E-Z track/ transformer power capabilities

[capt_langlois]

Hey Guys, I recently purchased Bachmann' s Empire Builder set. I am very pleased and plan on expanding my set quite a bit with more E-Z track. Without any switches (single loop of track) how much length of track can I power with the transformer included in the set? I realize that the conductivity of the loop decrease slightly with each break of track. Is there any limitations associated with this single transformer? Would it be advantageous for me to purchase a few more pieces of the power track that connect to the transformer and place them randomly throughout the single loop? Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks

[Franz T]

The power pack included is sufficient to power one train, no matter hoe large the loop. Best practice is to add a feeder every 5-10 ft of track due to issues with connections at the track joints. Loss of power due to distance is not really a problem at low voltages. But I definitely would NOT invest in any more E-Z Track.  Best thing to do is to purchase a quality track such as Kato UniTrack if you prefer the built-in roadbed or Atlas Flextrack if you do not...

[capt_langlois]

Franz - Thanks for the response and the advise. I have a couple questions to your reply. About the "power feeder" you mentioned, is that just another piece of powered track that can connect to the same transformer? My second question is, why not purchase more ez track? My experience (very limited) thus far with the ez track has been very great. I am excited to purchase more but am a bit hesitant now after your comment. Can you help explain a little more. Thanks for your time

[Franz T]

The switches on EZ Track are very iffy,and the quality of the track itself is not the greatest..The track is ok if you want to put up a circle of track under the x-mas tree, but for any sort of layout........
Yes, a power feeder is another piece of powered ,track, as you have guseed. The important thing is to maintain the correct polarity among all feeders, otherwise you end up with a short circuit.
You are more than welcome to join us over at www.nscale.org you will find all sorts of advice and helpful people over there...

[capt_langlois]

Thanks for the advice Franz. If anybody else has anything to add about the E-Z track or has an opinion please feel free to add on. I am new and appriciate all your guys' help and experience. Also if people want to answer the original questions above, it would be very helpful. Thanks

[skipgear]

My experience with EZ track is just from some that I used for a temporary test loop and a small 3'x3' layout I built for my son. The track itself works fine once you weed out the bad sections. I had close to a 20% reject rate when building my son's layout. Using the 11" radius corners about 1 in 5 will be undergauge. For running diesels, this is usually not a problem but my 3 year old is a steamhead like me and steam loco's need great track to run smooth.

The turnouts are pretty reliable but need some filing of the points. They are also nice because they are power routing. Once installed on his layout I have had no problems but they did take some fine tuning before that point.

The EZ track can be used with sucess but plan on trashing some track in the process. Get yourself an NMRA track gauge or the one available from MicroTrains works well and check every piece of track. Test and retest with every loco you have before finally mounting the track. Any track that is questionable, throw away and replace it.

My layout is being built with flex track, my current test loop is now Kato Unitrak.

[GlennW]

The fatal flaw of EZtrak is the lack of other items to add to it. For a large layout, you are best off with some flextrack & some cork roadbed. Then You get to decide what the curves are. The 11" is tight for steamers & modern equipment. 15" is better, 22" is about max for Nscale. THen you can use a wider variety of Atlas or Peco turnouts.

Kato makes very good track, but it also becomes expensive for a large layout. Check prices at Toy Train Heaven against other ELHS. TTH is in PA and advertises frequently in MR or MRC.

When you go the flex route, you can decide to go with Atlas smaller Code 55 rail instead of the trainset Code 80.

[capt_langlois]

With the E-Z track transformer, how do I add more pieces of power track to a single loop? My transformer only has one plug so I am a bit confused as to how I add multiple pieces. Thanks again for everyone that helped thus far. I really appriciate your experience and advice.

[Franz T]

Simply splice the wires together- keeping track of polarity, of course. What is normally done on a larger layout is that you run a pair of feeder wires from the powerpack underneath the board and tap into them every 5-8 ft along the track...