A few weeks ago I posted about installing the first lights on the layout. I’m using multi-color, dimmable LED smart bulbs, and one of the surprises I faced was the limited angle of “light throw” from the LEDs compared to incandescent bulbs when mounted horizontally like they were on my last layout. I experimented with ways to get the bulbs to sit vertically and came up with this style of lighting fixture. It’s a simple setup with two blocks of 1×2″ lumber about 3″ long and a piece of 1×4″ lumber about 5″ long cantilevered off the top. The 1×2″ pieces are cut 45 degrees on one end which allows the plastic fixture to snuggle into the blocks above the benchwork edge to get the lightbulb as close to the layout edge as practical. The globe area of the bulb now sticks out about 1″ below the benchwork which does wonders for eliminating awkward shadows from the benchwork (this 1″ will be covered by fascia eventually so you’re not staring at bright bulbs while running trains). The major drawback to this method is it requires a lot of vertical space, so I’m having to adjust my track elevations on the upper deck upward about 1″, and I’m having to strategically space my lights to avoid areas where creeks and valleys will run all the way to the fascia.

Despite this drawback, I’m REALLY happy with the lighting this provides and the flexibility inherent in the multi-color smart bulbs! Like my last layout, I’m placing them about 24″ apart to get good lighting into all the spaces. They’re 60W equivalent bulbs, so when they’re on full power, it’s really bright… too bright. I find dimming them to about 65% is just about right, but the beauty is I can change this at any time using my phone app that controls them. I can also adjust the light temperature anywhere between 2700-6500K to get a good “daylight” feel, and I’ve found a nice blue/cyan color I can turn down to 1% brightness to get a moonlight feel and still be able to see what’s going on. To counteract some of the shadowing on the extreme aisle edge of the lower deck, I installed the same LED smart bulbs in my four overhead fixtures–they can be tuned to the same color as the layout lights. I also installed a smart dimming outlet I can run from the same app that controls the strings of cheap LED soft white Christmas lights under the layout that illuminate the staging yards and aisles.

I’m running the lighting with three groupings in the app, one for “main” (all LED smart bulbs), one for “overheads” (just the four overhead lights), and one for “aisles.” This setup gives me the ability to control the intensity and color going to the layout, and it allows me to turn the overheads to full brightness even if the lighting closer to the layout is dimmer. The aisle lights can be turned off or on independently, and the brightness can be adjusted based on layout lighting conditions.

All told, the layout will need about 45 of these bulbs. At ~$6.50 apiece, it’s not the cheapest option, but I’ve been very happy with the results! Hopefully I’ll get at least a few years out of the bulbs before having to replace them. I’ll keep playing around with the colors and intensities and seek feedback from other operators and will share what I learn over time.