Layout lighting - Epping MRE

I received an email from a rather well-known US model railroad identity asking me about the layout lighting Peter Lewis used on his A-Tractiv Effort layout. Since I often take photos of layout lighting as a personal interest, I had some photos to send to him.

I then started to think that perhaps I could write a post on layout lighting at model railway exhibitions, using the Epping Model Railway Exhibition as a starting point for an ongoing look at the issue. After all, in a previous post I was quite critical of poor layout lighting at the Sandown exhibition.

There are really two perspectives on the layout lighting issue at exhibitions. The visitor wants to be able to see the layout displayed so that he/she can actually see the trains, buildings, and scenery as easily and realistically as possible. Th exhibitor wants to use layout lighting to show the layout as well as can be, within the constraints of time, cost, portability and ease of setting up (and down) at exhibitions. The biggest challenge is providing even light across the entire layout on display and to minimise shadows (and still within those exhibitor constraints). It's a tough ask.

The following photos show examples of layout lighting from most of the layouts at the Epping Model Railway Exhibition last weekend. Layout lighting is usually a subjective issue, so I just want to illustrate the types of layout lighting on show last weekend. I will, however, exclude my personal comments on layout lighting for photographic purposes since most visitors to an exhibition aren't there to take photos of the layouts.

The first photo (above) is of the layout, Dungog. The layout used hooped lights in a rather art-deco looking light shade. I don't recall the lamps being obtrusive as the photo might indicate and the layout lighting seemed adequate for viewing purposes. By using single lights in fixed positions one must be careful in trying to provide an even light across the display area.

Geoff Small (Smaldon Curve) used spotlights attached to an overarching frame. The spotlights are in fixed positions but the heads can swivel to adjust the focus of light on the layout.

Another form of spotlighting was in the shape of this under-cabinet light unit attached to a tubular post on the Myallie Yard layout. There were two of these fixtures on the small loco-depot based layout. I have seen these under-cabinet lights at the local hardware store but I am not convinced they provide sufficient even light.

A common form of layout lighting, especially on layouts at home, are fluorescent tube lights. You can see the double fluorescent tubes used here on the Ober Franken layout. The tubes cover the full length of the front of the layout and therefore provide a consistent and more even coverage of light, something that spotlights often find difficult to do. In this case, the tubes are part of an overarching frame over the top of the layout.

The N scale South Bend layout is 7.5 metres long and therefore offers both lighting challenges and set-up challenges. The layout uses fixed positioned lighting (fluorescent, I think) within a boxed light shade.

The previous layout examples featured lights that were fitted to posts of some kind and "hung" over the displayed portion of the layout. The next two examples show how the lighting is part of the actual layout structure within a "showcase" type of presentation. The first layout is the HOm Bergun and the second layout (with two photos) is the HO scale A-Tractiv Effort which is fully enclosed, the front panel being clear Plexiglas. Note the double fluorescent tubes used under the front fascia on A-Tractiv Effort.

The layout lighting on these two layouts was bright, even, and integral to the actual showcase design. I certainly find this type of lighting, when it is well done, to be of high quality. However, I don't know whether this type of lighting in a showcase design is more difficult to build and move around than the light and post method employed by the other layouts at Epping. Perhaps an exhibitor could give me some thoughts.

I do know, from helping set up layouts at exhibitions, that layout lighting is not a simple thing to do. The planning and construction methods are important but perhaps compromised in terms of ease of transport and setting up. Layout lighting is, as you can see, as varied as the layouts themselves. And layout lighting for exhibition layouts is different to layout lighting styles for home model railway layouts.

Layout lighting is an interesting topic and something I will return to every now and then in the future.

Epping MRE 2010

I had a very good day at the Epping Model Railway Exhibition over the weekend; albeit there is another day to go tomorrow (Monday 14th June). I trust the exhibition is a big success for the organisers who shifted the event to a new location this year - the Brickpit Sports Stadium at Thornleigh.

I arrived bright and early to get a good parking spot and get into the queue for opening time at 10am. I was therefore a little perturbed when I drove in and I wasn't allowed to park underneath the stadium. I was directed to a very dodgy goat track leading to a rather muddy but relatively flat area of grass and gravel on which to park. I made it OK but I did hear of a report later in the day where a car was bogged and had to be towed out by a 4wd parked nearby!

The queue was not as long as I expected but it curled like the shell of a snail in the foyer until the queue just became a crowd. Fortunately, the crowd was very civil and co-operative so that when we were allowed to buy tickets prior to the opening of the hall, we all dutifully fell into line and purchased our tickets accordingly. Then we lined up in two separate queues in an adjoining basketball court - one line for the exhibition and one line for the second-hand stall.

The local Hornsby Shire Mayor officially welcomed everyone to the exhibition but it was rather difficult to hear what he actually had to say with all the background noise. Next time, please provide a microphone and speakers! At 10am the doors opened and we all made our way inside. I went to the second-hand stall first and bought a couple of back issues of Model Railroader, but that was all.

Downstairs in the main hall were the layouts and the commercial stands. There were thirteen layouts and thirteen commercial displays. The hall was much bigger than the space at the previous location at Epping Boys High School. It was much easier to move around and much easier to talk to people without blocking thoroughfares. The morning session saw a lot of people in the hall but after lunch the numbers seemed to thin out. I wasn't sure if this was just an optical illusion created by the extra space or whether afternoon commitments elsewhere had kept people away. I do hope that the exhibition had good numbers because I really liked the location.

The layouts being exhibited included the following:

A-Tractive Effort - a NSW-based HO scale layout set in the Newcastle/Lake Macquarie area north of Sydney. The layout was displayed in the same way as the owner's previous layout, Time & Patience, using a plexiglass front, enclosed with excellent lighting. Naturally enough, the layout featured some superb model buildings, including a nice variety of houses, a scout hall, and the ubiquitous corner petrol station of which the layout builder is renowned! Despite the sophisticated layout, electric control is via an ancient Duette power controller (photo below).

Bergun was an HO scale narrow gauge Swiss alpine model railway that featured some beautiful Swiss scenery. The layout featured modern-era Swiss diesel electrics. The trains were controlled by NCE digital command control (DCC) - a DCC system well recommended by the owner.

Bridport South Western was a relatively small 4mm scale (EM gauge) layout set in an English scene circa 1890. The layout had a recorded commentary detailing a sequence of train movements and providing prototype explanations for what was taking place on the layout. Principally a shunting layout, it nevertheless had a constant crowd of onlookers who all seemed genuinely enthralled with what they were watching and hearing. I have only ever come across a couple of layouts at exhibitions (both at Warley in Birmingham, UK) that attempted a regular verbal commentary of layout operation and Bridport South Western should be commended for their efforts here.

Charging Moose Mining & Logging Co was the exhibition layout from Geoff Nott. As with all of Geoff's work, the scenery and detail of the layout modules were superb. The layout is O scale narrow gauge and is essentially freelance, but inspired by the Pacific Northwest logging and mining railroads in the USA.

Cooparoo was a modern Queensland Rail exhibition layout in HO scale. The layout featured Cooparoo station which is part of the Brisbane suburban network, but also includes both QR and interstate freight trains.

Dungog, an old favourite I'd seen a few times before at other exhibitions, was also on show. The layout is based on the NSW country town of Dungog, which is about 80km north of Newcastle. The layout features a a "steam-era" yard with loco facilities, the unusual Dungog station building, and  a very nicely modelled sawmill and dairy. The photo below shows a 60 class garratt crossing a steel girder bridge, with the caveat in the program clearly acknowledging the fact that 60 class garratts never went as far as Dungog.

 Ober Franken was a small HOm German layout with some excellent scenery. The track plan was essentially just a continuous loop with a small fiddle yard at the rear. The layout demonstrated that one could have a well presented layout without taking up too much space.

Myallie Yard was an HO scale US-based prototype layout featuring a typical locomotive service facility, including a fuel siding and sanding tower. The layout was operated with DCC and really showed how effective DCC is on small layouts where multiple locomotive movements occur.

Smaldon Curve made another exhibition appearance. The layout's signature feature is the cement works, with a passing parade of relatively modern era NSW diesel locomotives and freight trains.

The Macarthur District Model Railway Club exhibited Wallendbeen. Wallendbeen is a NSW station on the Main South Line, just north of Cootamundra. The layout is large, even by exhibition standards. The layout featured Wallendbeen station, the goods shed and grain loop, and the signature grain silos of the yard. There was plenty of scope to run long trains on this layout with a good variety of trains of NSW and Victorian motive power.

South Bend was a N scale layout based on US-prototype. The layout is 7.5 metres long and showed a generic series of US-based scenes. But what was it that got their attention....?

Yallah is the O scale (7mm) narrow gauge layout that seeks to promote the activities of the Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society (ILMRS) based in Albion Park near Wollongong (NSW). The layout is about 2.4 metres by 0.3 metres; once again demonstrating that layouts do not have to take up enormous amounts of space. Many of the buildings on this layout have been built from structures at the Museum site, including Otford Signal Box and Yallah station building.

And if you can count, you will notice that although there are 13 photos, there are only twelve layouts mentioned in the exhibition report...so far. You may (or may not) be disappointed to learn that I didn't take a photo of the Thomas U-drive layout, despite its popularity with the younger children.

Until next time...