05-01-2011, 08:42 AM
I appreciate all of the suggestions, Gentlemen. They would all be excellent concepts to investigate if this house was for my own layout. However, this house will be installed on a club layout, about 3'-6" (or possibly farther) from the layout's edge where all lighting is hard-wired to one of the local "lighting" power busses. From what I understand, all structure interior lighting on the layout to date uses 16v incandescent bulbs, run on something less, like around 8 or 10v, for reduced brightness and bulb longevity.
I intend to use LEDs and resistors and eliminate the need to have to access the house to change bulbs (or just live with the "nobody is home" look.) The heat generated within the structure should be reduced by this tactic as well. I still intend to provide access to the interior for LED/wiring maintenance should it ever be needed. One of the two pieces of styrene that was in the envelope (along with the Tichy Group molded windows) was just such a ceiling piece as Mark "Fixit" suggested. I'll use that and a couple of drilled and threaded bosses to fasten the roof sheathing to the "ceiling" with a couple of judiciously-placed screws. The roof assembly can then be lifted off for interior maintenance and the wiring and LEDs between the ceiling and the roof can be accessed by removing a couple small screws.
I’m well aware that this project is taking longer than it probably should (I think "Project Manager" Stan at Scale Rails is wondering if I'll ever finish this house, much less ever get around to building the other few I had indicated I'd build!) But I have been laying some design/engineering/”technique” groundwork to be used with subsequent builds, which should all go much quicker as a result. I'm sure Stan will be pleased by what I bring him for his beloved San Bernardino! And I should have material for a photo tutorial or two when all is said and done on this house.
In the meantime, I’d better get back at it! With any luck I’ll have some photos to post late this afternoon …
I intend to use LEDs and resistors and eliminate the need to have to access the house to change bulbs (or just live with the "nobody is home" look.) The heat generated within the structure should be reduced by this tactic as well. I still intend to provide access to the interior for LED/wiring maintenance should it ever be needed. One of the two pieces of styrene that was in the envelope (along with the Tichy Group molded windows) was just such a ceiling piece as Mark "Fixit" suggested. I'll use that and a couple of drilled and threaded bosses to fasten the roof sheathing to the "ceiling" with a couple of judiciously-placed screws. The roof assembly can then be lifted off for interior maintenance and the wiring and LEDs between the ceiling and the roof can be accessed by removing a couple small screws.
I’m well aware that this project is taking longer than it probably should (I think "Project Manager" Stan at Scale Rails is wondering if I'll ever finish this house, much less ever get around to building the other few I had indicated I'd build!) But I have been laying some design/engineering/”technique” groundwork to be used with subsequent builds, which should all go much quicker as a result. I'm sure Stan will be pleased by what I bring him for his beloved San Bernardino! And I should have material for a photo tutorial or two when all is said and done on this house.
In the meantime, I’d better get back at it! With any luck I’ll have some photos to post late this afternoon …
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & Western
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
Lehigh Susquehanna & Western
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln