Help with HO Scale Helix design

[nolatron]

I don't think those rope lights are bright enough to light up a deck decently. I have a rope light I picked up at lowes, and it's ok to light up very dark areas (like under the helix way in the corner to light up the wiring panels where's the no light), but when you also have ambient room light, I don't think you'll see a big increase in light output to the deck 20" tall from the rope lights. That spool of rope light only puts out 3 watts per foot, where as a 10" T4 fluorescent fixture puts out 6 watt for example

It's certainly worth a try though as everyone's setup is different.

For my layout, I used T4 Fluorescent fixtures with a 6400K (Day-light) bulb:

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They come in a variety of sizes and you can daisy chain up to 10 of them. I have one chain on the upper deck, one on the lower deck, and a chain under the layout lightning my workbench. I use a hardware box to turn them on/off:

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My recommendation would be the T4 fixtures.