Track power has worked well for me, track power and remote control. Never did much block wiring and don’t have any now.
Where I am, track cleaning is a very minor problem. We like to run at twilight and into the night, and with lots of lights and sounds. Battery never had much appeal. I’ll be converting to DCC soon
Doug,
I hope my statements of pro battery-r/c did not come across as being against track power, as I said I use both and run lots of track power, it has just evolved to be more in the basement over the years. Someone suggested soldering the track for continuity, I tried that and it is a lot of work outside. At first, I felt railclamps like Hillman or Splitjaw were expensive, but as my total investment grew I have found them not be that costly. I use the clamps now where soldering has failed and where a turnout is installed for ease of removal, if repair is needed. Because of different people’s equipment running on the railroad and not everyone isolating wheels like they should and live steamers, I still put insulators in wye’s and reverse loops. I don’t know if you really need a big power buss run throughout the railroad, if you have used brass rail, you already have a monster buss just laying there on the ground that would rate about the same as #4 wire.
Thanks for your note. I am going to do a lot of experimenting to see how much length the pack will power. I have a single mainline but it is about 300 feet long. I laid brass LGB so that should help. I like the idea of rail clamps but my main concern will be track expansion and contraction.
We think model railroaders don’t always take that into consideration. I have a friend who works for the railroad. A number of years ago a lot of track was replaced in a nearby rail yard, The first hot day it looked like spaghetti! Oops, someone forgot expansion!
Doug, the most cost-effective way with brass is solder jumpers, make sure they can flex as the track moves. There is no cost other than wire and solder, just time!
Rail clamps can work fine with expansion and contraction, it’s more of a question of how your track is ballasted and if it is screwed down to something and also if you have long straights.
There’s lots of ways to skin a cat.
If you put 2 feeders at 2 equidistant points on your track, the furthest you will be from a feeder is 75 feet. No problem…
Regards, Greg
I think I will be tuning up my soldering skills!
A couple summers ago I saw expansion in action. When I laid the track I was careful not to have any straights and leave room for expansion. We had a several day stretch of 100+ temperatures and when I was walking by the layout I noticed that at the far end the rail had actually shifted outwards about two inches! I’m glad it was too hot to run trains.=)
Doug Arnold said:I use track power on both the backyard and the sideyard railroads. Big MRC transformers. Only major problems are dirty track that I get too lazy to clean as good or as often as I should.
It must be time to take a poll. My layout is currently rc/battery only. I'm considering wiring it. Why? In my club I'm the only one who is battery/rc and I'm p;anning an open house in the spring. I'm in the process of digging the trench to put in power and for lighting for the buildings. What do you think?
I figure I’ll learn a lot about track cleaning and “dead spots.”
Has anyone designed a cover so they can leave their transformer, etc. outdoors all the timr? Since we only get about 10 inches of rain a year I think I will.
Just what I need is another prohect!
I keep my outside power supplies in a garden shed, but I have seen everything from converted tool boxes to power pedestals built into cabinets. Garden Lawn cabinets have even been used. With your llittle amount of rain, you should be able to find something easily workable.
Our locos are all battery powered, but the tracks are also powered. I like the flexibility of having both, as you never know when you might need track power for a guest’s train. Plus if your trains run on batteries, using track power is a very simple way to power lighted switch stand markers. No need for long underground wiring to potentially remote locations. We use an older MRC power pack for this. The track power feeders are connected to the constant 12 volt DC output of the power pack. Turn the power pack on and the switch stand markers go on. The light wires connect at split jaw rail joiners. Just wrap the wire around the screw and tighten it. Pretty easy to do. The photo below shows a lighted marker and switchman’s lantern all powered though the rails.:
(http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6046/lanternl.jpg)
We also keep the power pack out all the time (during the summer when the layout is operational). When not in use, we cover it with an inverted plastic storage bin to keep the rain out.
Yes, see this page for an inexpensive way to house electronics outdoors…
Regards, Greg
It would seem this would be based on the amount of Amps available. Examples would be:
MRC 6200
0-18.5V DC 35VA Max
Oldd ZW Lionel transformer
14 volts DC rated at 275 Watts,
Definitely the other end of the spectrum, and likely to turn your electric meter into something closely resembling a tornado.
There are postings I have read here that eplain the use of wiring directly to different track areas, but I can’t find them just now.
Along the same lines, I run track power (24V) and battery however I use both . It is quite possible to use a smallish (2300mah 16.8V) pack on board, supplement the track power when needed and charge it from the track. When track power is available, we use the track. When it is not (frogs, un-powered reverse loops, dirty track, etc,) we use battery. Run times are greatly extended, almost as good as track power but the battery kicks in when needed. No track cleaning, no reversing loop wiring, etc. Very simple tree wiring for the power. I liked the system so well I developed a product around it which we call TrainUPS. Link http://www.iptrains.com/TrainUPS-Conversion-Kit-FBCK1.htm On sale the rest of this month.
JT (sorry for the plug guys but if you’re an RC user of any kind you need to look into this)
Matt Doti said:
Our locos are all battery powered, but the tracks are also powered. I like the flexibility of having both, as you never know when you might need track power for a guest's train.Plus if your trains run on batteries, using track power is a very simple way to power lighted switch stand markers. No need for long underground wiring to potentially remote locations.
We use an older MRC power pack for this. The track power feeders are connected to the constant 12 volt DC output of the power pack. Turn the power pack on and the switch stand markers go on. The light wires connect at split jaw rail joiners. Just wrap the wire around the screw and tighten it. Pretty easy to do.
Well, over here we don’t have clubs for LS like you guys seem to have spilling out of your ears. What we DO have are associations like the 16mm Association and the G-Scale Association, whose members hold open days for other members.
Unsurpisingly I am a member of neither one.
Anyhow, I have no power to my tracks unless I bother to hook it up - depending on who comes round to play - and here I have to say that you’d have to be pretty desperate to visit MY little layout.
So I have straight DC/Crest TE or LGB/Massoth MTS. As I have a double track all round unconnected in any way, I can run any combination of any kind of power, including live steam as well as electric, and often do.
On my track you can run anything you like - any scales - so long as it fits on the tracks without falling off.
Our grandyeb runs her little Eggliner and a couple of cars while I run a steam Shay or Garratt…or another electric.
tac
www.ovgrs.org
I emjoy clubs because we can get together once a month or more and just talk trains. Although it depends on the club.We belong to one club that only has one official (dinner) once a year!
