Tube train lighting levels - opinions sought

[Meir]

Hi guys

 

I'm new to the forums (hi to all!) and think I've put this in the right place, but if not feel free to move it.

 

I've been collecting model trains, track etc for the last two years, although I've not got a layout yet (working on that, but space is a real issue).

To keep me busy I thought I'd add some lighting to my s stock tube train (Bachmann 35-990B). I've been playing around with the lighting levels and am not sure I've got that right. In my mind it should be a little darker so I've ordered some larger value SMD resistors. In the mean time I thought I'd get some other folks opinions. I did a loco and a carriage of the 4 units for testing purposes. What do people think? The first photo is in a lit room, the others are with the lights turned off.

Also: I'm thinking of painting the inside walls to stop some of the light bleed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Meir
horrendous typos

[Pete the Elaner]

Interior lighting is difficult to get right.

In daylight you can barely or not at all see that that interior lighting is on.

The bleed through the plastic in the bottom 2 photos is also noticeable.

I am sure if you show off the interior by lighting it, you will want to decorate & paint it. If you sort the lighting first then paint it, you may find that the darker interior tones it down too much.

[JDW]

I'd agree. During the day, you should barely be able to see the interior lighting is on, although the interior should be a bit more visible through the windows, if that makes sense? Just bright enough to highlight the inside, and make it less dark, but not really bright enough for the light to be seen from outside.

Even at night, lighting tends not ti be that bright when viewed from outside, especially from a distance which is effectively how we see a model, so to an extent needs toning down. Same as with head and tail lights, making them bright enough to be visible and worthwhile on a model often makes them much brighter than the real thing.

[d00m]

I'm slightly surprised by the amount of bleed there, having seen several lit S stock models. Why not ask on the London underground forum. I have had problems with some (but not all) EFE 1938 stock and needed to paint the insides.

Good luck.

 

[Goldhawk]

Hi Mier.

I am also a forum newbie, one who happens to live about ten minutes walk from the District line. To me, when seen at night, the lights in S stock have a very soft shadow-free slightly yellowish look with no obvious dark corners.  Looking at your photos I would agree that the lights could be turned down a shade or two. The headlights ( which are in reality vey bright) and the destination display look just about right to me.

Good luck with the layout.

[Meir]

Hi guys

 

Thanks very much for your replies - very helpful. It looks like I do indeed need to turn the lights down and paint the insides of the carriages. I'll use acrylics for that just in case I make a mistake as it's far easier to remove.

As Pete suggests, I will do the painting first and then the lighting, although I have to decide if what colour to use as this will have an effect. I will have to experiment to see if white will stop the bleed as I really want to avoid darker colours.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Meir

[Ouroborus]

If your feeling brave, you can purchase filler paint in a rattle can.  Halford or amazon sell the stuff.   Its usually a yellow shade which helps with the lighting effect.    I sprayed the inside of some scaledale buildings and it works a charm.  You just need to be careful with that spray....

[Meir]

Yeah that definitely requires some bravery :D. Unfortunately, I don't have such a can and I have to say that, considering the cost of the model and the fact they are not selling it any more, I don't think I want to risk it (atleast for now). But thank you for the suggestion :).

[Ouroborus]

haha, don't blame you!    Is there a chance you could add a resistor to the circuit to lessen the brightness.  In no way am i a sparky, but some other people here might be able to offer you some guidance.  If you can lower the output, then you might not need to repaint.  IIRC, the lighting for these units come from Train-Tech  Perhaps they could offer some suggestions?

[bart2day]

 

22 hours ago, Meir said:

Hi guys

 

I'm new to the forums (hi to all!) and think I've put this in the right place, but if not feel free to move it.

 

I've been collecting model trains, track etc for the last two years, although I've not got a layout yet (working on that, but space is a real issue).

To keep me busy I thought I'd add some lighting to my s stock tube train (Bachmann 35-990B). I've been playing around with the lighting levels and am not sure I've got that right. In my mind it should be a little darker so I've ordered some larger value SMD resistors. In the mean time I thought I'd get some other folks opinions. I did a loco and a carriage of the 4 units for testing purposes. What do people think? The first photo is in a lit room, the others are with the lights turned off.

Also: I'm thinking of painting the inside walls to stop some of the light bleed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Meir. Welcome to the forum!

 

The lighting looks good to me. What strip are you using? Is it battery powered or track pick-up powered? If battery then bear in mind that as the lights will start to fade very gradually as the battery is drained of power.

 

I have attached a couple of photos of my train tech lighting. Yours looks better than mine as it has more of a yellow tinge to it which is closer to the real thing.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by bart2day

[Meir]

I can indeed add more resistance - I was waiting for some SMD ones with larger resistance to arrive in the post (which they now have). I'll let you know how it goes.

 

With regards the LED strip I ordered a couple of reels a year and a half ago from ebay. I believe they are SMD5050 warm white ones.

Here's a picy:

 

[Meir]

 

(deleted - please see next post)

Edited May 7, 2020 by Meir

[Meir]

Latest effort: 11K total resistance. I don't trust my phone as I think it's auto light levelling when I turn the lights out so have put the loco in with the orignal lighting and the carriage (to the left) with the 11K version. Also using GIFs as hit upload limit:

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Meir

[Ouroborus]

Looks like dropping the intensity of the lighting has stopped the light bleed too.

[Meir]

Sorry: Forgot to mention I added a thin coat of white acrylic, although I'm not sure it has had much effect. I'll add lighting to the other carriage without the paint and compare.

[Meir]

Hi guys

 

Here's the final result. The lighting seems to have lost a little of it's softness (same LED strips, more resistance so dimmer) under room lighting conditions, but looks a bit better when the room lights are dimmed or off. Please keep in mind that the lights appear a tad brighter in the picture with the room lights off than they actually are. I left the cab headlights on to give a rough guide for what that might be worth. The control method I'm usings is DCC btw so DC will obviously give a lower level of light.

What do you guys think? Blue appears to approve as he didn't immediately try and knock it all over .

 

 

 

[Ouroborus]

Seems a really nice result, but it's the age old question, are YOU happy with it?

 

I think you've got a very nice yellow to.  Perhaps still a little bleed, bit you have to look for it.   

 

I might be out of turn with this, but I always feel coach lighting needs to look 'right'.  And by 'right' I don't mean the same shade or brightness as the prototype, but the feeling it gives you of a train cutting through the darkness of the night.  Just me eh?

[Meir]

For the most part I'm happy with it, but as you say there is some light bleed. That doesn't bother me too much, but I'll possibly address that in time, although I'm reluctant to make any permanent modifications (the lighting itself is not permanent).

As for seeing it working; I don't currently have a layout to try it out on - mostly due to a lack of space - but I'm looking at setting up a section of tunnel and a terminus station which I can run this model on. Not the best as I cannot just leave it to run, but I'll be able to see it in a contextal setup and be good for developing my modelling skills which are a bit basic it must be said.

 

Thanks for letting me know your thoughts on the above - much appreciated .

[Pete the Elaner]

It is really difficult to photograph dark things & make them look like they do to the naked eye.

Judging from what I can see of the surroundings & how bright the headlights are, I expect it looks looks pretty good when not viewed through a camera lens.

[Suzie]

Some DCC decoders (such as Zimo) have a function dimming feature that you might like to try rather than messing about with resistors.

[Sun Street]

A comment on light bleed.

''Borrow'' some cooking foil from the domestic authorities and carefully glue it in position as required.  I never faff painting the interiors of my bulidings or stock.

Also, want to change the colour of your led's? Get the transparent film off Quality Street and use it as as they do in theatres and film sets, try 2 layers as well for some intersting effects, usually for shop interiors.

The gold toffee wrapper is very useful, so is the toffee !!!

[DCB]

4 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

It is really difficult to photograph dark things & make them look like they do to the naked eye.

Judging from what I can see of the surroundings & how bright the headlights are, I expect it looks looks pretty good when not viewed through a camera lens.

Its worse than that, the Human eye adapts to light levels, I run in pitch darkness for a coupe of minutes when I switch off the shed lights and rely on the LEDs in some buildings and a couple of LED equipped trains. It looks great and then my night vision creeps in and everything starts to look grey and spoils the effect.   Saves a huge amount of time making scenery if you only run in the dark.,