Train Shed Layout,... Lighting

[railandsail]

I believe I need a couple of LED tube lights for my 'train shed' (12x16) double deck layout, but I am totally a novice at this LED lighting subject.

I'm pretty sure I will make use of LED strip lighting to light the lower shelf/decks (underside of upper deck), ...but I was unsure what to do about the upper deck lighting? Perhaps just ceiling lights like old florescent ones, but newer LED versions. Perhaps a row of single/dual tube fixtures (LED ones) down the center of the room, or two rows of fixtures down the ceiling at either side of center.

Whats the latest in 'LED tubes', and minimial fixture size, and best pricing???

 

[rrebell]

My favorite is track lighting, get the tracks from your local big box store and the cans online for cheap by buying compatable but defunct companys of which there are many. Bought a room full of brass color ones for less than $2 a peice, new in the box. Then you can just screw in an LED light, can be had off e-bay for less than $2.

[richhotrain]

I have been thinking of replacing my fluorescent tube fixtures with LED lighting.

Thought about track lighting, but I keep reading where the connections between track sections are unreliable.

I have also thought about linkable LED shop lights, but they all seem to come with expensive Cool White LED tubes, whereas I would think that Warm White would be much more suitable for a layout.

Another option is LED recessed can lights, but those are a real pain to install, especially since up here in the Chicagto area, where conduit is required and romex is prohibited.

Rich

[mlehman]

Brian,

Your low overhead and relative lack of insulation (yes, I see some, but this is still a steel building) suggests that LED strip lighting may be what works best for you. It' takes up very little space compared to track lighting, which usually hangs down 4" to 6" from where t's mounted. LED strip lights are even thinner than a tube-type fixture (~2") since they can be surface mounted and are maybe 0.25" tall. Heat can be a big issue and LEDs put out virtually none.

Plus, LED strip lights can usually be surface hung on the ceiling without the need for a contractor, permit, or code inspection by the property owner or resident. LED strip lights can also be repositioned easily if the initial install needs adjustment.

[railandsail]

mlehman

Brian,

Your low overhead and relative lack of insulation (yes, I see some, but this is still a steel building) suggests that LED strip lighting may be what works best for you. It' takes up very little space compared to track lighting, which usually hangs down 4" to 6" from where t's mounted. LED strip lights are even thinner than a tube-type fixture (~2") since they can be surface mounted and are maybe 0.25" tall. Heat can be a big issue and LEDs put out virtually none.

Plus, LED strip lights can usually be surface hung on the ceiling without the need for a contractor, permit, or code inspection by the property owner or resident. LED strip lights can also be repositioned easily if the initial install needs adjustment.

 

I believe that idea of strip lighting on the ceiling was an idea I intially considered, and now that I rethink it, is one I should reconsider.

It was only recently as I installed the masonite sheets over the interior insulation that I realized how dark it was going to be inside the shed until I got it painted a lighter color and installed some sort of lighting to use during 'benchwork' construction, etc.

Perhaps I should just install some surplus fluorescent tube lights as a temp solution until I decide on a more permenant solution?

But I would really like to determine my needs for wiring up whatever lighting I will eventually use, and get it installed before I close up that center portion of the 'rafters'. The LED strip lighting would be realitively easy to 'hang', .....and I think easy to wire up,...probably easier than fluorescent type fixtures?

Aren't the LED's somewhat 'directional' in their lighting,...such that I would have to be concerned with their locations mounted approx 5 ft over the top deck?

Also it is not as though I am building this layout inside a home, and thus being concernned about 'home like appearances' such as track lighting, recessed lighting, etc..

This is just a train "shed'.

 

[Doughless]

When thinking about lighting, I always want the lights to be between me and the train so the visible side of the train is lit, yet my noggin doesn't create shadows.

I would normally want a valance running parallel with the benchwork, but two inches farther out from the wall.  If the layout shelf is 18 inches deep then I want the valance to be 20 inches deep, so the light comes from the correct angle.

I think your layout is compact enough that lights running down the center should be fine.

I'm not sure about the lower deck, not knowing the depth of the shelves or how much space there is between the decks.

[Doughless]

railandsail

 

But I would really like to determine my needs for wiring up whatever lighting I will eventually use, and get it installed before I close up that center portion of the 'rafters'. The LED strip lighting would be realitively easy to 'hang', .....and I think easy to wire up,...probably easier than fluorescent type fixtures?

Aren't the LED's somewhat 'directional' in their lighting,...such that I would have to be concerned with their locations mounted approx 5 ft over the top deck?

Also it is not as though I am building this layout inside a home, and thus being concernned about 'home like appearances' such as track lighting, recessed lighting, etc..

This is just a train "shed'.

 

LED lighting is becoming very popular.  I see fixtures in the shape of tubes, so the light cascades just like the flourescent stuff.

[RR_Mel]

Brian

 

My layout is in our garage and in 1988 I originally installed five two lamp 8 foot fluorescent fixtures.  They worked very good but the fluorescent lamps emit UV and over time faded my scenery.

 

I replaced all ten fluorescent bulbs with LEDs in October and was over whelmed at the improvement.  Much brighter and easier on the eyes.  When its cold the LEDs are instant on where the fluorescents had to “warm up”.  There is no flicker or strobe effect with the LEDs.

 

I highly recommend the LED strip lighting over fluorescent.  The LED cost was better in the long run too, the average fluorescent lamp life was about two years.  At $4 per bulb over the almost 30 years I figure I paid more than double the cost of the LEDs for replacement fluorescent lamps.  The LEDs should last close to 20 years or longer.

 

I bought ten 8 foot LEDs off eBay for $130 delivered.  I had to remove the ballasts and rewire the existing fixtures but it was easy even for an 80 year old.  The instructions come with the LEDs.

 

 

Mel

 

Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

[MisterBeasley]

Since my train room is over 15 years old now, it is still equipped with incandescent lights.  I installed dimmers for all of them, like I have in most of the rest of my house.

I like the ability to control the brightness of the room.  It gives me the opportunity to run my trains at night and appreciate the beams of headlights as locomotives sweep around the curves, and the effort I've put into illuminating buildings with detailed interiors.  At the same time, I can have full brightness for working on the layout.

You can get dimmable systems these days, but you have to be careful in selecting them as the bulbs and dimmers must be properly matched.

[rrebell]

richhotrain

I have been thinking of replacing my fluorescent tube fixtures with LED lighting.

Thought about track lighting, but I keep reading where the connections between track sections are unreliable.

I have also thought about linkable LED shop lights, but they all seem to come with expensive Cool White LED tubes, whereas I would think that Warm White would be much more suitable for a layout.

Another option is LED recessed can lights, but those are a real pain to install, especially since up here in the Chicagto area, where conduit is required and romex is prohibited.

Rich

 

The connections are totally reliable, never a problem after over 30 years working with them, even worked with comercial grade triple track once. Now for layout lighting because of the many cans, it is best to use a plug in connection to the track so that it is not concidered part of the electical system as many places code is based off the ratings which dosn't mater ussually in this case as screw in leds can use as little as 1/7th the energy of say a 60 watt using as little as 8.5 watts per bulb.  I had two runs of over 30 cans running on a 15amp circuit that would blow two 15 amp circuits with incandecent.

[rrebell]

On the subject of a valance, not needed with track lighting if you position them correctly, remember you can put alot of them up and add or move them as things change, even take down and reinstall in a new location if needed, took all mine with me in my move even though it will use half the lights

 

[rrebell]

On the subject of a valance, not needed with track lighting if you position them correctly, remember you can put alot of them up and add or move them as things change, even take down and reinstall in a new location if needed, took all mine with me in my move even though it will use half the lights.

 

[willy6]

I installed track lighting in my 12' x 24' train shed that has 12 bulb outlets. I aimed and moved them to cover the entire layout. At first I used basic incandescent light bulbs and didn't like the effects when dimming. Then I tried basic PAR30 flood lights and they gave a good dusk effect when dimming. The other day I tried 4 LED PAR30's on one section of the layout. They were a lot brighter than my previous lights and was a whiter light that kind of created a full moon effect on the layout when dimmed. I like the LED better but not the cost. I have 80 amp service with 4 twenty amp breakers and have one breaker dedicated to interior lighting.

[rrebell]

willy6

I installed track lighting in my 12' x 24' train shed that has 12 bulb outlets. I aimed and moved them to cover the entire layout. At first I used basic incandescent light bulbs and didn't like the effects when dimming. Then I tried basic PAR30 flood lights and they gave a good dusk effect when dimming. The other day I tried 4 LED PAR30's on one section of the layout. They were a lot brighter than my previous lights and was a whiter light that kind of created a full moon effect on the layout when dimmed. I like the LED better but not the cost. I have 80 amp service with 4 twenty amp breakers and have one breaker dedicated to interior lighting.

 

Cosco has em for cheap, as little as $8.99 a four pack recently, I paid a bit more when I got mine.

[railandsail]

willy6

I installed track lighting in my 12' x 24' train shed that has 12 bulb outlets. I aimed and moved them to cover the entire layout. At first I used basic incandescent light bulbs and didn't like the effects when dimming. Then I tried basic PAR30 flood lights and they gave a good dusk effect when dimming. The other day I tried 4 LED PAR30's on one section of the layout. They were a lot brighter than my previous lights and was a whiter light that kind of created a full moon effect on the layout when dimmed. I like the LED better but not the cost. I have 80 amp service with 4 twenty amp breakers and have one breaker dedicated to interior lighting.

 

Are you saying you lite your entire layout with only 12 'bulbs' (LED bulbs)?, Is your track running down the center of your layout?

Do you have any photos?

[rrebell]

railandsail

 

 

willy6

I installed track lighting in my 12' x 24' train shed that has 12 bulb outlets. I aimed and moved them to cover the entire layout. At first I used basic incandescent light bulbs and didn't like the effects when dimming. Then I tried basic PAR30 flood lights and they gave a good dusk effect when dimming. The other day I tried 4 LED PAR30's on one section of the layout. They were a lot brighter than my previous lights and was a whiter light that kind of created a full moon effect on the layout when dimmed. I like the LED better but not the cost. I have 80 amp service with 4 twenty amp breakers and have one breaker dedicated to interior lighting.

 

 

 

 

Are you saying you lite your entire layout with only 12 'bulbs' (LED bulbs)?, Is your track running down the center of your layout?

Do you have any photos?

 

You can do that but you will get shadows if you do and the luminatation will vary. The reason I used so many cans in mine is to eliminate most of the shadowing and provide even ilumination. I had a lamp socket with plug and a dual lamp converter in two ceiling spaces (it was two rooms divided originaly and these were the oringing ceilng lights) so four bulbs were more than enoght to light the full area well so I unpluged the track many times when working on the layout in the early stages when even lighting was not important.

[mlehman]

railandsail

Aren't the LED's somewhat 'directional' in their lighting,...such that I would have to be concerned with their locations mounted approx 5 ft over the top deck?

Yes, they are. You aim the light by rotating the lighting strip so that it falls in the desired direction and holding it there.

Your roof looks to be sloping both direction from the center and I only saw a mocked-up second deck toward the sides, where there was much less clearance. In general, with LED strip lighting, you add more runs closer together if you need more intensity. But if a second deck will be built in the middle and that's the 5' distance that needs covered, then that might be a good place to consider track lighting on either side of the fan/light to illuminate it. Another option is to build a framework to attach the light strips to and hold them at a lower level, but then you have to figure out whether to keep the fan/light or not?

Re valances with strip lighting, I mostly do without, but you could get away with narrow ones (2" or 3") cut from black foam core board. Aiming the strip light correctly usually solves the same issue where a valance might be needed.

[willy6]

railandsail, the layout is mainly 21' x 8' duckunder attached to 2 walls, kind of "L" shaped because the narrow wall end is 10.5' x 2.5' then goes to 8' for the rest of the 18.5'. The inside walk around area is 2' x 14' and above that is my track lighting, 3 tracks, 4 bulbs each. With 12 bulbs, it covers the the entire layout.But, I think I should have installed a dimmer for each track. I have pictures in my phone and am still trying to learn how to display them on this sight.