blog.etcconnect.com: Model railways, with their enduring charm, remind us of an America before the Interstate system and airline travel. As the full-scale versions struggle to survive, their legacy is kept alive by enthusiasts who combine architectural, electrical, and scenic skills to amazing effect.
3 comments:
I love model railroads, it reminds me of childhood memories of visiting them in museums. I forget about all the opportunities and jobs that are out there (like come on who goes to school for lighting and thinks “I’m going to light a miniature railroad model”). The amount of detail that goes into these models is truly incredible! Some of the photos of the models look like they could be real pictures of actual train stations. I wonder how long it takes for the team to build models like this? I feel like there are so many opportunities that a lot of design and production students aren’t realizing they could go explore after college. I read a lot about EOS consoles and it makes me miss being on a light board (I used to work on an ETC element almost every day in high school). Now I’m going to go research ETC Mosaic because I have never heard of it.
As a kid I loved trains. So although I would never own a train set now, they do have a special place in my heart. The fact that this place was founded in 1940 and brings in people all over the world is incredible. I am happy to hear that the Pasadena Model Railway Museum wanted to bring newer technology into their railway models. Getting Zach Moore into this project and upgraded all the lighting systems to LED lights. For this project Zach Moore used an Echo button station and scene controller that sends DMX signal to a Mosaic Show Controller. For the programming, there is a 35 minute long effect that changes the light to a sunrise look to a sunset look. Having both the world of old railway models and new LED fixtures always makes me happy that people are using these lights to their extent. I hope other systems can incorporate these very efficient and controllable lights.
-Pablo Anton
The model train community is already so enthusiastic about their craft and having intricate model spaces, I can only imagine how an enthusiastic lighting designer would have a play-day in this museum. I had a family member that loved trains when I was younger, so I have a bunch of memories of visiting museums and exhibits. I love the details and beauty of miniature models and train models are no exception. The model train set up at the Carnegie Science Center moves through day and night cycles as the trains move around the landscape – in addition to other automated parts as specific and small as a tiny model human moving on a swing. I am not technically minded about much regarding lighting, so I can only imagine how insane and complicated all the little lighting components are in a model train set up, so it is not surprising that programmers are using these fun ETC consoles. I would love to see a video or some BTS of lighting people like Moore at work.
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