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I'm still planning on rebuilding my layout and have decided to go with an around the room layout, 32 to 36 inches wide with a narrower drop down at the door way. The room is 10X14. The room does not have any overhead lights in it but am thinking about putting in a pair of 4 ft two bulb fluorescent shop lights as shown in the drawing. I think it should be enough light and there is a window also.
What does everyone else use for room lighting?
You need more lighting. At least 3 times what you show. The room needs to have a uniform, consistent lighting to avoid dark and light sections and shadows.
My layout room is about the same size with a folded dog bone shape around 3 of the walls. One side is 13 feet long, the middle is 11 feet long and the last side is 8 feet long.
I have a dropped ceiling of 2 x 4 foot tiles with 2 tube 4 foot fixtures installed. The long side has 2 equally spaced. The middle has a single 4 tube 4 foot fixture and the short side has a single 2 tube 4 footer. All are more or less centered over the train layout. A lot can be said for valance lighting and dimmable lighting but this is what I installed 35 years ago and it works for me. There are dimmable flourescent fixtures available and this might be worth looking into if you intend to operate with times that simulate daylight, dusk and night operations.
Something else to keep in mind is the height of the lighting above the railroad. The higher the light the wider it will spread to some extent.
You need more lighting. At least 3 times what you show. The room needs to have a uniform, consistent lighting to avoid dark and light sections and shadows.
Agree with steve. I would go with 4 - 4 bulb 48" Fluro. fixures. Run them parallel with the long walls, not accross as you pictured. Once your layout is done you could work with led strips just to light up the railroad if you want better detail light. But as for room lighting, I have not seen a train room too bright yet.
Let me offer a different perspective. For the most part, I agree with those above that say you need a lot more light. However, a lot of very flat light can make for some very boring action. Easy on the eyes for construction, sure, but once that's over you need some realism and that big world outdoors is certainly not full of flat shadowless light. The most glaring give away in model photos is the lack of correct shadows.
Do this: triple or quadruple the amount of fluorescents for sure. If you can, place them in zones so you can light just one area and save some energy. It's really cheap. A north-facing window is even better. But add a separate circuit for some track lights that you can aim and create shadows and interest. Put them on a dimmer so you can vary the lighting. I use halogens for this as they are very white and photo-friendly. But insanely hot....they're not for everyday, but when you want 'em, they're perfect.
I would say have your lights on more than 1 switch or have the ability to vary the lighting, its great to be able the kill most of the lights in the room and enjoy the locomotive lights, street lights and building lights. It gives a nice variety if you can do daylight running, twilight running and night time too.
I will say if you go with just the two sets of tubes, than you will need to have area lighting. Have you thought about using LED lights for the over all layout?
You can put them under a shelf, cut and splice, change brightness, color and are easy to install and use almost now power.
Most importantly, put the lights up BEFORE you build the layout so you don't have to step on the layout to install lights. LED is expensive but over time....... I use compact florescents in the reflectors, mostly the wide spectrum so it brings out the color, but I also have floods and spotlights to highlight some areas. Yes, having sharp shadows is important. My loft, where the layout is has windows to illuminate the layout very early in the mornings so I don't even use the overhead lights.
One more thought: when lighting the layout directly, consider color corrected bulbs. They are a little more expensive but you won't get that greenish tinge standard flourescent bulbs can give everything.
What ever you do, avoid those hot halogen lights. They make your air conditioning work double.
Dimmable LED spot lights are expensive but stay cool and use 1/5th the power. Fluorescents are not dimmable but use power somewhere between Halogens and LEDs. THe heat they produce is between Halogens and LEDs too.
I chose LEDs because the are longer living than anything. Usually 30,000 hours MTBF. Regular Bulbs are around 2500 hours. The comment about not having to step on your layout to put in lights also applies to replacing burnt out (or flickering) fluorescent tubes as well.
