I use clamp-on work lights, with daylight incandencent bulbs, such as Phillips Natural Light, or Sylvania Daylight. I mount them from plywood brackets secured to the ceiling.
They're not the most elegent, but they are cheap, and it's easy to shift them around when I need more light for photography. Even without a valance, you hardly notice them, because all the light is directed at the layout.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
HEdward wrote:Flourescent bulbs will slowly bleach out your colors.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Plastic diffusers, or UV filters (more expensive sleeves for flourescent bulbs) prevent the bleaching of colors due to UV radiation. For another solution using flourescent replacement bulbs (the twisty tube bulbs) see http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/ . Harold has done a wonderful job lighting his layout with these bulbs.
The diorama between the storage and the HO layout will be lit with a rope light. With a fairly low ceiling, it's just another challenge.
Most of the white rope lights I have seen are too yellow and too dim to use as primary lighting. Even mounted at a distance of 18" above a shelf the light is too dim to be useful. I have not yet experimented with the blue rope lights for that night moonlight effect.
Flourescent lights use far less power and heat (about 75% less) for the same amount of light. Bulb life is much better. You can select bulbs with a natural sunlight color and spectrum. But you can't dim flourescents without tripling the cost, and reducing bulb life. And you need some sort of UV screen to prevent fading.
For a larger layout, the heat and power consumption of incandescents become a real issue. Additional air conditioning loads are imposed and perhaps more house electrical circuits will be needed. But incandescents are easily and cheaply dimmed, and if additional circuits are not required, cost less. If higher wattage bulbs are placed close to the ceiling or underside of shelf, some sort of heat shield or baffle may be needed. Incadescents tend to be yellower than sunlight.
Depending on your situation, a combination might be the ideal. Flourescent lights for layout construction and/or full daylight operations. Incandescent lights might be used to fill in areas or produce shadows, and/or be used exclusively to simulate different times of day.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
I like the flouresent lights as my layout is in the garage and no heat generation can be tolerated when it gets over 100 degrees reularly. One issue with the flouresent lights is you must put them end to end or there will noticable lapses in the layout. I did not run mine all the way to the ens where there is a canyon and the lack of light is evident.
here is the canyon scene(not finished yet).
Here are some pics of the rest.
You can see in the last pic that you may need to walk over to the canyon to get a better view, but thats ok its just another way to draw the viewer in.
John
I would like to ask a question about flouresecent lighting. I've read in several places in this Forum about the danger of UV rays coming from this lighting and washing out the colors on your layout. Although, this is supposed to be over period of years, I believe. At any rate, I looked at flouresecnt tube wraps with UV filtering and they are frightfully expensive. Even the regular tube wraps are pricey. So, what is the plan B? Do the lexan or plastic fixture wraps that come with the more "residential" vs. utility-type flourescent lights (T12 or T8 with 48 or 34 watt tube lights) help to alleviate the problem with the UV rays? They do seem to diffuse the light (that is their function) and maybe they tone down the UV? Your thoughts on this? Are there better ideas besides puck lights, Christmas lights, and LED rope lights?
Thanks!!
I put up this Halogen track light before I built the layout. I like the light it gives off and the fact you can aim each light where you want to. It is also on a dimmer so it can be like night time in the room for those night scenes, but still have enough to see by. I will be putting in two more eventually.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
My guess regarding the UV radiation, is that unless they are UV filters, UV radiation will pass right through them. They may diffuse the visible light spectrum, but they will probably let the UV portion through. As far as bleaching out the color, I have to agree with tstage, and write it off as "weathering". I mean, isn't that what happens in nature?
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Seriously, pick up Tony Koester's book on building multi-deck layouts. He includes an entire chapter on lighting. He also rebuts the theory that modern flourescents bleach out colors on model railroads.
See my post in this thread
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/87620.aspx
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
As I recall, flourescents were supposed to fade things like grass and scenery, not cars and engine's colors. I don't know that they really do, any more than say direct sunlight or any other light over time. Could be scenery products just fade over time no matter what light you use??
One guy who has seen many layouts in person is Allen Keller, and I remember him in an NMRA convention seminar when he was asked about layout lighting he recommended flourescents without hesitation.
..... Bob
Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here. (Captain Kirk)
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
Resistance is not futile--it is voltage divided by current.
Wow, talk about blowing off the dust of an old thread... :D
I recently took down my old layout do to a move and noticed, or there lack of, any bleaching. I had one corner of the garage of wherea 2 bulb, 4 foot fixture was on for almost 4 years straight. Other than dust, it was no different than aywhere else.
I have begun by new layout and have replaced the 60W bulbs with the new CFLs in those metal dome fixtures. So far, I have been happy with the color and lack of heat.. plus, saving electricty.
Best Regards, Big John
Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona. Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the Kiva Valley Railway
The sun produces much more UV light than any home light fixture. Do you allow daylight into your train room? The flash on your camera produces a lot of UV, as well.
I have been using fluorescent lighting for years with no fade noticeable.
The way you dim fluorescents is to turn some of them off individually or bounce them off the ceiling. Get some small under counter fluorescent fixture for when you want to dim them way down.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Hi,
Fluorescent light are cheaper to use than a light bulbs.
Many manufacturer offer differents kind of light whith fluorescent tubes whith a spectrum of light going from the white to warm yellow light even if it's fluorescent one.
The small fluorescent bulb light offer the same spectrum ( here in Europe).
Friends of mine use a combination of fluorescent light (Philips) and leds light. The white light of leds is absorbed by the yellowish one of the fluorescent tube but all in all thats give a warm yellow light and which is very attractive on picture.
He use the leds light to work on the layout because of the inexpensive cost even if the lamp itself is quite expensive.
Don't forget light are expensive to use; electricity is very expensive here in Europe, so we try to use the cheapest light we can found.
You reach rapidly a big average of light "watt" to illuminate a layout don't forget it.
Marc
Found a old thread here that I found and thought it would be good to ask my question also.
I have always used florescent lighting above my layouts and just dont like the color i am getting from the bulbs. I have tried the different ones such as "office lighting", and "natural sunlight". What I wish I could find is a bulb that gives off a blueish type hue, does anything like that exist in a T8 bulb?
What about using the LED strips or coiled rolls that were mentioned a few months back in a previous issue of MR?
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
Try these, you will like them.
Ecolux made by GE F32T8-SUN-ECO.....5000K and were made in Canada,believe it or not.
I've had no color problems or fading at all but that's just my opinion.
However GE closed it's largest incandescent bulb plant in my town and moved South of the Border. They blamed it on the Feds doing away with incandescent bulbs, but that law has since been repealed.
Hope the Canadian plant is still there.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
The LED strips are probably the "next best thing" One of the posters here has used them, and they look good in his pictures, but they are rather expensive at the moment. When the cost comes down I can see multiple strips of different colors being used to simulate an entire cycle from high noon to midnight, with sunrise colors and sunset colors in bwtween. I've always thought I'd do somethign liek that when I build my eventual big layout, but it currently takes a lot of incandescent bulbs (although not all are on at the same time). Looking at some recommendations it's not all that mahy bulbs in a given area, however a full basement, the total wattacge of lights would probably be enough to make it rather warm. Flourescent and LEDs don't have this problem, dimmable flourescents aren't cheap and they don;t go allt he way down, so that leaves LEDs - by the time I'm ready to begin said layout, LED prices shoudl come down significantly.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
You need to look at the "K" rating (Kelvin) listed in degrees F.
5000 K is good, and 7000K is even bluer. If you cannot find them at Walmart or Runnings, try an electicians warehouse.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
5000k to 6500k is daylight.
I prefer 5000k myself. 5500k is noon daylight or electronic flash. I like it just a tad more yellow.
Lion:
There is no F.
Phoebe Vet 5000k to 6500k is daylight. I prefer 5000k myself. 5500k is noon daylight or electronic flash. I like it just a tad more yellow. Lion: There is no F.
Hey! You are right. KELVIN *is* a temperature scale. LION must have been off chasing some wildebeests
Save me a steak.