Power

[jbm5763]

I recently purchased a Bachmann train set and like it .  My question is, how much track can be powered by the transformer supplied with the set?  Also, I purchased two powered turn-outs, the instructions on the turn-outs state to connect it to the controller, but the DCC unit has no such provision.  Can you enlighten me as to how to power these units?  Thanks

[Bojangle]

As long as all the rail joiners are tight, you can fill a large room with track.  But to be practical, a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood will give you lots of running.

To power the turnouts you will need a separate power supply that has accessory terminals on it,  or get a "wall wart"  18 volt ac unit for the power.   The turnouts have a "momentary" button combined with a slide switch  to activate the solenoid.

Here's a link for you.
http://www.allelectronics.com/matrix/AC_Wall_Transformers.html

The one in the middle (type c) is a wall wart). or get the screw terminals. 15 or 16 VAC  at 20 VA will work fine.  If you expect to add many accessories such as lights and signals, you might consider the 2.5 amp. 

You can buy a terminal strip at any electronics store to attach all the wires.

Bo

[Jim Banner]

The track itself does not use any electricity.  Only the trains on the track use electricity.  So the length of track does not matter.  What matters is getting the electricity from the power pack to the trains.  Good contact between sections of rail helps.  Using a bus of heavy copper wires helps even more.  A bus can be two #14 or even #12 wires run from your power pack to the farthest point on your layout.  At various points along the way, "drops" of #20 or #22 wires can be used to connect your rails to the bus.  With this method, the farthest point on the layout could be over 300 feet from your E-Z Command, with thousands of feet of track in between.