Woodland scenics plug in lighting help needed

RRaddict2 posted:

I have 14 buildings with mostly WS plug in lighting ot that have been adapted to use the WS system, I have the required hubs to control them, and I have plent of wire to extend those plugs.  What I don't have is the smarts to come up with a way to wire them up as not to cause myself confusion by making a spider web of wires underneath the table. I have a simple layout 5 X 10.  The structures are on the center of the layout.  I am using a ZW transformer with 3 180 watt bricks. I have attached a rough sketch of my basic layout.  Any help would be appreciated as I am at a stand still working on my railroad. 

RRaddict;

Since each hub can control 5 lights, it would be helpful to know how many lights you are planning to put in each building. Also, are you planning on attaching the hubs to the underside of the layout or an adjacent wall???

I installed the JUST PLUG lighting system to kit buildings on my layout with five LIGHT HUBS and two EXPANSION HUBS that feed 4.5 volts through connecting cables to bulbs in buildings; usually one bulb per building, but two bulbs in two-story buildings. I mounted the HUBS on the fascia board of the layout in two clusters for convenience and easy access to the dimmer control knobs (one for each bulb) -- a handy feature.  See the attached photos.

I plugged the Power Supply into a nearby AC outlet and provided a wireless control gadget at that wall plug so I can control the flow of electricity (on/off function) to all HUBS with one small hand-held controller. I installed all the wires from HUBS to lights under the layout platforms and dressed them up with cable ties; avoiding the "explosion in a spaghetti factory" wiring mess. At present, there are 26 bulbs in play. The WS instructions say the system will handle up to 50 bulbs per Power Supply, and I haven't approached that limit yet.

I selected warm white color bulbs. At full power, they are bright, so I installed a diffuser over each bulb. The diffusers are translucent 35mm film canisters - a cheap but effective shroud.  IMHO, the JUST PLUG system is the best option now available to hobbyists -- well thought-through by the inventors at WS.

Mike Mottler     mottlerm@gmail.com

The buildings are all lit by LED's and the same goes for me two story building all have two. Mike I think I can do what you have done with yours.  I have 3 dimmers and two hubs availabe to me so it should work. Thanks again.

I have used WS lighting just this past Christmas on my Carpet central and if you think thru and read the instructions s few times then you'll see you WON'T have a spider web of light wires. I checked out your building placement and it seemed "tailor made" for the WS lighting system . you will probably put a hub somewhere under the last two or three building (as they are lined up in a row).

       You know that that the WS system has "extension" wire to go from a main hub to an extension hub.......therefore just do a few "rough placement" sketches on paper for placement of hubs n' such, to get the creative juices going.  That said...........the little LEDS are REALLY bright............the sticky on them is an ingenious touch......and i bet in no time you will have this lighting problem figured out.