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Richlawn Railroad V2: Room lighting Journals/Blogs
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Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade
Let there be light! While my track plan is being finalized I wanted to make some type of progress on the railroad room. I considered a number of methods to light the room / layout and decided to use track lighting with PAR20 heads (50 watt maximum) so yesterday I ordered the items I need for my 10ft by 12ft room. Why track lighting you ask? Well, my friend Kevin (Wnrr.net) used it to light his excellent railroad. I like the ability to be able to move the lights around and aim them to my liking. The track lighting pattern will be a basic rectangle that follows the walls of the room with one track piece in the center of the room that connects to the centered ceiling fixture box to provide power. That center track will also illuminate the short peninsula. The center ceiling fixture box is controlled by two wall switches and I had toyed with the idea of using dual circuit track. One circuit would control the lamp heads with white lights and the other circuit would control a set of blue lights for night running. I abandoned that idea when I discovered that the dual circuit track was 4X the price of the single circuit! The one light switch for the ceiling box also controls one plug on a wall receptical so I'll use that wall switch as my master on/off for power to the layout. I'll post a picture of the light layout later.

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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kLEROYs Regular poster 181 posts
kLEROYs

Dual light track....

So could you add a second track for night lighting that runs parallel to the day lighting?  This would only double your cost.

Kevin

NOOB in progress
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rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade

Two (dual) tracks

Leroy,

I didn't think of that!  I'm going to see if I can get away using uplight style floor lamps with blue bulbs to bounce the blue off of the ceiling for night running.  If that doesn't work I may try a second track; however, connecting it to the ceiling power box may be a challenge.

 

 

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade

Picture of Track Lighting plan

Here's a picture of the plan for my track lighting track.  Of course those darn vents are forcing me to be a little further from the wall then I would have liked, but it will work.  Each square equals 1 foot.

R_TrkLgt.jpg 

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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John Winter Prolific poster 1,001 posts
John Winter

Circuit overload....

Rick be mindful of the total amperage draw of your lighting circuit. Don't overload the breaker serving the lighting load and make sure your switch is sized properly as well. They do make large amperage lighting switches. I installed track lighting on my layout 13ft. X 14ft. with 14 heads containing 50 watt halogen flood lights. One other benefit is the ability, as you said, to direct the light where you want it for highlighting an area for photographs or down playing an area you don't want to bring attention to. For what it's worth...good choice. John

My Layout Blog: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/22280
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rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade

Thanks, John

John, Thank you for your advice. I, too will have 14 heads using 45 - 50 watts each. It's a 15 amp circuit so I should be O.K. I may even use a high capacity dimmer (1000 watt) to control the lights.

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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arthurhouston Prolific poster 1,154 posts
arthurhouston

Will their be reg bulbs?

Had to get some 50 watt floods for mine yesterday and was looking at cf and led spots and floods. Expensive is all I can say.
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rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade

Led would be nice

I saw some 5000K daylight LED bulbs; however, they were $23.00 each. They were only 8 watt, ran cool, dimmable, and would last the rest of my life. Now if they would only come down in price.....

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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mike.h Regular poster 215 posts
mike.h

Rick, like your idea using

Rick,

like your idea using spotlights, you can highlight certain scenes.

Take a look at the Lumens of the bulbs - more Lumens more light

cheers,
Mike 
 
 
 
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platelayer New member 8 posts
platelayer

Why not use LED-strips?

Why not use LED-strips? Easy to control, no heat and cheap.

(Some main rooml light could be conventional)

Have You ZZeen It?
Svein-Martin Holt
http://www.platelayer.com
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rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade

Mike, thanks for the

Mike, thanks for the suggestion. I want to make sure that I get bright (lumens) bulbs and the proper color.

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade

LED strips for lighting

Svein, My layout will be single deck with a height of 52". With no valance over it the ceiling will be almost 5 feet above it, which would be too far for illumination by LED. Thank you for the suggestion.

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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dantept Regular poster 265 posts
dantept

Layout Lighting Foot-candles

My layout height is approximately 5' below the ceiling; it is a doughnut 1' & 2' wide.  In order to obtain approximately 100 foot-candles on the layout (higher than needed for effect but recommended for modeling work), I had to install recessed cans with reflectors and 75 watt halogens spaced about 2' on center.  I recommend that you check the foot-candles achievable with your proposed system because I doubt they will be enough based on my planning experience with a manufacturer's technical data.  I do have the lighting on a dimmer.

Dante
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rickwade Prolific poster (deceased) 6,447 posts
rickwade

Layout Lighting Foot candles

Dante,

Thank you for the information on the room lighting.  I'm basing my lighting on Kevin Klettke's excellent Washington Northern Railroad ( http://wnrr.net/ ).  He has the same size layout room (10 x 12) and used track lighting. From the pictures that I've seen him post and the picture below I believe that I can get enough light using the track lighting with enough heads / lights.  Here's Kevin's room illuminated by I believe 14 heads with 45 watt bulbs:

R_TrkLgt.jpg 

Rick

img_4768.jpg 

The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

Mt. 22: 37- 40
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