G Scale

[Chuck N]

Well said Bill.  In my experience, the ten foot rule rules.  Only on a diorama could the spacing of the ties be a critical part of an exhibit.  Outdoors, as far as I observe spacing of ties is not a critical factor.  I use what I have. No big deal.

Several times a year I take trains out to run on a large (600' mainline) layout.  We run all scales:  1:13.7, 1:22.5, 1:24, 1:29, 1:32, and "O".  I have never heard a comment about the spacing of the ties.  The "O" has a separate track.

Chuck

[trainstrainstrains]

About power supplies: Aristo-Craft 55460 power supply. 1 train, Spectrum 2 truck 36 ton Shay, 8 cars, flat loop track. OK?

[Chuck N]

The 10 amp is good.  It is just a power supply, I think that you will need to add a speed controller.  I'm not familiar with this supply, but I think that, by reading the description, it puts out a pulse width voltage.  Some engines and sound systems may have problems with pulse width voltage.  Other posters may be able to elaborate further.

Years ago I had an Aristo controller that put out a pulse width signal, but it had a switch to go between pulse width and linear.  I always used the linear mode.

Chuck

[tac]

MOST modern r/c units use PWR - using them on a motor designed for linear voltage will cause loads of problems - overheating, a heavy buzzing/humming noise, and eventual destruction.  Remember too that our bigger locos use a LOT more power, volts AND amps, than anything you'd EVER find on H0 scale, and that really does matter.

A big AccuCraft K27 with ten cars behind it it is easily using 18-20V and four or five amps - more it you have lighted passenger cars off track power.  By way of contrast, most of my straight DC H0 locos will run on 3-5V and 250 MA...

tac

[trainstrainstrains]

The confusing part is that many power supplies don't specify Amps, or PWR or DC or DCC, or linear voltage. Frankly it looks that I must improve my  knowledge of electricity before trying to buy a power supply, at the moment I do not understand the terminology. 5 amps however from what I have been able to understand from your valuable advice,  seems sufficient for me at the moment, since I will not be running more than one train on one setup with one locomotive at a time, probably max one lighted passenger car with 5  lagondas, sound yes, no slopes and the biggest locomotive I have is my   Spectrum  36 ton Shay. My present power supply is a 1 amp LGB.

[tac]

The confusing part is that many power supplies don't specify Amps, or PWR or DC or DCC, or linear voltage. Frankly it looks that I must improve my  knowledge of electricity before trying to buy a power supply, at the moment I do not understand the terminology. 5 amps however from what I have been able to understand from your valuable advice,  seems sufficient for me at the moment, since I will not be running more than one train on one setup with one locomotive at a time, probably max one lighted passenger car with 5  lagondas, sound yes, no slopes and the biggest locomotive I have is my   Spectrum  36 ton Shay. My present power supply is a 1 amp LGB.

Power units per se are required by international law to show the working voltage and amperage right there 'on the box'.  I have two Aristocraft units that have dual voltage/amperage selectivity, depending on the required power for your type of train - 22v and 13A or 13.8V 20A - plenty juice enuff for most application you are ever going to need.  You will, of course, also need some knd of throttle unit with a matching amperage capacity.

No power unit has DCC built in, as maven Kevin Strong tells you, there are many kinds of DCC brands and types available for use in the larger-scale stuff that we run - most of it is excellent, all the trash has been done out of business by now.

Many older units were selectable with regard to linear or PWR output, but these days, with the proliferation of ready-to-fit r/c units, most. if not all of which use pulsed power, you'll be hard-pressed to find such a unit.  Your LGB power unit, however, is one such unit - LGB motors were designed to use linear power.  Their proprietary version of DCC, called MTS, is alone in its electronic configuration.

In any case LGB 1A unit is a paperweight, Sir, suitable only for the smallest of locomotives on the smallest of tracks.

I'm also assuming that you mean 'gondolas' - a lagonda is a trade-name of a style of automobile built by the Aston-Martin Car Company of Newport Pagnall, UK.  Your Shay, with a lit passenger car and five gons is going to struggle to move at all and will probably stall when the safety overload switch inside the powere unit goes futz.

tac
OVGRS 

[armorsmith]

If I understand PWM controls, it is quite simple in concept. The voltage is constant. To obtain the appearance of lower voltages, the controller turns the voltage on and off at different rates. For perceived low voltages the pulses of voltage are shorter with larger times of no voltage. Wikipedia has a fairly good treatsie  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation

As for sound cards, or back EMF circuits, they may not like PWM much.  The idea of very quickly turning  the sound card on and off sounds like a bad idea, and that is how the card would be seeing the voltage.  I don't fully understand Back EMF circuits, but i would think they would respond in a similar manner to sound cards.

The motor itself doesn't care, so long as the voltage being supplied does not exceed the rating of the motor. If motors cared I doubt some of the old (1950ish) Mantua, etc would have lasted, yet I know some that run on PWM controlled track quite often - and not re-motored.  Consider that part of the development of PWM control was to give finer control, especially at lower speeds, of those older open frame motors.

I have personally run my Bachmann 'Thomas' on an Aristo pack on PWM without ill affects. I would not per se advise this simply to avoid liability concerns - your milage may vary.

[trainstrainstrains]

I use a spell check,  I'm honestly blaming it for doing something only Kevin Strong could do , turning a gondola into a lagonda, and while on the subject of gondolas before I started with model trains a gondola for me was only the beautifill and pohivitivly expensive, extreamly romantic Venetian canal gondolier driven canoo that my wife and I did not ride, instead we saw Venece from the  Vaporetto, the venetian canal public transport , also romantic very cheap , sounds like a chu chu train and you dont feel like you are throwing your money straight into the canal, like the few turists that go for the gondola. Why a log carring train car has the same name is beyond me.   Although I suppose there is a remote resemblance.

[trainstrainstrains]

What does DCC stand for?
Your abbreviation search returned 198 meanings:   Data Compression Conference  , -- Digital Command Control, --   Dynamic Currency Conversion, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Delgado Community College,  Dhaca City Corporation,  Digital Content Creation, Digital Curation Center, Dunedin City Council,  Durham County Council, Distributed Checksum Clearinghouse, Data Coordinating Center, Dallas Christian College, ........http://www.acronymfinder.com/DCC.html

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Digital Command Control

[Chuck N]

Wish I could help.  It has been DCC for a long time.  I don't use it and likely never will.  Most of my engines are straight DC.  I have 5 that I have converted to RC/BATTERY. I use the battery powered engines when I'm running as a guest on a layout without track power.

Chuck

[tac]

I use a spell check,  I'm honestly blaming it for doing something only Kevin Strong could do , turning a gondola into a lagonda, and while on the subject of gondolas before I started with model trains a gondola for me was only the beautifill and pohivitivly expensive, extreamly romantic Venetian canal gondolier driven canoo that my wife and I did not ride, instead we saw Venece from the  Vaporetto, the venetian canal public transport , also romantic very cheap , sounds like a chu chu train and you dont feel like you are throwing your money straight into the canal, like the few turists that go for the gondola. Why a log carring train car has the same name is beyond me.   Although I suppose there is a remote resemblance.

Just to show the connection between 'vaporetto' and the 'chuff-chuff' noise you noticed - 'the word 'vaporetto' is Itlaian for 'steamer' as in a steam-propelled boat.  Hence the connection.  Coomon useage in English English uses the word 'steamer' to describe an old-fashioned merchant vessel that carries passengers - as in 'The Cork Steam Packet and Navigation Co.'

A log-carrying train car is not called a gondola, but either a log flat car - if it IS a flatcar - usually with stake sides 'note spelling of 'stake', not 'steak', or a skeleton car, on account that it is simply a pair of trucks connected by a stout wooden beam on whch the trucks are mounted.  A single-truck, connected to another truck by a substantial wooden beam, is called a 'disconnect', on account of the fact that it is not directly connected to another truck, except by the loose-fitting rooster bar.  They all have log bolsters, or bunks, in logging terms, on which the log rest in transit.

A gondola car is like an open-topped box, BTW, high medium or low-sided, and pretty useless for carrying anything wooden unless it's in chip-form.

I get the impression that English is not necessarily your first language, so I hope that you'll forgive me for taking what may seem to be excessive liberties by explaining like this.  I had to learn it, too.

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

[trainstrainstrains]

 Can someone please recommend a 5 to 10 amp simple power supply with velocity control and a harmless to model trains type of electricity new or used  for under $100 and suggest where I might be able to buy it?

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Call Robbie at:   http://rldhobbies.com/  Robbie will give you real world advice and a great discount price.  He is a train expert.

[trainstrainstrains]

Thanks,  will do.