Single Train Power

[wmsuggs]

Hello,
As I am new to the hobby, I have a question? How many sections of EZ Track can you hook up to one power pack? I read somewhere that if you have a lot of track in your layout then you need to run extra wires. If this is true how would you do this? I don't want to burn anything up. Please help.

Wes

[ACY]

You can have as much track connected as you want, but the further your locomotive is from the power source the more likely your loco may slow down, for every predetermined length of track to be determined by your own preferences, add feeder wires, these would all be wired from the same power source, do not use multiple power sources.

[daxdog]

I bet that would be a whole lot of track.  I have not measured, but I think I have just over 50' of track on my layout.  I am only connected in one spot and I have no issues.

[ACY]

I bet that would be a whole lot of track.  I have not measured, but I think I have just over 50' of track on my layout.  I am only connected in one spot and I have no issues.

If you just built your layout, then you won't notice much of a drop-off, but after the track and connectors get kind of dirty, then you will notice a difference.
Daxdog search the forum and you'll see many people said what I said, that it is best to have feeders every so often.

[Jhanecker2]

To  wmsuggs :  All you will have to do is to  add more terminal rerailer tracks and basically daisy chain them together .   You connect them with two conductor wire , making sure to maintain correct polarity . This may be time to acquire  one of a number of fine books on model railroad wiring  and  an inexpensive  volt-ohm meter to allow you to test your tracks electrical condition .   John II.

[daxdog]

it is best to have feeders every so often.

I have a handfull of the Atlas terminal joiners.  Can I use those rather than adding actual terminals?

[ACY]

Yep those will work too, it is just hard to attach new joiner/remove the joiners from the E-Z track.

[Doneldon]

suggs and dd -

It's not the total length of track you have which matters; it's the distance from your electrical connection point to the farthest point of track. A 20-foot loop of track with a single feeder is never more than 10 feet from the feeder. A layout might include 100 feet of track but if most of it is in a compact yard and a few sidings, there might not be anyplace more than 10 feet from the feeder.

The reason that distance matters is that our rail (usually nickel-silver these days) doesn't conduct electricity nearly as well as copper wire so a long run of rails could result in a significant decline in the amount of current available at a point which is distant from the feeder. Throw in the added resistance of rail joints, particularly as they age, and you can end up with insufficient power for what you want to do. Copper wire busses under the layout with periodic small gauge wire feeders to the rails correct this.

Your busses should be #14 wire or even #12 if your layout is large. You can go one size smaller if you use stranded wire as it has greater ampacity. (The electrical current is carried on the surface of the wire and stranded wire has more total surface area than solid wire.) This way you have efficient distribution of your power to all parts of your layout.

There's always a question about how often you need those little feeders and everybody has an opinion for this, everything from every track piece to every 20'. I suppose all opinions are valid and there are factors which argue for one plan over another. For example, if you are using three-foot sections of flex track you can probably get away with fewer feeders because you have far fewer rail joints than you'd have if you were using nine-inch sectional track. Lots of turnouts (switches) in the system militates for more frequent feeders because turnouts don't conduct electricity to the adjacent pieces of track so well. Lots of track in tunnels means more feeders because track in tunnels will probably get cleaned less often than is ideal so we wouldn't want to skimp anywhere in our electrical supply system. Some environments (e.g., basements with gas appliances) accelerate track oxidation so more frequent feeders might be in order. A need for superior reliability might also call for a more generous use of feeders. This could be the case with a display layout which needs to operate with little or no supervision (say at a train museum) or when other circumstances dictate better reliability. For example, I built a layout for my grandson who lives 90 miles away. He's a little young to be able to diagnose and repair electrical problems so I put feeders on everyother track piece and at all three ends of every turnout. Thus, his system operates smoothly without grandpa spending his (my) whole life in the car.

You need to decide for yourself just what your circumstances and needs are and plan accordingly. You will get several suggestions about how many feeders to use on your layout and all will have merit. Which ones apply to your specific situation is another story. So read all of the posts, try to digest it, apply the information to your layout and then proceed accordingly.

Good luck!
                                    -- D

[daxdog]

I bet that would be a whole lot of track.  I have not measured, but I think I have just over 50' of track on my layout.  I am only connected in one spot and I have no issues.

The lack of good power/DCC signal distribution will come to your attention as you populate the layout with locomotives, rolling stock and layout use.

Using any terminal rail joiners should be considered a temporary fix especially when using DCC.

I am running DCC. What should I do if not terminal rail joiners?

[Doneldon]

dd-

You can solder feeders to your rails (make sure you don't interfere with the flangways for your trains) or solder the rail joiners to your rails. I've done both with good results. I also use a tiny bit of conductive lube in every rail joiner joint to protect the metal surfaces and delay the onset of oxidation. You can use a product like Conductalube for this, the conductive grease they sell in auto parts stores or the lightbulb socket grease they sell in hardware and electrical supply stores. I use the lightbulb grease as it is a little stiffer and should therefore stay where I put it a little longer.
                                                                                                                     -- D