question from a beginner

[bigloco]

i just bought a bachmann starter set and i wanna know how long i can add tracks before need a second power pack ?

merci beaucoup,
pierre

[Paul W.]

You never add a second power pack to a single loop. You can add pick up points from your original power source, but not a second power source.
If you are using the stock power pack and track that came with your set, I have two loops, one 54ln. ft., the other 47ln ft, and both are powered off the factory Bachmann starter sets.
I have a pick up point at the half way point, but other than that, no problems.

[Nathan]

Remember that the Bachmann track is indoor track.  My Dad's layout (84 years young) is indoors and he uses mostly Bachmann track.  He has made adapters to match LGB and Aristo track when he can not get what he needs in Bachmann.

[scottychaos]

pierre,,
as Paul said, if you build a bigger layout and the original powerpack is no longer adequate, you dont add more powerpacks, you add a BIGGER powerpack! 
"bigger" does not mean "physically bigger"..it means "more amps"..

more amps can run more locomotives at the same time.

If you have a giant layout but only run one or two locomotives at a time, you can still use the original powerpack with "feeder" lines to other portions of the layout..

its not really how much track you have, its how many locomotives you want to run at the same time that determines the size powerpack you need.

Scot

[Perry Ottoman]

Yes, make sure you have ample power...

[vic]

The standard Bachmann powerpack is about 1/2 amp  and should be good for about 10' x 10'. I use a basic LGB pack thats about 1 amp, I found it worked fine for my 10' x 20' layout with no noticable voltage drop.

Bigger layouts do require bigger amperage packs, as do engines with multiple motors or running multiple engines together, it really depends on how big an operation you are planning, most people find a pack of between 3 and 5 amps to be more than sufficient unless you are going to us all of the spare acre you set aside for your layout, then you might need the Big Daddy 10amp job by LGB or Bridgeworks. Of course at that point you might want to consider R/C-Battery set up unless your planning you get a degree in electrical engineering needed to wire up an acre size of track power.