How do most people light there layouts?
I have a 12 X 17 N Scale layout. I use 20 can lights, arranged in a square around the layout. I started with incandescent bulbs, but recently swithed to the new flourescent spiral bulbs in the fixtures, which put out more light and less heat, a great combo!
Right now, I have some in the daylight bulbs, and others in the regular, yellower light. I actually like the looks of the regular light, but understand that for photography, which is coming soon, daylight is better.
Generally, most layouts are under lit, so use a lot of whatever you use!
Are halogen bulbs a good idea? They give white light at a low wattage.
Reed
I’m still looking for some more ideas. Thanks
I recall seeing ‘true sun’ florescent bulbs at the hardware store. I’ve never used them so can’t comment on their color effects on a layout.
Randy
50 flourescent 4’ tubes (singles) behind a valance.
I suspect the bulk of us use regular old flourescent shop lights as they are cheap and give off lots of light. Just be sure you use the same light to paint in as it does have an effect on color some times. My wife bought a pair of purple plastic earrings and when she got them home they were very obviously two different colors. When she took them back and showed them at the return counter they were the same color in the store. Whatever wave length light was in the bulbs in the store it woudln’t show the variation in color. A pretty extreme example but it is true and can happen.
Currently I just have a 4’ fluorescent over my workshop area that hits the layout and a 150 watt halogen clip light. I’m installing shelves above the layout and the eventual plan is to install a chain of small halogen bulbs for spot lighting with some compact fluorescent tubes for overall illumination. My layout’s setting is late summer (tomato & grape harvest season, also state fair season, high point of traffic for the roads I model, and also the defining period of my layout as it gets $%#@& hot in Sacramento) so I’ll need fairly bright illumination.
I just purchased christmas tree lighting with white C9 bulbs
for $2.29 per 25 lamp strings and strung them behind the
valences last night and they really give off a lot of light. I will probably
swing on by Home Depot and buy a couple of dimmers to
control the brightness (and the heat). If I had not installed
a valence above both decks, I doubt I would have chosen this
option.
I have a 9X12 N-scale layout and use a couple of standard 4’ florescent fixtures (the $8 ones you find at Walmart). I use the GE Kitchen and Bath bulbs, as I think they throw off a better light – like the sun.
Of course, my layout is in a basement with an open ceiling. This makes for easier mounting & wiring for the cheaper lighting fixtures. Some of you might have train rooms with finished ceilings, which would require a specific florescent fixture (depending on the ceiling style) which is likely to cost more.
Fluorescents are the way to go. They throw off far less heat and you don’t have to worry about replacing burned out bulbs for quite a while.
i was down in the basement working on the layout last night thinking a few incadescents might warm the place up a little. i use fluorescent tubes. bought a string of blue christmas lights last year for night running. still need to string them up.
ai
I use 12 75 watt can lights on three dimmer switches. If I had it to do over I would have used 16 can lights.
I have used Daylight Fluorescent Tubes, gives a nice natural look to the layout, and great for photography also.
Agree about the most layouts are underlit thought. However, there are times where this is intended. On a layout I had once two towns geographically many hundreds of miles apart were represented by the same yard on a shelf beneath the main layout table. Since this yard was unsceniced, and in some sort of a “space warp” I lit it with a string of miniature christmas tree lights… a “Twilight Zone” effect[8D]
I rewatched the Allen Keller video on Allen McClelland’s Virginian and Ohio over the weekend and Mr. McClelland talked about this subject in the interview segment. He used some white neon lights of some sort on the former V&O layout resulting in a fairly low light level which, he says, helps hide the dust. In addition he uses spots to highlight exceptionally well seniced areas or areas of special interest. I have no idea what lighting is planned for his new version of the V&O in the new house.
I have used plain ol’ flourscents as mentioned above on mine so far.
Ed
And they give off a great deal of infared - like a heat lamp, and UV like a sun lamp. They are a very broadband source, covering the whole visible spectrum, and beyond - at both ends.
Thus they will heat up whatever they are pointed at, and make the the colors fade…
I am using them in my work shop, for when it gets cold, and the flourescents don’t start so well…
I’m using twin tube 48" shop lights with “cool white” fluorescent tubes in them. They are mounted approx 30" above the layout. Valences aren’t installed as yet. I also have strung C-9 christmas lights for when I want it to be night. Seems to work ok. The ballasts for the fluorescent lights create a lot of heat but the bulbs are cool.
Roger
I’m using incandescent can lights in tracks, and they’re aimable. I’m using lots of 60 watt bulbs, which keeps the heat down in the layout room. For two of the decks of my 3-level layout, I’m using strings of C7 size Christmas tree lights.
I have a 5X8 HO layout with two tube fluorescents above. With only two (which are only a foot apart from each other), it makes for somewhat poor lighting, and causes some shadows, but i plan to put plenty of lighting in the structures to at least attempt to make up for the poor lighting. Maybe it will fix a few shadows too!
This is a very good point.
On my layout in the old house, I used the el cheapo, four foot shop lites and they worked fine. However, at the workbench I had one of those old time goosneck lamps with an incandescent bulb. Variously weathered shades of rust on the models, which looked great at the bench, looked almost pinkish/purple-ish on the layout.
The work table in the new house has a fluorescent desk lamp on the bench!