Model Railroading > Using LED strips for lighting

I have been experimenting with LED strips and micro fluorescent tubes to light up the lower level of my two level layout. Whereas the fluorescent tubes provide superb lighting, they are pricey for long runs, so I use them mainly used to light up stations. For the lower level main line I started using LED strips. These come in 16 ft length and are available from warm light to bright daylight. They come in single (16 LED per foot) or double version (32/ft). For my layout I have settled for the double version with warm (3000 Kelvin) light, as it brings out the royal blue of my B&O engines and passenger cars. The price on the internet is about $25 for 16feet, the single version are between 5 and 10 dollars, and can be easily doubled (or tripled) up if needed. Some come with plugs, others need have just connecting wires. They can be hooked up in series, although there is a voltage drop after two section. Any 12V DC power adapter can be used. The LED come with a sticky back tape and can be easily mounted on smooth surfaces. I mount mine on the inside of the Masonite fascia. I apply a film of carpenters glue and let it dry to provide a good surface for the LED tape.

Thomas Eckhardt

http://tewe.borail.net

Picture 1: With LED lighting
Picture 2: No LED lighting, just ceiling fluorescent lighting
Picture 3: Reel of LEDs

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Two more pictures showing both levels of the layout.

Picture 4 LEDs lower level on
Picture 5 LEDs off


Thomas Eckhardt

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Very nice, very elegant solution. And it's great to see they have different color temperatures available, which is good for flexibility. I'm working on a double-deck layout and this info is very timely indeed.

Jeff Johnston
www.trainvideosandparts.com

Krokodil Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have been experimenting with LED strips and
> micro fluorescent tubes to light up the lower
> level of my two level layout. Whereas the
> fluorescent tubes provide superb lighting, they
> are pricey for long runs, so I use them mainly
> used to light up stations. For the lower level
> main line I started using LED strips. These come
> in 16 ft length and are available from warm light
> to bright daylight. They come in single (16 LED
> per foot) or double version (32/ft). For my layout
> I have settled for the double version with warm
> (3000 Kelvin) light, as it brings out the royal
> blue of my B&O engines and passenger cars. The
> price on the internet is about $25 for 16feet, the
> single version are between 5 and 10 dollars, and
> can be easily doubled (or tripled) up if needed.
> Some come with plugs, others need have just
> connecting wires. They can be hooked up in series,
> although there is a voltage drop after two
> section. Any 12V DC power adapter can be used. The
> LED come with a sticky back tape and can be easily
> mounted on smooth surfaces. I mount mine on the
> inside of the Masonite fascia. I apply a film of
> carpenters glue and let it dry to provide a good
> surface for the LED tape.
>

Hi Thomas,

First off, you have a beautiful layout. It is absolutely inspiring. I will soon be starting construction on my own triple-deck layout so it is nice to see someone pull this off so well. I spent a while on your site today.

What are some of your sources for the LED lighting? I could use this in some places.

Thanks for sharing your layout and ideas,

Jason

Jason, I see something similar advertised by Micro-Mark.
Regards,dK



rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Krokodil Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I have been experimenting with LED strips and
> > micro fluorescent tubes to light up the lower
> > level of my two level layout. Whereas the
> > fluorescent tubes provide superb lighting, they
> > are pricey for long runs, so I use them mainly
> > used to light up stations. For the lower level
> > main line I started using LED strips. These
> come
> > in 16 ft length and are available from warm
> light
> > to bright daylight. They come in single (16 LED
> > per foot) or double version (32/ft). For my
> layout
> > I have settled for the double version with warm
> > (3000 Kelvin) light, as it brings out the royal
> > blue of my B&O engines and passenger cars. The
> > price on the internet is about $25 for 16feet,
> the
> > single version are between 5 and 10 dollars,
> and
> > can be easily doubled (or tripled) up if
> needed.
> > Some come with plugs, others need have just
> > connecting wires. They can be hooked up in
> series,
> > although there is a voltage drop after two
> > section. Any 12V DC power adapter can be used.
> The
> > LED come with a sticky back tape and can be
> easily
> > mounted on smooth surfaces. I mount mine on the
> > inside of the Masonite fascia. I apply a film
> of
> > carpenters glue and let it dry to provide a
> good
> > surface for the LED tape.
> >
>
> Hi Thomas,
>
> First off, you have a beautiful layout. It is
> absolutely inspiring. I will soon be starting
> construction on my own triple-deck layout so it is
> nice to see someone pull this off so well. I
> spent a while on your site today.
>
> What are some of your sources for the LED
> lighting? I could use this in some places.
>
> Thanks for sharing your layout and ideas,
>
> Jason

Search the internet with "LED strp", i got mine through Amazon with different third party vendors, one shipment arrived after three weeks directly from China with DHL. Prices can vary quite a bit, do careful shoping will pay off.

Good luck and happy hunting

Thomas

Color temperature is a small part of the equation. What's really, REALLY important is the Color Rendition Index (CRI) of the light. Look at the table here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_lamp#Comparison_to_other_lighting_technologies

Note that while they list the CRI for fluorescent at 82, high CRI (>90) fluorescent lighting is available, at a premium (but getting more affordable)

There are high CRI LEDs. The Philips L-Prize listed in that table, with a CRI of 94, would be acceptable (but very expensive). Note that generic LEDs, though, are worse than cheap fluorescent lighting.

Why does CRI matter? Faithful color reproduction. If you want your B&O Blue to look like B&O Blue, you need high CRI light source. Your eyes will adapt to nearly any color temperature, but there's no way to compensate for poor CRI in your light source, other than replacement.

CRI >IS< more important than color temperature, IMHO.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/12 17:47 by Arved.

Interesting. That Wikipedia page shows incandescents as having a high CRI. Model trains look like rubbish in incandescent light. It makes the blue on my VIA equipment look black. However, using "daylight" fluorescent bulbs (colour temperature 5000K) my blue looks... blue.

So if a high CRI equals incandescent style light, then I definitely don't want a high CRI.

-Jason


Arved Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Color temperature is a small part of the equation.
> What's really, REALLY important is the Color
> Rendition Index (CRI) of the light. Look at the
> table here:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_lamp#Comparison_t
> o_other_lighting_technologies
>
> Note that while they list the CRI for fluorescent
> at 82, high CRI (>90) fluorescent lighting is
> available, at a premium (but getting more
> affordable)
>
> There are high CRI LEDs. The Philips L-Prize
> listed in that table, with a CRI of 94, would be
> acceptable (but very expensive). Note that generic
> LEDs, though, are worse than cheap fluorescent
> lighting.
>
> Why does CRI matter? Faithful color reproduction.
> If you want your B&O Blue to look like B&O Blue,
> you need high CRI light source. Your eyes will
> adapt to nearly any color temperature, but there's
> no way to compensate for poor CRI in your light
> source, other than replacement.
>
> CRI >IS< more important than color temperature,
> IMHO.

I've also played around with these strip lights with great success. The only "negative" I've come up with is that if you do a lot with stainless steel roofs of passenger equipment, the individual LED's will look weird as a bunch of point light sources in reflections off the tops of the cars. If you don't have shiny tops of cars, they should work great.