We are reorganizing one of our carbarns and want to improve the lighting. How much? What spectrum if it matters? I know color matamerizes(sp)or changes color under different lighting conditions. Also, some lighting is harmful for coated surfaces over time. Any advice or suggestions from experience? Thanks.

wyld@oc-net.com

> We are reorganizing one of our carbarns and
> want to improve the lighting. How much? What
> spectrum if it matters? I know color
> matamerizes(sp)or changes color under
> different lighting conditions. Also, some
> lighting is harmful for coated surfaces over
> time. Any advice or suggestions from
> experience? Thanks.

It is my understanding that flouresent is the safest. Unfortunately, it does not really reflect colors as well as incadescent.

Even at that, incadescent is no where near the same as actual sunlight, appearance or otherwise, so I wouldn't worry to much about fading. However, I must say that the older orange paint on the MILW 1603 is noticably different than the freshly applied orange even after being stored inside for the past several years.

I might have to buff the hood yet. *argh*

TR Jones
IRM

milw104c@charter.net

Pains and dyes also change over time so you can expect even items preserved in darkness to look different from their original appearance. Light just speeds up the changing through fading and UV action on the paints and fabrics.

I once spent days setting display light levels in an enclosed museum with a lightmeter to assure that very few lumens acted on the artifacts themselves only to have everything turned up to bright since visitors couldn't wait for their eyes to adjust to the low light levels.

Nobody in conservation has yet figured out how to practically apply museum standards to large mechanical artifacts like locomotives and railroad cars which don't lend themselves to being hermetically sealed in darkness in climate controlled acid free paper wrappers so until we make bigger envelopes we just have to do th best we can.

The historically appropriate incandescent fixtures in the shop area in the roundhouse down here were restored to working condition and we just figure on repainting our equipment every few years as a matter of course, but most of the need for repainting has more to do with climate than with light. It just isn't as big a deal as humidity and termites.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

> It is my understanding that flouresent is
> the safest....
Even fluorescent tubes emit UV. I don't know if in a carbarn setting that fluorescents would harm paint noticably, but certainly in museum settings where more sensitive artifacts are subject to light they take the trouble to add UV filtering of some sort. You get get tubes with built-in UV filtering, sleeves to wrap tubes, and grills over fixtures.

Our car barn by the way is lit primarily with mercury vapor lights. I have no idea if they emit UV or not.

webmaster@tmny.org

> Our car barn by the way is lit primarily
> with mercury vapor lights. I have no idea if
> they emit UV or not.

Yes, mercury vapor lights do emit UV wavelengths, although certain kinds may come with UV filters.

Outside buildings natural UV light causes paint and other deterioration. So the museum goal is not to expose artifacts to UV light anymore than possible.

In the typical museum and archive world the ideal lighting is from incandescent lights. The goal is to reduce UV light. When fluorescent lights are used it is usual to place UV filters on them. The filters have to be replaced from time to time.

Brian Norden

bnorden@gateway.net

This probably is a common sense type thing, but how many lights and how close for good restoration work. Permanent or portable?

wyld@oc-net.com