I finally decided to improve the lighting on the railroad which is located in the basement. For a variety of reasons I decided not to use trac-lighting which made me opt for florescent tubes. I decided to purchase only one hanging fixture as a sample and I also bought 2-40 watt tubes of the ‘daylight’ version. I also saw that there were tubes labeled ‘sunlight,’ ‘residential,’ and ‘office.’ After installing the fixture my first observation was that it seemed too bright which can be readily fixed with a smaller wattage tube. The other observation was that it seemed a little blue but it also canceled out a number of shadows. So the questions is - How do some of you illuminate your layout? Do you use incandescent or florescent? And if you use florescent tubes, what wattage and ‘color’ do you use? Thanks
The older fluorescents, the ones that are better than an inch in diameter came in two colors, cool white (mostly blue) and “kitchen and bath” which had more red to make skin and food look better. The new fluorescents the skinny ones come in a wider variety of colors, most labeled with their "Kelvin temperature. Sunlight is 6000K, incandescent lamps are 3000K.
The lamps make light by causing phosphors on the tube to glow. To achieve white, the lamps are coated with a mixture of red, green, and blue phosphors. Very bright blue and green phosphors are available, not so red. The best red phosphors are dim compared to blue and green. Lamp makers tend to use a lot of blue to give a good bright lamp and only enough red to get by with calling the lamp white.
To be real about it, you have to see the lamp in action. Bring a few familiar colored objects and see how they look under the lamp you are thinking of buying… Buy some spare tubes of the color you like best, since the makers are known to change the phosphor mix from time to time. It is not unusual to find that replacement lamps purchased years later are not the same color as the original.
I use florescent tubes for the room lighting. I used Daylight tubes. Since I have an upper deck, I opted for some CFL’s under the top deck also. I tried to get them in something close to daylight as well. So far so good. There is some difference, but it doesn’t stand out as much in person as it does in the photo.
At our HO scale club we replaced all of the fluorescent strip lighting fixtures with track lighting and “Sunlight” compact fluorescent bulbs, which made a marked improvement in layout appearance.
Yep, that is what I did, al la Joe “who can’t be mentioned here anymore”. I am using 5000°K full spectrum CFLs. I really like the result. My CFLs are a combination of 4w and 10w.
Here are before and after pics:
Before I was using standard 2700°K CFLs with a poor CRI. After is the 5000°K with a CRI 0f 91. The difference is stunning in real life!
73
I can’t imagine having too much light over my layout. [(-D] I also opted for fluorescents, but at the time I bought the tubes, there was a big push on for energy conservation, and all that was available were the 34 watt type. I chose Cool White only because they had the highest lumen output of the types available.
As they wear out, I’m replacing them with 40 watt tubes, once again available, albeit still in Cool White. There are actually quite a few varieties available in the larger diameter tubes, including one known as Soft White. This type actually has a higher lumen output than cool white, and I use them in one of my workshops. The light is quite close to incandescent in appearance, and I was going to switch the layout room lights to this type until I discovered that it “confuses” my camera, which can’t decide if it’s incandescent or fluorescent. For layout photos under cool white, simply set the “White Balance” accordingly on your camera.
On a previous layout, I used “colour balanced” fluorescent tubes, which have a very natural-coloured light, but at $15.00/tube, the cost was prohibitive for my current layout, which is illuminated by 16 4’ double tube fixtures. When the layout finally gets completed, I’ll need another 8 to 12 double fixtures. The lumen output of the colour balanced tubes is low compared to the CWs.
In person, your eyes will quickly adapt to the “artificial” appearance of Cool Wh
I use florescent tubes for my railroad room too. This is the way to get much light with low heat. I have six tubes which produces about 300 W.
The color is not the problem. Your eye will adjust it as well as the camera. There’s the white balance! It’s for the camera important to have enough light.
Wolfgang
Wayne and Wolfgang, I’m going to partially agree but also disagree with you.
Color (or Temp Kelvin) is not the issue. 2700°K is early morning as such. 5000 to 6000°K is mid day with sunny skies. The issue for me is the Color Rendering Index or CRI for florescent lights. Shop light tubes are just awful they have a CRI of 60 or less… Good Full Spectrum (there are some that are not) will have a CRI of 85 or better. You may not notice the difference unless you can compare side by side, and yes your camera and photo processing program can adjust somewhat… But! The difference is amazing! People may not know why the layout just looks right, but they will notice that it looks right. If they can compare… Well, the difference is huge!
The old standard Tungsten Filament Incandescent lights are basically Black Body resonators… That is all wavelengths of light are found in the emitted light. They usually will have a yellowish cast (early morning - 2800°K) as certain colors are more prominent but all wavelengths are there. Florescent lights have bands missing from the wavelengths. Therefore the CRI rating for lights. I always buy the highest CRI I can find in full spectrum lights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index
Just my [2c]
73
I use four 23w (100w equivalent) Bright Effects Daylight CFL’s. They provide more than enough light for the layout. The number on them is L23TM4/65k (N). A pack of four was $15 at Lowe’s.