After 10 months I finally got the elevated layout up and running! So much I can still do with this layout. The video is from the trains perspective. But I'm looking for scenery and lighting advise. This is my first layout so I'm up for any suggestions.
Was a very difficult layout to build since I had no way to look overhead except using my iphone to video. I only had 7" clearance or less.
My wife mentioned using printouts of city and mountains for the walls. Then there's the lighting. Dark in some spots if I don't have the eyeball lights pointed at it. Thanks for watching!
For lighting, look into LED strip lighting. In comes in various forms and qualities, but requires virtually no overhead.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
mlehmanFor lighting, look into LED strip lighting. In comes in various forms and qualities, but requires virtually no overhead.
I have to agree with Mike. You could install LED strip lighting above the layout quite easily. The trick would be how to keep the LEDs from shining directly into the viewer's eyes. To prevent that you could use a very small valence with a small lip on the bottom to hide the LED strips. The biggest challenge might be dealing with the stippled ceiling. Obviously you don't want any light escaping between the valence and the ceiling. You could either scrape the stippling off where the valance will be, or use a rather large bead of latex caulking to seal the valance to the ceiling. The ceiling seems to be rather shiny which suggests that there has been paint applied over the stippling. If that is the case, forget about scraping the stippling off. It ain't gonna happen!
I do have to comment on your trackwork. The trains apparently run flawlessly! Congratulations!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanks guys. Will look into the LED strip lighting. I think it would be good if I kept the lighting at around 2700k for that soft incandescent look. Anything brighter and I feel it'll look like it's got that wharehouse lighting.
As for the track I made the mistake of using Micro Engineering for the first inner track. Very inflexible and not appropriate for this type of layout IMO. Took a while to get it right and stop the derailments. Then I got smart and used Atlas track for the outer mains & siding, soldered 9' sections, tested and cut where it needed to be, then laid it. Runs pretty smooth so far. We'll see what happens when I have 3 consists running at the same time.
As for the foam, might paint it brown to match the cork. Add a 4 track signal gantry over the switch yard.
Nice video.
I do hope that you plan to place some sort of protection along the edge of the shelf to prevent an unintended fall to the floor. That track is really close to the edge.
Rich
Alton Junction
Hi there. Laying track that high must have been quite the challenge. From what I can see, viewers from below can pretty much only see your trains. You might just want to paint the background in a very light blue colour. For the camera view, ballasting the track (and other trains flying by) might be enough. You will probably not see much on the wall from the camera on the train.
Simon
Good ideas on the lighting. For backround scenery, I like your wife's idea. None of the layout is at eye level, and you only need to scenic from the tracks to the ceiling, so a printed backdrop would be perfect. You could give some areas a little depth, by attaching some buildings to a foam core poster board, giving them a little 3-D affect.
Looking good so far, your trains run great on your track work.
Mike.
My You Tube