"SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT"

[Anonymous]

[:D] It's time to put a little light on the subject, adding street lights building lights and signals that is! I plan to have quite a few street lights around the layout,do I need terminal strips to wire them or is there another way to do this. I planned to have my power come from a DC power pac. LET THERE BE LIGHT [8D]
Thanks TainsRMe

[SpaceMouse]

You don't need terminal strips. You can use a bus wire and solder the leads. etc. There are probably as many good ideas as there are modelers doing the wiring. Just keep it neat so you can track problems. If you are controlling them with multiple switches, which I recommend so you can isolate problems, depending on how many switches you have, you might want a separate control panel.

[Anonymous]

I wire my lights in separate circuits like house wiring. For terminals I use small screws with washers screwed to the wood base and connect them with bus wires.
My roundhouse alone has 40 bulbs drawing 2.5 amps. Other sections with lights will also have their own circuit and separate power supply.
I use a dark sensing circuit for automatic on/off switches for the lights and the power supplies are turned off/on from a wall switch.

[cwclark]

I use the kit lights for street lights and in the buildings i usually drill a hole in the layout, insert the bulb and wire through a piece of styrene tubing long enough so that when it's upright, it will be above the windows so that light comes out the window yet the bulb cannot be seen in the building itself..try to wire them in parrellel..not series...if you wire them in series they'll be like those old christmas tree lights..one bulb goes out and they all go it...if you have enough lights, it's like trying to find a neddle in a haystack when you search for the bad bulb...another way to light a walkway, (like a passenger station cover) is to glue two brass rods in the roof and cut the bulb wires real short, then solder them to the brass rods that are connected to a power source,,that way you can have several bulbs lighting the building, walkway or industrial loading dock instead of just one bulb ..chuck

[AntonioFP45]

For the small town I'm designing, I'm wondering if I should use bulbs or LEDs for street lights.

It's my understanding that, barring power surges, LEDs can last for years whearas bulbs heat up and eventually burn out. But the downside to LEDs is that they're "point sources" of light and bulbs illuminate a wider area. Looks like I'd have to experiment.

For my Locomotive Service building's interior , I plan on using the floursecent bulbs made by Miller Engineering (LIght Works USA).

[Walter Clot]

I haven't started yet, but I know I will have to paint the inside of my buildings black, to keep light from shinning through the walls on some buildings. I want to experiment with the extra miniture Christmas tree light strings that I have. It may not work, but I like to try something different at times.

[modelalaska]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

For the small town I'm designing, I'm wondering if I should use bulbs or LEDs for street lights.

It's my understanding that, barring power surges, LEDs can last for years whearas bulbs heat up and eventually burn out. But the downside to LEDs is that they're "point sources" of light and bulbs illuminate a wider area. Looks like I'd have to experiment.

For my Locomotive Service building's interior , I plan on using the floursecent bulbs made by Miller Engineering (LIght Works USA).

The LEDs will last longer but the light they emit is unnatural in my opinion. Incandescent light is more natural looking.
Peter

[tomikawaTT]

Those mini Christmas lights are rated 2.5 volts, but give adequate, somewhat yellowish light on 1.5 volts. If you use partitions inside the buildings or otherwise arrange mountings that can't be seen through the windows, they work fine for building illumination. Just make sure that they have adequate ventilation.

I bought a case of 150-bulb strings after the Christmas season for about 1.5 cents per bulb - including sockets. Operating on 60% power, they should last about as long as I expect to.

Chuck

[Anonymous]

Extra added bonus/curse of using Christmas lights. Install them in holes going up to buildings, let the rest hang under the layout, and you have underlayout work lights!!! OR Slip a short peice of rubber hose ( fuel or vacuum line) over each light as a hood. If a building light does burn out, just swap it with one from under the layout!

However on my show modules, where danglng wires are prohibited (by me) I use the conductive electrical tape used to wire lights up in dollhouses. I run a trip beneat each street in the town areas, and slip street and bluiling light wires beneath the tape against the foam.

[Pruitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gsetter

My roundhouse alone has 40 bulbs drawing 2.5 amps.

I'd sure like to see a photo of that, Gary.... (hint)

[AntonioFP45]

Good point about using partitions inside of buildings

In the real world when you look at a town during the evening, only a few windows have lights showing through while most others are dark. This is of course being that lights are typicaly not turned on when a room is not in use

Yet, I've seen layouts where the modelers have light blasting through every window from inside the structure.