I need some advice on lighting for my new trainroom.I have a 16 x 24 foot room and I am putting in a drop ceiling.I would like to know if florescent lights will be ok?I plan on putting in 2 rows of lights with (4) 4 foot lights in each row for a total of (8) 4 footers.Will this be suffecient for the room?Any help would be appreciated.
I'm not entirely clear from your description how many fixtures will be in each row, but it sounds like two. This is not enough for a 24 foot long room. I would suggest at least three. That is what I had in a similar sized room and that was not excessive at all, but my eyes are older than yours. Next time I will add more. David
Hello, my friend Wolfgang has ca. 21 x 15 ft room, with 3 neon light > Photos: http://www.westportterminal.de/friday/friday_may06/P5262813_350.jpg http://www.westportterminal.de/friday/friday_may06/P5262830_350.jpg
Sorry if I was confusing,after I read it back,I was confused myself.I will have four light fixtures in each row and I will have 2 rows.
It sounds to me that you will have enough light,you also said a drop ceiling are all the panels going to be clear and not any solid panels. I think if you stick with all clear panels you will be good. I am going to add mine like shop lights hanging from the ceiling no defusers.
Type of light fixture Hello,Check out the T-8 bulbs and fixtures.....great light and less power consumption!
Once I laid out my benchwork, I realized that the one light fixture in the room would not be adequate. Despite the three fluorescent lights giving off ample light for the 16.5' x 12.0' room there were areas which would have ended up in shade once mountains and structures were built. I also noticed that the location of the light fixture, in the center of the room, would cast shadows from the persons and other objects between the layout & the fixture too. I chose to add lighting directly over the benchwork and near the wall... so that the shadows would be cast forward (towards the front) of the benchwork. I use track-lighting with 14 watt compact fluorescent bulbs about every 4 feet apart. Compact fluorescents give off a lot of light, last a long time and are easy to replace if any fail.
Yes, It would be best to have lighting directly over the layout. The fanciest Lighting would be warm colored soft lighting over the people areas and Bright full spectrum/daylight over the layout with perhaps spots and colored bulbs for night lighting. Since I'm stuck in a garage, I just use T8 6500K daylight bulbs for everything in shop light fixtures. It's not pretty, but It works. Normal Flourecents cast a green tint on everything which to me kills the look of everything. You could color shift all your models to account for this, but it's better to just light it right.
I went overboard and have 13 4' double T-8 hanging fixtures in a 12x14 room. There will be shadows if I want shadows, shadows where I want them and no shadows if I don't want no shadows. Whatever you decide, make sure that you use daylight bulbs or as close to them as you can get. The regular "office" bulbs just will not cut it. This shot is with new lighting and shadowed as I wished.
I will second the use of T8 daylight fixtures. Low power consumption, instant on, low heat, good colour. David
I have four 4-tube T-8 fixtures in the suspended ceiling in my train room, and they are very bright. I centered them in the room, and figured I could add peripheral lighting if needed for the perimeter. But I discovered that I didn't need any additional light except the workbench magnifier and and incandescent on the workbench for closeup work. As stated, the color is very good. I put the rear two on one circuit, and the front two on another. Dan
Tbone, Have you come to any conclusions or thoughts since the subject was brought up? My thinking is the more light the better when it comes to playing or even better when it comes down to photographying your work. Dan(N&WClair) Nice set up I like how you sealed your room off from the garage,very nice room
For photography it's probably a good idea to turn out your room lights and go with a single source, a couple of small incandescents and a bunch of reflectors. There is only one Sun. :sun: The reflectors soften the light somewhat, and fill in dark areas, but that happens in real life too. Pro photographers turn out room lights and use their own. We had a photo shoot by a photographer from MR a while back, and he had one big light, a few "key" lights for softening, and an array of reflectors. It was amazing watching him work! Ideally, a module that can be taken outside is nirvana for photography!
Yes I have decided to do the T-8 fixtures like I planned but since it will be a 2 level layout I will also do some underneath lighting for certain ares and also for night time running which I havent even thought about.Thanks for all the info guys.
I would suggest that what ever flourescent fixture you choose you make sure that it has the new electronic ballast not the old style magnetic ballast. The new electronic ballast fixtures cost a little more but they eliminate all flicker and hum from the fixture. I had seven fixtures installed in my spare bedroom layout room a couple of years ago but the random humming drove me so crazy that I had the electrician come back and replace all seven fixures with electronic ballast fixtures. It cost me time and money but I feel it was one of the best decisions I made in preparing my layout room. Mike B.
I've got a fairly small room and the layout is 8 x 5'6" and I have a light fixture in EVERY 2x4 overhead panel over the layout. 5000-deg. balanced flourescent color bulbs in diffusers on their own circuit from the box. I'd never go for anything less now. I can about get a tan in there, but I can also photo in existing light. The only thing I miss is some distinct shadow and I add a keylight for that. If you look at the "GP60's across the system" thread, that was done in all the existing room light and one little halogen key light for shadows (color balanced as well) - a trick Verne Niner taught me. It just clips on the overhead grid and I can put it wherever I want.
Light fixture placement You haven't said whether the fixtures have 4 lamps or 2 lamps. You're more fortunate than most modelers in that you have this lighting option available before starting your benchwork and trackplan. Before making a lighting decision, give more thought to what you plan on doing as far as benchwork placement, and especially give forethought to what a center peninsula with backdrop will do as far as casting shadows. Keep in mind that the further the fixtures are located from the walls, the more prone your layout will be to people casting shadows on the track/trains/scenery while they're moving in the aisleways. During the construction phase you'll discover that there's no such thing as too much light on the subject. As you get into doing scenery and details you might (read: probably) want softer lighting that highlights certain locations and specific scenes. When you install the suspended ceiling and electrical runs to the fluorescent fixtures, don't be shy about adding a few extra, strategically placed, junction boxes in the ceiling. This will make installation of track lighting easier, if you decide to add that later.
Thanks SOOTOWER,I didnt think about doing a diagram like you have shown but I am doing one now.It helped because now I am turning two lights a different way to help over my benchwork.Thanks again.
