I just made a comment on another topic that most of us run our layouts during the “day”. And thus have no need for lighting in our steam locos, since they (I heard) ran with their lights off during the day. I heard.
So.
That got me wondering: How much, if at all, do you folks either run (for your viewing pleasure) at night, or operate at night? Two different things. “Run” meaning set it all up, make it go, and just watch it. Like it was Christmas Eve under the tree. Or. Actually OPERATE.
I would think it would be kinda difficult to switch cars at night. I dunno. Maybe a teeny flashlight helps.
Anyway, I thought I’d ask on the subject. Night running DOES have its charms.
Ed, first see it you can fix the title, I don’t understand HTML.
I run (operate) my layout both with room lights on (daylight) or with only a single 7 watt 4100 K° LED flood (moonlight). I enjoy seeing the hundreds of little lights all over my layout.
I would estimate about 10% night operation. Every visitor must see my layout as a night scene whether or not they want to, it’s mandatory.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
Uhmmm, I think it was the second (?) plywood central I built, I was given some passenger cars with lights. Nothing fancy, just the little bulb that was in the bottom of the car, and on the windows, it had silhouettes of people.
I’d turn off the one pull chain fixture that was in that part of basement, and just watch the thing run.
I’ve never done any operating at “night”. My current layout doesn’t have any lights, other than the locos.
I’m always amazed at layouts that do have them, I just didn’t take the time to do it.
Now my Christmas train layout, a Hawthorn Village Green Bay Packer train has all kinds of lights! All the buildings, (they all came with lights) street lights, Christmas tree lights, along with a few flickering campfire lights. There really isn’t any operations, except stopping the train at the station once in a while.
I have several levels of overhead lighting and at the minimum I can dim the recessed LED can lights to a very low level. Still enough light to know where your train is or to spot cars if needed. Sort of a “harvest moon” if you will.
Much of my operation is passenger oriented and I enjoy the recent developments in LED “flicker-free” lighting circuits.
During my “operating sessions” usually attended by myself alone, but occasionally with guests present, I handle cuts of cars since several of my industries are an ore dock, coal mine, blast furnace and interchange yard. Still, if I had to spot cars for loading there is plenty of light from the building itself or nearby streetlights.
Operating at night brings a whole different atmosphere to the layout and it seems to eliminate the distractions of the surrounding room so your attention is drawn more to the layout itse
I plan to place those new fangled LED multicolor lights under my layouts valance so I can simulate noon day, midnight, dawn, dusk, and everything between…
I’ve always liked running trains at night. My layout is still very much a work in progress, but I do have part of it wired up with building and yard lights etc. I use cool white (not blue) LEDs above the layout for a dim starlight / moonlight effect. Now that I think of it, a ‘nightime’ picture of my layout was in the 2016 (or was it 2015?) Walthers catalogue, although in print it was a bit dark.
I seem to have lost, in all my moves, every photo ever taken of the layout we used to set up every year when I was a kid, but part of what we did was put lights in EVERY building, and there were streetlights along every road. To this day I am kind of disappointed when I see a layout where there are no structure lights. I carried that on to every layout I’ve built since that got to the stage of having structures, and I plan to continue doing so, now with LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs everywhere.
With modern lighting systems, like the LED strips, I have planned for my layout lighting itself to have a string of blue LEDs that can be brought up to simulate nighttime running.
I think operating or running trains at night is great. It is one more level of detail. It is an area that I am working on. I use blue Christmas lights so that you can still see. It looks like moonlight instead of being pitch black. I need to add street lights and yard lights and lights to several buildings. It’s almost a whole hobby in itself.
I have a star projector but it is cheap and not very good. I saw someone else post one about a year ago that was really sweet. I need to get one similar to it. My projector can also project the planets or the moon. When I get the other projector I will use my current one for the moon. I also have a projector for lightning. It’s cool but kind of cheap also, so I’m going to make my own using arduino.
Since putting lights in everything can be a huge undertaking I was thinking that maybe it can be night just in a dark corner that is always night. It might make your run seem longer. By the time your train gets to this destination it is dark.
The Pasadena club has lights on a timer which changes to night on a set interval. It does it gradually. After awhile it gradually turns back into day. It’s pretty cool.
I often do night running, as electrical costs around here decrease dramatically between 7:00PM and 7:00AM. That allows me to have all of the layout room lights on, so I can see what I’m doing. [:P]
At one time, I had locomotives and structures with working lights, but decided that, for me at least, it wasn’t worth the effort. That said, I am enjoying looking at the photos that folks are posting. Very nicely done!
That’s a good reason why your layout needs to be properly prepped for night ops – and the crews trained to safely operate.
Crew lighting (small flashlights or a headband lamp) is a key component, useful in checking turnout position and other things that could lead to a bump in the night. On my manual switch throws and my electric toggle switches, I paint a small dot of day-glo, UV-sensitive paint on the NORMAL position to help make this easier.
I started a similar thread several years ago. I wondered how many modelers engaged in night operations. When I planned my layout, I had night operations in mind but as I got closer to reality, I realized the challenges that go along with night operations. I have several scenes that are lighted and make for interesting photography but so far my operating sessions have been daytime only. I intend to add a couple overnight passenger trains that will swap sleeping cars at my primary station and one of them will pick up a pre-boarded sleeping car en route but that is pretty much going to the limit of night operations.
I think night time model railroad photography can be quite dramatic and I’m glad I’ve set up lighted scenes at several locations but I think full blown night operations would be more trouble than they are worth. My imaginary world will shut down at 11:00 pm.
