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
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.
Mike.
My You Tube
7j43kNight running DOES have its charms.
Indeed it does.
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.
IMG_9913_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
Union_Sta_departure4 by Edmund, on Flickr
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.
Hulett_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
IMG_8777_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
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 itself. Pretty much why theater and movies are enjoyed in a darkened auditorium.
Have Fun!
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...
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
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.
Ed gmpullman, that is just excellent. When I think of a layout with lights, I think of yours and Frank's (Zstripe).
RR_Mel Ed, first see it you can fix the title, I don’t understand HTML.
Me neither.
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.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Gotta have lights.......how are the Lions in the shop gonna' play without lights?
Or the dock workers?
I don't need any lights on other than whats on the layout to run at night.
Take Care!
Frank
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.
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!
Wayne
I am using lights on my steam locos even on daytime runs. IIRC it was 1955 or 56 when lights during the daytime became mandatory in the US.
Jeff White
Alma, IL
Yes.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/213765.aspx?page=1
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
BroadwayLion ROAR
In many parts of the subway time of day or night matters not.
Joe Staten Island West
My kid drove his priz ES44AC onto the floor while operating "at night". Thank goodness for foam tile flooring. We don't do that anymore.
Lonnie Utah My kid drove his priz ES44AC onto the floor while operating "at night". Thank goodness for foam tile flooring. We don't do that anymore.
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.
I loved running my layout at night. Most of the time, I had to work during the day and than come home and make dinner, so that was my train time. In the winter it was dark. Sure, I could put the room lights on, but night running has always had a great draw for me.
I've iluminated my passenger cars, and paid special attention to the structures, with interior walls and lighting distributed to give the look of occupied and non-occupied spaces. I've installed street lights and working traffic signals.
I found that if I didn't drop the room lighting to zero, the optical sensors would still work and therefore I could have working crossing lights and gates, a true delight.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I like running my trains at night some times just to remind myself what it's like in the dark. The only lights I have are the street lights, water tower blinking light and building lights as well as the head lights of the locos...
Thanks, all, for your responses. Very interesting. And varied.
When I was a kid, I sometimes used to darken the room and run my LGB Starter Set to see what it looks like runiing through darkness.
I'd say two or three headlights are better than one. One headlight looks like a flashlight.
My layout lighting is LEDs on a dimmer. At the lowest setting the effect is similar to bright moonlight. As I build structures and finish scenes I also add appropriate lighting, and all my locos have working headlights (I'm in the diesel era, though). As for operations, I have a session plan that depicts a 24-hour day, so some of the action occurs at night. The local turns and industry switching all occur during daylight hours, because the small-town industries I'm modeling wouldn't have been working at night. But there is a mainline local that sometimes performs setouts or pickups at night, and the eastbound San Francisco Chief came through the area I'm modeling at night. A little pocket-sized or "keyfob" flashlight is a useful tool. While nighttime operations can yield some cool-looking effects and an enjoyably different flavour that makes the extra effort worthwhile for me, I will say that it doesn't satisfy me 100%. The problem is that light just doesn't scale down the way our models can, and there's no way to completely avoid unrealistic, overly harsh shadows - particularly on the backdrop. Static flock grass that looks great by day also gets unrealistically shiny at night. So, yes, midnight on my layout's cool, but not quite as realistic as noon.
The St. Jacobs and Aberfoyle Railway http://stjacobsmodelrailway.com/ (in MR long ago as Aberfoyle Junction) has a major 10 minute night scene. The room lights go down, lights come on in the streets and in buildings, then they go off in appropriate sequence, some come on again briefly, and finally the rrom lights come on again.
We had a backstage tour last month and saw the controller -- a large drum with ridges that control microswitches which then work relays and such.
Something to see if you're in southern Ontario.
--David
I use blue LED rope lights that were bought in a after Christmas sale. Kept it simple with a switch for white lights and a switch for blue. N scale view of the town of Shelbieville.
My lay out is small, on a closed in porch. I love running and switching at night. I love the Just Plug system from woodland senics. You can see the people eating in the cafe. In the morning, I love to run the passenger train in the sun light. the shadows and reflections are fun to watch. And, its not simulated daylight!
Here is some night life on my layout. People on motorcycles cruise the street while people in the bar socialize.
It is rather neat to operate at night, if your layout has lighting of all sorts. To quote 'Old Pa Kettle"....One of these days....
Oh by the way...Do have a operable prototypical flash light handy, with fresh batteries...as you are going to need it.
You can take it to the bank.