I am in the process of redoing my train room. I want to make sure I use the proper lighting. I know fluorescent lighting is not good and will fade the paint on my trains. Any suggestions on what would be the best lighting?
Hello Mickey:
First off, [#welcome]. Glad to have you aboard.
I have my layout in an unfinished basement and have been dealing with lighting issues myself. I recently added a couple of flourescent fixtures and they really improved the lighting. Previously I was using incandescent and halogen. Without the flourescent fixtures, the lumen output was insufficient and the coloring was too yellow. I would like to know how susceptible to damage the trains are from flourescent light. What will happen when incandescents can no longer be purchased?
I would also like to hear some suggestions.
Regards,
John
First, welcome to the forum. You are not alone on this question. At the end of this, I’ve placed a link to an earlier thread discussing this. For me, I use ceiling mounted flourescent bulbs to light up my table layout. In my opinion, the floursescent bulb will only be a problem if you expose your train all day to a bulb that’s within a foot or two of your train. Its no different than leaving your train out in the sun everyday. It will fade over time. So, my train room is dark unless I’m in there running them. The only time I think this really should be a concern is for ceiling mounted layouts; otherwise, I don’t consider it a problem under normal conditions. Here is the link to an earlier thread.
Lighting
Hello Envfocus:
Thank you for the link. I missed that thread first time through. After reading it (and the supplied links) I am much less worried about UV damage from my flourescents. However, if I were ever to make a display case for my trains, they would not be illuminated by flourescent lights.
Regards,
John
My previous (windowless) train room used flourescent lighting for years. My postwar Lionel collection was displayed on floor to ceiling shelving. Neither the trains nor the 500+ sqft layout suffered any color degradation.
Just my experience.
Thanks for the information on the floursecent lighting. If I find a better form of lighting I will let you know.
Thanks Again,
Mike
Hi,
I think floursecent lighting gives off the best light. i just don’t want to ruin my trains. Thanks for your information.
Thanks,
Mike
I know many people love them or hate them, but I am a big fan of incandescent Reveal bulbs. Nice white light with a touch of blue.
Might want to try these from Lowes. They work great.
Did not cost a lot and are minis so no heat.
Has anyone had the opportunity to ask a physicist how florescent lighting might damage the paint of toy models? Personally, I cannot think of any way that this could happen unless the models were too close to the lights and the heat from the lights could cause damage. But I cannot see how it would be otherwise possible for damage to occur. Any input is appreciated. I have had florescent lighting above my layout for 12 years and I don’t know of any damage to the models.
Welcome tfcii. If you have a train layout under fluorescent light for 12 years and do not see any damage then we don’t need no stinkin’ physicist do we? Just kidding. Fluorescent lamps produce more ultra violet light than incandescents. Now whether that will ever fade anything depends on just what is exposed to it and for how long. From what has been posted previously it doesn’t appear that trains or the building have been affected. Let’s remember these lamps are not on 24/7 too. I have noticed some fading of photographic backgrouds but they might have faded with just normal exposure to any light source. There are filters out there if you want to spend the time & money to install. There is a lot of information on the web about the affects of fluorescent lighting on different materials. We wouldn’t want the Mona Lisa sitting under a bare lamps strip light! But a Marx 333? Blast away old lamp blast away.
later…
Hi! Just a question (maybe I missed it): Is your “train room” a dedicated room or is it a multi-purpose room --like an unused bedroom–that you are using as your train room?
Here’s my [2c]
I would think that the choice of lighting would coincide with the enviornmental ultimate usage of the room. There has certainly been much written about flourescent lighting and I am no expert on the subject but, unless the light is hanging directly over the layout like my old-time pool table, I would not be too concerned. I would guess that consideration should be given to the actual amount of time the lights are on while running the trains and the availability of light from other sources like a floor lamp or natural light through a window.
I have street lights on my layout and there are lights in my buildings. For me, too bright lights above and around the layout, takes away from my layout lighting effects.
[#welcome] and all the best!
My experiences with normal ceiling-mounted fluorescent lights is that they fade photographs, I don’t know about trains. I am in the early stages of making a train room/office and based on my experience, I was not going to use fluorescent lights. Based on what I’m reading here, maybe that is an unnecessary precaution.
You can buy shop light fluorenscent fixtures and use soft cool white F40CW bulbs or you can use track lighting with the new fluorenscent screw-in bulbs. If there is a window in the room you may not need as much lighting for whole room.
Lee F.
Hey, as a physicist, I resemble that remark! [:)]
As others have already pointed out, the degree of damage fluorescent lighting can cause depends on several variables, such as, the intensity of the light source, (how close it is to the trains), and the total exposure time to the light source. It also depends to a great extent, on the molecular formulation of the paint or plastic used in the trains.
Fluorescent lighting emits UV radiation which is at the left end of the visible light band. And, as you move farther to the left on the electromagnetic spectrum, the frequency of the radiation increases.
Having a higher frequency means that fluorescent light, in general, excites the surface molecules of the paint and plastic to a greater degree than a lower frequency incandescent light would. This, in turn, can accelerate the chemical reactions that result in oxidation and fading.
As you say, noticeable fading of paper and photographs can occur even when using household fluorescent lighting. And, there is no doubt that the same physical process described above is also at work on our trains. However, that does not mean that the consequences will necessarily be the same, since the degree of damage is also a function of the strength of the molecular bonds in the material. And to complicate things even further, since the chemical formulation of the paints and plastics has changed over the decades, the effect of UV exposure will not necessarily be uniform across the board, and can even vary from car to car.
Since, everyone’s layout, lighting, and degree of exposure are different, anecdotal accounts that some have used fluorescent lighting for many years without noticing any damage are not surprising. On the other hand, it may be a case of that well know
Our train room has very poor lighting. I’d like to install some track lighting, so we can position the lights to highlight different areas of the layout.
Jim
Jim,
When you add tract lighting you can use wiremold(a form of conduit, more expensive than regular conduit but nicer)and fasten it to the walls or ceiling, looks better that pvc or emt conduit for indoor use only. If you do use wiremold make sure to measure correctly because a small section, about half inch, goes into the box.
Lee F.
Lee,
In my basement I used a product like you describe called Romex (sp?) cable. Unlike BX or conduit, it is wire run through a larger plastic sheath. Very flexible and can be tucked up into rafters and other inconspicuous places easily, out of sight.
Jack
My train room had, (going to be renovated), two sets of flourescent, two bulbs each, one set directly over the layout, about 4’ above, for about 9yrs. I never noticed discloration on any trains. Of course sets varied form time to time but the army transport set was practically a mainstay. Also, You can look into ‘natural’ light flourescent bulbs, ( As a dental lab technician I used these to produce as natural as possible proper lighting for dental prothesis. This helped with color coordination of teeth). If I remember correctly, harmful uv waves were not a factor and the bonus is they don’t fatigue your eyes! Hope this is helpful.
As mentioned prev., The lights are on only when I’m using the sets.
cooltech[8D]
We currently have natural light bulbs in the train room. The bulbs are blueish in color and remove the yellowness associated with regular bulbs from photos taken down there.
Jim