Best lighting for a train room

[rinzana]

Hello,
I remember reading somewhere, that flourecent lighting alters the visual color of toy trains, it doesn't damage the trains, just a visual affect caused by that type of lighting. also in that article they said that Incadecent is the way to go(normal lightbulbs).
I was thinking about going with track lighting, but most of the lighting I have seen at the Home Depot all have Halogen bulbs. Does Halogen have the same affect on the visual colorsas flourecent?
Should I just go with 12"x12" recessed lights?
I was leaning towards track lighting as the ceiling in my basement isnt that high, thus not giving me the "area" for the light to "spread out" over the layout.
With the track lighting I was thinking I could just add more lights onto the track, and adjust them for a overall even lighting.
What do all you members use out there?
Thanks
Richard

[tschmidt]

Richard,

I have my trains as part of our family room and it's in the basement. The track actually runs all the way around the room, through the stairs and has a drop down bridge across a doorway. I have a drop in ceiling with some 1x4 flourecent lights that we only use if we need tons of light...cleaning, working on the trains, etc. We usually use the track lighting which uses the small halogen bulbs on a dimmer. It makes for great versatility. I boxed in the beams and ductwork and then hung the tracklighting on the side of that and it is totally out of the way. I also have a few recessed cans in a soffit over the built in cabinets/bookshelves that the trains run across. I have them on a dimmer also.

Good luck with your project.

Tom

[wrmcclellan]

The issue with flourescents is they emit UV radiation that can seriously degrade/fade paint colors. If you notice most museums and other entities trying to preserve collections do not use flourescents. I have not heard any complaints about halogens other than they get very hot and if you are not careful in following mounting instructions can create a fire hazard.

Regards,
Roy

[Roger Bielen]

I've read that the halogens offer better color rendition, especially if you plan on photographing your layout. With some of the new incadesents claiming true colo,r a standard recess, or track, fixture would be the most adaptable. Also with the incadesents or halogens you can use a dimmer.

[Buckeye Riveter]

My train room is lit with track lighting. All I did was remove the ceiling light and bought everything I needed at Home Depot. I was really easy to install. I did not use halogen due to the heat. I also have all the track lights on a sliding dimmer. [:)]

[Anonymous]

I'm sure I'll get some flack for this, but I favor Flourescents over incandescent or halogen lighting. While the lighting may be a bit more intense and color rendition a bit better, both incandescent and halogen lighting's down side is their heat. While the added heat may be welcome during the coldier months, a room entirely lighted by high hat can lights tends to over-heat the room or make it uncomfortable in the summer.

My last layout measured 12 x 28 feet and had all incandescent high hats in the basement. I think they were originally 150 w. Twelve of those babies were on two circuits. I replaced the bulbs with 25w compact flourescents, which gave me as much light as the Halogen bulbs for a fraction of the Kilowatt hours I was paying for with the Halogens. Still the lighting just wasn't right, so I added two more can lights over the layout and achieved great lighting at minimal cost.

Just be careful not to install compact flourescents in dimming circuits. However, dimable compact flourescent lamps are available.


There's also been a lot of talk about color rendition and the effects of UV rays upon the plastic in our O-Gauge trains. Frankly at my age I'm not really worried about that. I run all era Lionel and just about all current stuff and I'm not worried about resale values or condition of my rolling stock.

I've found that Flourescent lighting over my layouts since my first basement layout back in the 1950s, has worked very well in illuminating my layouts. Recently I started building a new layout in our new home and replaced the incandescent canopy light in the train room with a 3 light 32w flourescent fixture that gives off more than enough light for the layout and display of my trains.

BillFromWayne
www.modeltrainjournal.com


P.S. I just wanted to add that today they make very attractive Flourescent Light Fixtures, in all sizes and wattages. So you no longer have to settle for the lowly factory looking flourescent strip light.

[AlanRail]

If you collect the Postwar and don’t care that the paint, back then, lacked any UV protection and don’t mind that your collection will change colors then go with the florescent lights. (they do make UV filter tubes that fit over the florescent tubes; at about $15 each)

The newer cars have some UV protection in the paint, but it wears down after exposure to UV radiation coming from the fluorescents.

The best light is the old incandescents that have very little UV radiation.


Alan

[ben10ben]

Keep in mind that halogens are incandescent bulbs that use a pressurized fluorine/argon, krypton or xenon gas mixture to extend the filament life, reduce clouding of the envelope, and allow more useable light.

As mentioned earlier, halogens can be dimmed, but, as I recall, as they're dimmed, they start to lose most of their halogen advantage, and behave more like true incandescent bulbs. That means that the filament evaporates, and the envelope clouds(a direct result of filament evaporation). Turning them back up to full power, though, should, in theory, restore the original integrity of the filament and clarity of the envelope.

My entire future trainroom is lit by a single overhead 100 watt incandescent, and that seems to provide plenty of light.

[Anonymous]

Hello: You can't beat incandescant indoor reflector floods in pot lights with a dimmer, one or two flourescants on a seperate switch to light it right up for maintenance & repair.

[lionelsoni]

Here is an old posting that may help:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=-1&TOPIC_ID=15467&REPLY_ID=131292#131292

[CNJfan]

I found some nice track lighting that uses the small incandescent reflector bulbs at Lowes. Take a look there. The fixtures aren't much larger than the halogen fixtures either. That's the way I am going for my layout lighting.
Tim C.

[rinzana]

Thanks Guys,
I guess I'm off to Lowes and The Home Depot, to see what track lighting I can find. I'll get a few sets of tracks and go from there.
Thanks Again.

[4kitties]

They also make UV shields in the form of sheets that cut to fit and lay on top of the diffusers in fluorescent troffers. I chose them instead of tube shields because the jury seems to be out on whether the shields reduce the tubes' lifespan due to increased heat buildup. The instructions for the sheet material told me to expect about a 10% drop in light output, but after the first day I didn't notice it.

If my main concern was the best color rendition I would have used incandescent lighting, but fluorescents sure get you going faster than having to install track lighting or recessed cans.

Joel