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Power Requirements For 25 Foot Layout
Nicholas asks readers:
“I am in the planning process of a single HO track that will be a rectangular lay out. The two long straight legs will be 25 feet in length each, and the two short legs will be approx. 15 feet each. Only one assembled train will be operating at a time. Concerns; 1. Will I need two power units or one, 2. What type (power rating, model) will be required to power that much track, 3. Will this require multiple power points through out the line. Thank you for your attention.”
3 Responses to Power Requirements For 25 Foot Layout
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if ur going to run 1 train or 2, the power pack is suffent edough. If u decide to run more then 2 trains get a power pack from a computer thats not being used and use that enstead of buying a power pack.
look on YOUTUBE on how u hook-up. Thats what work great.
Power is more of how you wire it. If you are wiring to one point of the tracks the farther you get from the power supply the more power loss you will get. If going through several switches power loss is definently noticeable. It doesn’t matter whether you run on standard DC or go to the new DCC. The farther you get from the supply the worse you get. You loose power through each track connector in the rails You will see this in standard DC as the train slows down on tracks farther away from the transformer. Wire buss wires under your tracks, 16 gauge or better Basically trailer wire. One wire for each rail. every 4 to 8 feet use wire drops (connections to your rails above) down to those main buss wires this keeps good power to your rails all the way around. These are usually very short and phone wire is plenty good enough for those short distances from the wire buss. (those are usually 22 or 24 gauge wire for phones. Someday you will want to convert to the new DCC system and power drop is your enemy.
You loose too much power you will loose control or signal to your engines. So wire with the wire bus system and your layout will be nearly ready to change to DCC later. from Newman
Great info from above comments. I wired connectors from bus line every 3 feet on both rails. The bus line is # 14 wire. One power source on 82 running feet handles 4 to six locos at a time. I am wireless. All lighting and switches on separate source. Extra wiring never hurts,