So over the last four days, I've cleaned out this room of all the stuff that's accumulated in there since our move (as well as all the railroad related stuff that I've migrated into there, plus my primary computer -- I'm writing from my wife's laptop this morning...) With the room cleaned out, I grabbed a lightly used electrical circuit from the attic, and wired up three new ceiling boxes and hung a bunch of track lighting. With that done, I repainted the room.
A few notes:
Yes, in the photos, you do see compact fluorescent lamps in the track lights. With twelve heads currently installed, using CFL's gives me great lighting for only about 150 Watts total -- equivalent incandescent bulbs would have cost me better than 700 watts. That's pretty much a no-brainer. Eventually, (once the price becomes manageable) I'll switch out the CFLs for dimmable CFLs (or maybe even LED, if they're within financial reach.) Right now though, dimmable CFLs are about ten times the cost of non-dimmable, and LED units with sufficient light output are ridiculously expensive. In a few years, when these CFLs have lived out their lives, we'll see what's out there.
It may be tough to judge in the photos, but the room is sort of a light sky blue -- it lets me get away without a separate backdrop. Oddly, a quick experiment with the lights revealed that standard incandescent bulbs turn the color green (hmmm... blue plus yellow equals... oh yeah....)
Finally, I've added a layer of masonite to the floor. This floats on top of the existing carpeting. I figure that the masonite will protect the carpet from the ravages of the railroad (paint, glue, solder, coffee, beer -- all the essentials) which still allowing some "give" for easier standing.
Next time up, I'll have my computer back in place, so I'll be able to post some CADs of the plan of the railroad. With any luck, I'll also have some benchwork to show you.
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