, or even slightly in the aisle. This will mean the lights will shine towards the backdrop (ie: away from the viewer) and cast shadows in that direction. Also, this will minimise any glare (particularly important for photography), even more so if you put a valance to conceal the lights.
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For general room lighting I’m thinking of having surface mounted, (but could be flush mounted) 4 four-tube florescent fixtures in a square pattern and these would basically be directly over the aisles.
The ability to make wiring modifications is wide open since the inside walls are covered with chipboard screwed to studs - easily removed for inner-wall access, and there is a hatch access to the attic. The ceilings are unfinished sheetrock. Current lighting consists of two rows of 2-tube shop lights plus two incandescent units. The building is 8 years o
Remember that incandescents can be dimmed with standard dimmers, while flourescents require special “electronic” dimmers to accomplish the same task. Since you’re concerned (rightly) about heat load, think about insulating the walls and particularly the ceiling to keep the inside cooler in the daytime. Venting the attic is something else that will eventually pay for itself.
Really isolate that AC unit from your trains. By bad luck (contractor screw-up) I’ve got my layout power on the same circuit as an AC unit in another room. When the AC kicks in, the trains (DCC) all stop. I may get a long cord and switch circuits next summer.
Back to your real question, I really like dimmers. When I’m doing work on the layout, I crank the lights up bright, but for general running I prefer it a bit darker. I try to do all my photography by available light, which includes both dimmed incandescents and natural light from windows and a skylight. Digital cameras automatically adjust for the “color” of the light, but if you’re a film guy remember that different light (daylight, flourescent and incandescent) requires different kinds of film. (A skylight is not a bad thing to have, by the way. It can serve as both a light source and a high-altitude air vent. Just make sure you close it when the weather gets bad, because the rain on your trains is mainly just a pain.)
Color temp of daylight up here in the states is right around 6500K. I hear ya on the daylight bulbs, just saying this because I’ve hit Menards and seen non-branded 6500K bulbs a bit cheaper. Get the color temp right and it’ll all look good.
I’ll let experts get into the real detail about lighting but one thing I can tell you NOT to do is buy those cheap flourescent “shop lights”. The reason is simple…they have cheap ballasts which cause the lights to flutter (hardly noticeable by many people) but they can give you a headache. I used to go over a guys house and after 2 hours under those cheap lights, I went home with a headache. I bought flourescent fixtures that cost a little more…about $15.00 each…and NO headaches.
Trust me, you will be sorry with those cheap lights.
Hi hardcoalcase,
I agree with the previous comment that using dual-tube fixtures will spread the light better than same number of tubes in the 4-tube fixtures.
I use Chroma 50 or equivalent bulbs in my flourescent fixtures. You want a bulb with a 5000K color temperature. They really do make the colors more realistic and I was very happy with the results on my layout. I’ve found these for $6-8 a tube at the big box stores.
I started using these based on a recommendation on the HOn3 Yahoo groups list from Boone Morrison, who in addition to his wonderful modeling skills, studied photography under Ansel Adams.
I heartily agree with mondotrains about avoiding the cheap flourescent fixtures. I had an electrician install 7 flourescent fixtures in my layout room (spare bedroom). The radom buzzing from the convential ballasts drove me crazy so I him take them down and I bought 7 flourescent fixtures with electronic ballasts which he installed, they cost a little more but were well worth it in my mind. The buzzing is now gone and I have my benchwork installed without further lighting concerns. The electronic ballasts also eliminate the flicker some people complain about although I did not notice flicker myself. Flourescents with electronic ballasts are a little harder to find and cost a little more - maybe $10-$15 more per fixture but I feel that is a small sum considering the remaining cost of my layout.
I’m using track lighting with floresent bulbs, ouyt here you can pick up the bulbs for as little as 25 cents. That way I can use quite a few cans on one track and if I need to warm up the colors a little you can always add an incadesent bulb or two. Now I have a ?, as I am building a new layout space what advice would you all give for placement of the track ( before ran it right down the middle but since this is a new space I can install diferently.
I haven’t gotten to this stage myself but would recommend looking at Joe Fugate’s website (link below) which has a section on how to light a large, around the walls layout.
I use clamp on - reflector work lights, hung brackets mounted to the ceiling. I use daylight incandencent bulbs - Sylvania Daylight or Phillips Natural Light. Although not shown in this photo, I have a couple fixtures with blue bulbs mounted so that the light bounces off the ceiling, for night operations. Eventually, the lights will be connected to a dimmer circuit.
I know a lot of modelers really like florescent lights, but they can fade scenery colors over time unless you use UV filters on each bulb, which can raise the cost. Also florescent lights can’t be dimmed unless you are willing to spend a lot of money on dimmable florescents.
Of course, incandescent bulbs don’t have the high UV fading problem, and they are dimmable. However, unless you know the tricks, incandescent bulbs can raise the room temperature quickly since they put out a lot more heat than florescents.
I’ve found the secret is to use low wattage incandescent bulbs and to get them down close to your scenery – within 18 - 24" or so. This may mean you need to bring the layout valance down from the ceiling to create more of a shadowbox look to your layout – which I find creates an elegant “museum-like” look to your layout, and it makes the brighter-lit layout standout in a slightly darkened room.
Lots of good points in the other replies, and nothing I’d disagree with. I’ll just emphasize (1) the importance of buying higher-quality fluorescent fixtures (especially since I am one of those who is highly sensitive to the flicker); (2) for the tracks, they should mostly be positioned above the outer edge of your benchwork and angled slightly inward (I say mostly because if you have a large peninsula this may not be the best approach).
One point that hasn’t been mentioned is amperage. Sufficient incandescent track lights (you’ll need one at least every four feet) mount up in total amperage amazingly quickly. You’re in good shape to add sufficient circuits, just make your plans and do the math BEFORE doing the wiring.
What has worked well for me is a dual approach similar to what you mention. I use track lighting with halogen bulbs along the benchwork and fluorescent tubes along the middle of the room. I turn the tracks on only when showing the railroad to visitors, or operating. I use the fluorescents only when just working on the layout. Personally I believe that UV fitlers are essential despite the added cost.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this seems to be one of the few topics Kalmbach does not publish in book form.
I am also pre-planning my layout room. Lighting is a big concern. Having never delt with this question before, how about a guide from our friends up in Waukesha??
I have a video PDF that I plan to do for MR eventually on layout lighting with cool running incandescents. It’s essentially chapter 5 out of my how-to video volume 2 (if anybody cares).
I use 3 8 foot sections of track lighting for my normal light operations, they are controlled by one dimmer and I use GE Reveal daylight bulbs makes everything look great. I din the lughts during operation and crank them up when I am working which is often.
Closley behind the daylights I have a another 2 8 foot sections with blue bulbs to simulate night time havent really taking pictures with these yet or used them much at all since I can dim the daylights and make it look like dusk maybe combine the two and I will get a perfect dusk illumination.
Be sure to make sure you have enough power for lighting. I’m building a basement sized layout and plan on using 15 and 25 watt bulbs as Joe suggested. When I total up the required current, it is almost 40 amps. You typical home ciruit is 15 or 20 amps. Thus, since I’m currently finishing the basement, I wired 3 20 amp circuits just for the layout, 2 for lighting and 1 for everything else.
