Let there be...

Layout!

AND, light.  Both are important, almost equally so.  You can have a layout poorly lit and all your hard work isn't shown in its best light, literally.  OR, you can have a well-lit space with no layout, yet.  That's nice but it isn't always the order it happens.  A space might look well lit until you put a layout in it and realize you need more light.

That was the case here in my living room.  I pulled out the timesaver and set it on a shelf unit next to the workbench.  I knew the workbench needed additional light and so I found a terrific vintage fluorescent desk lamp that made all the difference in the world.  Yet somehow I didn't think about future layout space and how it would be lit until the layout was in the space.

After a trip to our local hardware store I brought home a pair of basic T-12 two-bulb four foot shop lights.  A few moments later I had found the rafter above the ceiling, conveniently placed 32" from the wall.  Four holes in the ceiling, four hooks followed, and then...I needed S hooks!  Why is it every project takes multiple hardware store trips?  I've heard three is average.

Eventually I got the lights up with no trouble.  The cords are plugged into a medium duty grounded extension cord that runs down the wall along a strip of molding for the workbench window.  The MRC Prodigy Express came out of its packing and within moments I had a train running. 

Here are three images; before the lights, before with flash, and after (without flash).  Camera set to auto for all three.  Pay attention to the shadows.

I can stand with my head and shoulders over the layout and the area in front is still adequately lit thanks to the broad, even light reflected off the wall.  Eventually some of the old blue backdrop I brought with me from the bonus-room layout will hang here like a picture.  But for now I have not let the perfect stand in the way of the good, and I am having a ball running trains again.