Has anyone actually experimented with the new LED Rope Lights? I am particularly interested in its application to multi-deck layouts. Even more specifically, is the output in lumens sufficient to produce a daylight effect from 12’ above the layout?
“Day light” from 12 FOOT above the layout {that’s what you have written}. Probably not.
Even at 12 INCHES above the layout, you may have sufficient lumens to LIGHT the layout, but I can tell you we have white LEDs rope style lights tacked along the ceiling in a long and very dark hallway in our house, and they DO NOT approximate “day light”. Plenty of “runway lights” and Light, yes, but they have a glow not like daylight.
ALl the other lights in our house have been replaced with “Full SPectrum Daylight” flourescent bulbs. Now they are “daylight’s natural glow”.
I have added LED rope lights to my layout in the last couple of weeks as I am still in construction stages. I installed the rope lights in my staging yard which is under the main yard but in the pic I havn’t added the table top to the main yard yet but gives an idea of how much the LED ropes light up. I bought 2 sets, both 12ft long, at Wal Mart for about $15 each and voila.
John
I recently purchased several cheap sets of blue LED rope lights from Fry’s Electronics. While these lights are not bright enough to provide primary layout lighting, they do a fantastic job of simulating nighttime lighting. The first time I plugged in the rope lights and turned off the layout lights…WOW! It really does look like moonlight illuminating the layout, and headlights & signals look a zillion times better.
One thing I noticed about the different styles of rope lights I experimented with is that the kind with the thick plastic tube has a crystal-like lens pattern embossed into inside the clear tube that projects a disco ball-like pattern on the layout (especally the backdrop). The rope lights with the plain clear tubing don’t produce this unwanted effect but are hard to find. Also, the ones that I purchased with the completely clear tubing had sections of the rope that stopped working. I have moved on from playing with the rope lights for now but they will definitely have some future use on my layout.
BTW, I do know of one modeler who uses LED strip lighting for his primary layout lighting. Take a look at Tim Horton’s N-scale BC Rail Dawson Creek Subdivision layout:
He has some detailed information on his lighting somewhere on that website, and I believe he has posted about his lighting on these and other forums also.
Jamie
In short, don’t waste your money like I did. I purchased led rope lights in orange, clear and blue and had them installed behind the Masonite backing of my mountains.My goal was to simulate morning or sunrise lighting and evening/twilight lighting. Well there wasn’t enough light to do anything. I used the clear for partial lighting on an under table hidden staging yard and the lighting is poor at best. I’ve since ripped all of them out and tossed them n the bin with the rest of the Christmas lights.
In addition to the rope lights I have experimented with just about every conceivable LED and or florescent lighting I could find and the best thing I’ve come up with is replacing the flood lights in my track lighting with CFL bulbs. Much cheaper to operate, cooler and all around much better then old incandescent lighting.
I’ve always read and heard from others that rope lights don’t provide sufficient lighting. I haven’t tried it myself but the picture above and the link seems to indicate it may be possible, with the right type of lights. I’d ignore the naysayers if you’re thinking about tyring it, have the cash on hand for a test, and try it out on a small area to see if you’re happy with the results.
I can’t say I think you’ll succeed but I’d be curious with the results. Heck, I don’t know how many times I’ve been told or read that scratchbuilding a turntable is not worth the time and effort. I’m halfway through building mine and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how easy it’s coming for a fraction of the cost of currently manufactured turntable kits.
You only really learn by trying. Just make sure to test first before investing significant effort, time and money.
My experience so far: they do a good job at night at providing a very low level of light, but for daytime operations you’d need a bunch of side by side strands and that may not even be enough. That would place flourescent tubes as the better $$$ value IMHO.
Because my layout has very small decks in some areas, space is a premium and the rope lights can have a lot smaller vertical profile than the tube assemblies. That’s about the only real advantage I’ve seen.
Rob
John : not to steal a thread but whats your clearance (access) to your fine looking stagging yard height and depth ?,just currious .oh inches please…Jerry
In the photo above, I have 7 tracks with 3 inches from the center of the tracks to the next, the depth is 24 inches and height is 8 inches from plywood to plywood. In the next photo, it is 10 tracks wide. The whole length of the staging is about 23 ft. I just ran my first train on it last night, I have added 10 average to above average length cars and 1 loco and it is not quite half of 1 of the staging tracks. So I should be able to get about 22-25 cars plus 2 locos per track.
John
very nice John; the lights really light up the space .look foward to seeing picts and post on your project , thanks …Jerry