LED Layout Lighting

It started with a discussion between my father and myself three years ago about whether or not it would be possible to use led lighting to light a layout efficiently. Through much experimentation with led options from suppliers I have worked with in the past for other projects, we finally found a solution that is effective for lighting they layout and remaining cost effective.

What we obtained was many 5 meter rolls of a Flexible SMD LED Tape with 5050 SMD LEDS on it in a daylight white.  There are many colors available and multiple color temperatures of white, we settled on the day light vs two other color temperatures because the others were more yellow or blue than we liked for the layout look.  SMD LEDs are also available in 3528s instead of the 5050, but only provide about 1/3 as many lumens, although the 3528 tape is going to work very well inside some of the buildings.

To install the LED Lighting I ran a 12v bus line around the top of the layout.  Now that I had the 12v power throughout the layout I began to plan how I would cut the LED tape to best cover the entire layout.  We decided that only applying the tape in straight lines vs attempting to follow the curves of the layout was the most effective way. We attached an 1/8" masonite hardboard stip to the framing for the upper level of the layout and applied the LED tape directly to the smooth side of the masonite. 

We applied a stip of the LEDs about 2" from the front of the layout and then a second strip about 6 inches from the back of the layout to give us the best coverage thoughout.  In some of the deeper areas of the layout we added a third strip in the middle.  In one of the pictures you can see another strip of the LEDs applied to the back side of the facia, These are an RGB version of the 5050 SMD LEDs that we have been experimenting with to add color differences to our backdrop to represent different times of day.  We are very happy with our current results and the LEDs have been installed now for almost 3 months with out any issues.

There are a few major benefits to LED lighting that led us to start experimenting with options;

Power - we are able to light our entire layout while only using less than 10 amps

Heat - while the traditional method of lighting for a layout has always been incandescent or fluorescent lighting, both methods produce a great deal of heat.  After hours of operation with the LEDs on at full, they are still cool to the touch, making it great for a room that has multiple bodies in it already to operate the layout.  We're happy to have to run the airconditioner a little less to keep the room comfortable.

Installation - installation was a breeze, we managed to put up lighting on the entire lower level in less that an hour.  The 12v power supply for the LEDs lives near our DCC command station and has 16g bus wires that run up behind the backdrop and around the layout.  To attach each strip of LED lights, I simply soldered on a couple feeder wire to the (+) and (-) pads on the strip itself and then use 3M "suitcase" connectors to attach them to the bus wires.

Norfolk Southern - Illinois Division

This may seem a bit of a tangent from any normal post that show up here, especially since the blog is titled, Missouri Pacific Sedalia, but this will be a running tangent for awhile.  The Missouri Pacific Sedalia Sub is a model layout that is built by myself (Stephen) and my father (Gary).  I travel for a living with Broadway tours and get to spend generally less that two months a year here, thus I don't get to work on stuff very often.  When I am home it is generally for a week at a time and model railroading does get the majority of my time. Knowing that at some point in the near future I will get tired of traveling all the time, want a house of my own, family... I have recently started planning my future layout.

After a few months of debate about which direction I wanted to go with my future layout, I had finally decided on Norfolk Southern.  While I have a great deal of Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific locomotives and rolling stock, my interest in a coal branch through the hills and forrest is something that I will always have and if I don't make the switch now, it will probably be something that I regret.  I eventually decided on the Norfolk Southern Illinois Division between Moberly, MO and Huntingburg, IN, with Kansas City, MO and Louisville, KY as staging yards.  Also to satisfy my need to haul coal, there are 4 coal mines in Southern Illinois that while they may not truly be served by the NS, I am making them so for a coal branch on my layout.

From time to time I will post some of the projects that I am working on or have completed for this layout on this blog, but most of the Illinois Division stuff will be solely posted on its own blog.

Illinois Division -- Model Railroad 

A Tale of Two Buildings

It seems that no matter how many structures you build there is always a need for something special, more buildings or just something you want to try.  This is the story of a time when all of those needs popped up.  I have kitbashed a few buildings over the years but never built anything using the modular kits that are available.  Now is the time to push forward.  There were basically two manufacturers that had modular kits available in N Scale, Woodland Scenics and Walthers.  I used both for two different areas I was working in.

Planning

With either of the manufacturers you can print templates of the various modular kits.  It is highly advisable to take these printed templates cut them out and make a rough mock up of the building before actually starting construction.  This gives you the chance to get a feeling for what the building will actually look like in place and make any changes.

Not the best looking thing you can have but it serves it's purpose and gives you an idea of size and fit of the structure. Once the paper mockup is done, and any adjustments made, You will know how many of each piece you are going to need to complete your building project.  This paper mockup was for the Milling and Woodwork building just outside the Jeff City Yard.  For the backdrop structure I did not use a mockup.

 

Milling and Woodwork - Jeff City Yard Area - Walthers Modulars

As with all building projects it always helps to have a sharp hobby knife, plenty of applicators for gluing, decent lighting and a good pair of eyes and a lot of patience.  Well I have 3 of the five anyway.  This structures is actually two buildings connected by an overhead walkway.  It may or may not get the connecting walkway anymore but time will tell. 

For this project I used the Walthers Cornerstomne Modulars  kits, I understand these are no longer available in N Scale.  You have to go back to the planning phase and make sure you have the right quantities of each of the pieces you will need since the kits come in various types.  Kits we used are the;

1) Flat & Peaked Roofs

2)Small Walls, Windows and doors

3)Large Walls and Windows

4)Foundation and Loading Docks

5) Wall Columns and Caps

6) Walls with Vehicle Doors.

 

I laid out the pieces needed for each wall and then proceeded to build each side of the main building with the various pieces in my jig. We have always used MEK for the adhesive in working with plastic models and if you do make sure it is in a well ventilated area.

                         

Once all walls were assembled it was time to begin attaching them together to complete the building.  As you can tell I have already made some changes from the paper mockup.  The truck loading dock is now inset and provided shelter by the 2nd floor.

                         

Assembly of the smaller annex building followed the same procedures and I still haven't decided if I should join them together or not.                              

Finally the ultimate test, how does it look on the layout?

                             

Eventually it will get painted, detailed and weathered when we finish the Yard area but for now we will leave this structure. 

Jeff City - Superior Gear  backdrop structure - Woodland Scenic Modules

For the Backdrop structure used the modules  available from Woodland Scenics.  The modules used were;

1) Two-Story Blank Walls

2) Two-Story 12 Windows

3)Cornice

4) Dock Level Freight Doors

5) Street/Dock level Blank Wall

6) Dock Level Windows

I had the general idea in my mind what I wanted this structure to look like so I skipped the mockup and started laying out the pieces that were going to be used.  This is the area that I was working with, same general area where Stephen provided the large modern concrete warehouse in the last blog. I also took the time to start on the scenery in the same area (Next Blog).

I wanted something a little different than just a flat ground base so I elevated the track a bit using foam board.  The lumber distributor will sit directly in front of this backdrop building.

 

 

 

 

While it is a backdrop structure I didn't want something sitting perfectly flat against the backdrop so the Office walls were angled a bit and the 2nd floor of the warehouse extended outward from the backdrop.

 

Since I was also working on the scenery on this section of the layout This structure was taken back to the workbench and painted, weathered and some details added.

When I paint a brick structure there are a couple of techniques that I like to use.  On this structure the brick was painted with acrylic paint that had been thinned with water.  After that had dried I applied a thin wash of Acrylic paint to simulate the mortar lines.  For this wash I used a mixture of aged concrete and white paint.  Doors and window frames were painted pullman green and the roofs painted grimy black.  A cheap way to give your roofs an aged appearance is to take some plaster dust, I had just been sanding down a road to make it smoother, on your fingers and wipe it onto the roof.  Cheap easy way to dull down the roof.  Mentioning the roofs, I did cheat a little here.  Woodland Scenics do not have a module with roofs so I cut down some sections from the Walthers Cornerstone Modulars for this.

Some graffiti was added from Blair Line, some decals from MicroScale and I used some dry transfers from Woodland Scenics .  The dry transfers were used to simulate some old advertising signage on the building.  This was accomplished by applying the transfer and then taking a knife and scraping across the sign removing pieces of it.  It was then time to pull out the weathering chalks and add some final weathering before spraying the whole thing down with clear laquer (Cheaper than Dull Coat).

Finished backdrop structure in pace waiting for the rest of the scenery to be complete

 Overall I found it easier to work with the Woodland Scenics Modules but I also like the Flat and Peaked Roof Modulars from Walthers Cornerstone and isn't that what model railroading is all about?  If you can't find what you want KITBASH IT.

 Gary

NEXT UP: Starting Scenery in the Jeff City Area

Scratchbuilding - Warehouse

Scratch Building a Warehouse

 

There was an odd shaped space on the layout that we had not decided what to do with so I scratch built this warehouse using evergreen styrene strips and sheets.  Once we figured out the basic shape we looked at the function the structure would serve.  We decided that a warehouse made sense for this area but, as of now, have not decided the specific materials the warehouse handles. The Railroad will be servicing the facility from the back side  supplying boxcars for unloading.   We have saved space at the end of the building to serve as a parking lot or trailer storage.while actual tractor trailer loading would be on the side of the warehouse not modeled.

Because the building is against the backdrop and will have to almost never be moved, I decided to do a very minimal amount of framing, with full sheets of styrene for the walls.  For the preformed concrete style of construction, I cut 15' x 15' scale squares of styrene sheet and started adding them to the initial layer of styrene that was added to the wall.  After adding the concrete blocks and trim it was ready for sheet styrene for the roof and then get to a paint booth.

 

This is the new warehouse with some flats in the background to help fill in the scene.  The track in the front of the scene will serve a lumber distributor and another industry yet to be named.

The warehouse will eventually have a billboard on the top of it similar to the one that is currently holding its place.  Also the building needs finished of with roof details, but am having a rough time finding a good source of roof details in N-Scale.

Weathered Locomotives

It has been a busy week, weathering 5 Locomotives.

After taking apart the locomotives, I weathered these using primarily an airbrush with acrylic paints.  After I was done with the airbrush, I came back in and touched up things with weathering chalk.


This is a Kato SD7 Custom weathered Southern Pacific #1442.

This is a Kato SD45 Custom Painted and weathered for St. Louis and San Francisco #925

This is a Atlas GP40-2 Custom Weathered Norfolk Southern #3013

 This is a Atlas B30-7 Custom Weathered St. Louis and San Francisco #864

 This is a Kato SD45 Custom weathered Chicago and Northwestern #6527