I have seen glimpses of lighting valences in various magazines. Can anyone explain the purpose and design of the valence?
The purpose, quickly, is to reflect light onto the areas that you want the light. For layouts, we want to keep the layout bright and the aisle darker. This attracts the viewers attention to the trains and scenery. Valences allow you to do this by blocking the light.
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics:
The valance is used to shade the lighting from the visitor's eyes, while not blocking (and sometimes enhancing via reflection) the light from the layout. My layout will also make use of lighting valanes--although a bit different from the ones you typically find mounted on the ceiling, they serve the same purpose. If you look at the picture below from my layout, you can see that my light fixtures "peek" out a bit below the benchwork and are clearly visible when viewed from this angle. When you are looking at the layout, having the lights visible is a major distraction and just downright uneasy on the ol' eyes. I will be installing a Masonite "valance" of sorts to the front boards that will extend a few inches below the front boards so the lights can not be seen. In fact, my valances will be designed so that you would have to get real low (almost on the floor low) to have the light in your eyes; this will allow the lights to be obscured even when operators have to go out of the normal viewing angles to perform tasks such as switching, rerailing a car, etc. Jamie
CLICK HERE FOR THE CSX DIXIE LINE BLOG
The valence also helps to visually frame the scene focusing attention on the model railroad. Below is the valence I installed on my small practice layout. It is a 12" strip of masonite. You can see how it prevents distraction from the "backstage" stuff above the layout and focuses the light into the model area.
Regards,
Chris