Enjoyed The Video

I just watched the video and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Took 26 years to make that video ...

Took 26 years to make that video ... (wink and grin)

Sound Logic

Joe,

I enjoyed the video as well. You made a lot of great points and validated your case for rebuilding your Siskiyou Line.

I just hope you will be able to start a TOMA section soon and prove to the rest of the community that you are on the right track. I bet the first module will do the trick. I know I am one who is really looking forward to the next chapter.

By the way, I hope you enjoyed the track plan of Dillard.

Tim Garland

I agree

Very interesting segment on materials and methods, sparked my interest in watching and learning on your journey.

This was...

This was just excellent!

Thanks for sharing your journey with us Mr. Fugate.

LED Lighting

Very entertaining and informational!

Excellent video - thanks Joe!

Just Google high density LED strip ...

Just Google: high density LED strip, then check out the links.

Here's my favorite (I prefer 3000K):

http://a.co/7bXm8Vy

SMD2835 600LEDs Warm White LED Strip, Non-waterproof 3000K, 16.4Ft DC12V, 15Lm/LED,
$10.99 free shipping for Prime members

~500 lumens per foot. ~40 watt bulb equivalent - or 240 watts of light (incandescent equivalent) on a 6 foot module.

~4 watts per foot. ~24 watts per 6 foot module.

~8 amps per full length strip

However, the recommended 5A power supply will not provide full brightness. Instead, use this 10A power supply:
http://a.co/0xSCmki
100V -240V to DC12V Switching Power Supply Adapter for LED Strip Light, 
$17.99 free shipping for Prime members

When researching LED strips, use this LED comparison chart to determine specs:
http://www.saving-star.com/smd-led-comparison

Look at count of LEDs per full length strip, current output of LEDs and lumens of LEDs.

The most commonly available LEDs are 2835s or 5050s are brightest. Also common are 3528s, but they're only about 1/3rd the lumens.

LED

Hello Joe,

Thank you so much for the very detailed information, It's greatly appreciated.

I'd not heard of 2835s

I'd not heard of 2835s before.

Though, after a quick google search, I don't see them in RGB or daylight which would explain it. Hard to find double density in those too. 

Ordered the LED strip....

I went for the 6000K.... I've got some cabinets in the kitchen that need the lighting underneath them upgraded. 

AH, the 6000Ks were right

AH, the 6000Ks were right there in the original link.

Cool.

Sorry, I'm not seeing the 4000K-5000K . . .

. . . LED strips. Are the four-digit numbers indicative of the temperature?

Must be looking in the wrong place on the page that Joe provided a link for. ...

Look down below

Paul, look down below the description, there's four different sub-products shown as buttons, some of which are different color temps. Click on the other buttons to see the different sub-products:

Pretty rare for a 6K to be

Pretty rare for a 6K to be available versus 5-5.5K. I'm betting with the density that their primary target is Salt Water Reef keepers who start at 6K and go bluer and at massive lumens.

What are Hobbies that make Model Railroading look cheap for a thousand Alex ...or 2000, or 10,000

Thanks, Joe!

If those were snakes, they woulda bit me!

Might I suggest...

...posting in a separate thread the discussion on LED Lighting, just in case there are readers of the forum that are not following the dismantling of the Siskiyou LIne 1.  Surely a mistake on their part, but this information is extremely useful! 

The reason is I would like to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of paying for these LED's vs similar specs on LED's I found on Ebay, though with Ebay they do come from China, so the words "buyer beware" come to mind, especially when it comes to cheap electronics.  Sure it can work out, but I have been told by others its a gamble, and I would like to know what others think, but I don't want to hijack this thread.  And I woudl like to the start of the thread to be from Joe's post.

FWIW

Ken L.

LED strips

That would be a great idea. Im just rebuilding my layout and have begun to check out these strips. But being an electronic dummy I get confused and worried that they wont be bright enough. I have a shelf type layout two ft wide and two ft from the ceiling. 48 ft total length.  looking at the strips in the big box stores doesn't help. So LEDs for dummies would be great!

Ted

Okay, I'll create a new thread ...

Okay, I'll create a new thread, but I'll make it a post to my blog, since it's Siskiyou Line 2 related.

Here's the new thread: mrhmag.com/node/29429

Use of Plastic

I wonder about the use of plastic for the backdrop and facia, also for the spline roadbed. I recall being told that some plastics, especially ABS, have a high coefficient of thermal expansion. That is it expands and contracts considerably with temperature changes. This could cause some problems in summer versus winter especially against the wood framework.

Plastic thermal expansion

Actually, foam is just as bad with thermal expansion. Foam, because it is somewhat porous with lots of little air bubbles, is also affected by humidity changes, while sheet plastic is not affected by humidity.

Wood is less affected by thermal expansion, but is greatly affected by humidity changes, especially across the grain, not so much length-wise. Plywood, because of its cross-grain construction, tends to expand and contract less and more consistently than dimensional lumber.

PVC, on the other hand, has a much smaller coefficient of thermal expansion than polystyrene or ABS.

Long story short, if temp expansion of plastics are a big no-no, then we need to stop using foam for roadbed because it's just as bad as ABS sheet - and nobody seems to be all up-in-arms that using foam for roadbed or other such layout construction is a big no-no. When I tried to take a devil's advocate position in a Reverse Running a while back that foam was bad because of expansion and contraction issues, I basically got boo'ed out of the thread.

In a climate-controlled space, humidity changes are more likely to be an issue than temperature with wood. And if foam works without lots of horror stories about its use in the hobby, then I don't expect ABS or PVC to be any worse.

ABS

I just did the math on a six foot strip of ABS with a 20 degree temp change (unlikely). My basement layout space is about 70 degrees year-round, with maybe a rise into the 80s on a really hot day.

The expansion of the six foot long strip of ABS under these conditions will be about 6 thousandths, plus or minus (1/16"). A piece of plywood 6 feet long could change by as much as 1/32" with a 20 degree temp change.

Meanwhile, a 40% humidity change can make the plywood expand/contract by 1/16". The plastic won't care.

Most layouts deal with such changes all the time and seldom are things popping apart all over. (wink)

Great Video and Information Joe

What particularly struck me was the idea for hanging skirting around the bottom of the layout - genius! The only alternative I can think of is to keep the area under the layout immaculately clean and, with me, that is not gonna happen!

George

Plastic and Skirting

Looks like the plastic shouldn't be an issue, as you point out, humidity is a bigger problem. I have a lift gate on my layout, drops easily into place, with a small gap, in the winter. In the the midst of summer I might occasionally go down there to run a train and sometimes can't get the lift gate into place, everything has expanded too much!

For the skirting, our club recently replaced the skirting on our modules with some nice black skirting made for putting around banquet tables. One of our guys got it from a catering supply place. It came with Velcro on the top for attaching to the table and is nice heavy pleated black material. I can't remember the cost but it was cheaper than if we sewed it up ourselves. It looks really nice, but it is made for tables, so might not be long enough to reach the floor for what you have planned. Might be worth looking into to see if they offer other lengths.