Train Room Lighting

I took an all of the above approach. There are incandescent wall fixtures at each end of my train room, HID directional track lighting, CFL Mini-flood Can lights, and recessed rope lighting (on a dimmer) around the perimeter. In addition (see pic before tops were installed) are rope lights underneath the perimeter of the bench work.

I have been wrestling with this issue as well. Presently my 14'x23' room has 10 fluorescent fixtures with two 40 watt tubes each. These are all old style and due for an upgrade. The lighting is even, but cannot be dimmed. I've considered using CFLs and or LEDs. I'm staying away from halogen bulbs due to the power load and subsequent heat load. I see that LEDs have dropped in price substantially over the past year. If things continue with this trend for a little while longer, I'll spring and buy dimmable LEDs and dimmers. I have 3 circuits available in the ceiling, which I hope will be enough. I see there are various colored CFLs available now. I wonder if the same will be true for LEDs? I think a circuit each of red, white, and blue, each dimmable will be able to bring just about any mood I want to the layout.

Chris

LVHR

Chris:  Check out 1000Bulbs.com.  You can learn a great deal about LED lighting from their site.

I now use all LED lamps.  The fluorescent and CFL lamps put out UV that will fade the colors on your trains and they should be avoided.  

I went for track lighting with CFL spots. They were designed for small halogens, but I have slightly longer neck CFL's. Bummer is that they are not dimmable. I am using 5000k.

I like that I can aim them to create different shadows and highlights and aim them away from the viewing areas.

I did locate some dimmable CFL's and LED's. I have two rails with 10 fixtures.

The 5000k dimmed slightly would be nice, at least to my eye.

I have thought about using the rolls of small LED's, multi-color with the mixer control that you can buy direct from overseas on the auction site. I couldn't decide how to aim or hide them from view. They are cheap enough to experiment with, though. They put out some light at full power.

Your post is definitely worth it. Proper lighting will reduce heat, save energy and enhance the look of the layout. Phillips has a nice site for an LED education. Their desirable products are the commercial lines. The residential stuff didn't appeal to me.

I currently have 10 2-bulb 48" fluorescent fixtures using 5000k 'Natural Light' bulbs. I had 'Daylight Deluxe' 6500k bulbs at one time, I think they were too bright as you described your 6000k bulbs. The 5000k bulbs cost about twice as much as the others though, no idea why. I think Home Depot had them at the most reasonable prices if I remember correctly, think that's where I got them anyway.

I'm happy with the 5000k with the current amount of fixtures I have now. But, I have about 10 more fixtures and haven't decided where to put them yet. May not all go in the train area, some may go else where.

I am almost all LED ~3000k.  I have recessed floods and track lighting(par20 flood).  No UV and little heat. Also, no 60hz flicker like CFL's. More light than I need.  You can now get 2700K lighting but hard to tell the difference with 3000K.  Check Home Depot and Lowes they have a good selection and competitive pricing.  The par20 track lighting is a great way to light just your layout.  I will never buy anything but LED when my CFL's go bad.    Only a couple of pendant lights in the house where I use halogen lighting.  Most LED's are dimmable but need to find right dimmer.

Dan

Whatever you decide, don't skimp on the lighting because you will regret it later. Its better to have more than enough and the ability to dim. A past issue of OGR had the top 10 mistakes of building a layout and lighting was in there. Maybe it was another magazine, I cant remember.

We went with track lighting and CFL flood lights with a 5000k temp, PAR 38 and they are Dimmable.
The bulbs were $20 each and we have 30 of them. $600+ in bulbs for a room thats 26x17. It is very bright in there, excellent for working and photography. The dimmer is a HUGE benefactor. The tracks, cans, bulbs, and dimmers are over $1000 total, but I can tell you without a doubt.... we have NO regrets where layout lighting is concerned!

The best part is almost no heat, and very easy on the electric bill  The incandescents were so hot, we couldn't have them all on and stand to work in the room.

Track lighting with standard incandescent bulbs... very yellow (warm) and HOT! 

PAR38 Dimmable Floods 5000k 800 lumens 

The can/bulb on the right is what we used. I used the setup on the left for my switching layout. Halogen generates way to much heat and not enough light on a 9' ceiling. I need to switch my switching layout over to the PAR38 CFLs.

PAR30 Halogen vs PAR38 CFL

My train room is illuminated with a skylight and a window. I seldom go over there at night (it's in a separate building), but I have regular incandescent bulbs in ceiling fan fixtures for when I need night lighting. Eventually I will replace the lighting with directional lighting using halogen or LED bulbs. 

I absolutely loathe CFL's of any kind. The quality and color of the light is utterly unpredictable, no matter what it says on the package. I comparison tested a bunch of them in a pair of matched light fixtures with large white frosted globes, and I got colors ranging from pinkish (the best) to an eerie blue reminiscent of a 1950's science-fiction movie. None of the colors were as pleasant to live with as a regular incandescent or a halogen bulb. The environmental benefits from lower energy consumption are offset by the fact that the things are full of mercury. Break one and you've got a toxic waste cleanup on your hands, and unlike Europe, there aren't a lot of places in most U.S. cities and towns to dispose of them properly. 

A very good lighting thread from about 1 year ago. Click on the underlined phrase to link.

Another very good thread on color, started by Eliot Scher  Click a Sunset.

A slideshow of my train room lighting.

CFL at about 5000K. I like that much better than the softer white lighting. It is a personal preference.

Gerry

I'm trying to convince my wife to add track lights to the new train room but she feels, since our house will be on the market, that potential buyers would not like it. I think it would be a plus - but apparently the male mind is not as advanced as the female mind.

Michael:

You have acquired great wisdom in this thought.  Use it wisely, and you will succeed in the marriage relationship.