Wires to the track every ___ feet?

[Boyd]

Slowly but surely I'm working on the main line climbing grade, swingup and swingdown bridges,, roadbed and etc. But what spacing do I need for the feeder wires or lockons on the track? My layout is a mix of Fastrack and Lionel 027 tubular plus one Ross Custom switch and one new Gargraves switch.  What  guage wire do you recommend? Positive to the center or outside rail? Any other tips? No $$$ for  a layout book. Gas costs are eating at my wallet. Who sells lockons for the cheapest?

 

 

[Anonymous]

Slowly but surely I'm working on the main line climbing grade, swingup and swingdown bridges,, roadbed and etc. But what spacing do I need for the feeder wires or lockons on the track? My layout is a mix of Fastrack and Lionel 027 tubular plus one Ross Custom switch and one new Gargraves switch.  What  guage wire do you recommend? Positive to the center or outside rail?

 

well i do know the center is the hot rail...from what i have learned...and if i remeber right i was told 16 gauge for the wire..not sure how far apart.. hope i remeber that right

[CNJfan]

I would recommend 16 Ga. wire for a small layout and 14 Ga. for a larger one. I would space the feeders at every 6 track connections regardless of length of track.

Tim C.

[Jumijo]

Use 14 gauge wire. Big enough to handle anything without worry.

FasTrack has built in lockons underneath every piece. Every six sections sounds good to me. Also use one after or between every switch.

Lionel lockons are the cheapest I've seen. Try to use at least one, if not a few lighted lockons. They are a good indicator of power, and add a little impedence to the layout. If you run Thomas or some of the smaller toy trains, that's almost a must. 

Jim 

[chuck]

Sectional tinplate track can be "wired up" with spade lug attachments that are inserted into the bottom of the rail on the underside of the track.  This also works on Gragraves.  Tin plated track will take solder very nicely.  You could solder pigtail leads on the underside of the track sections and then tie those to bus or home run feeds under your roadbed/table.  The number of sections that you can skip before you get voltage drops has more to do with the "shape" your track is in than anything else.  If the tin plating is in good shape on both the outside AND the inside where the track pins go AND the pins are not corroded/oxidized AND the pins are tight, you can get away with fairly long runs between power feeds.  There are varitations on lineman's pliers that are meant to be used with tin plate/toy train track.  Regular lineman's pliers along with a pair of needlenose can accomplish the same goal of tightening pins and adjusting the shape of the end of a pices of track.  Good luck.

[yallaen]

I ran 14 gauge on my shelf layout. I ran the wires every 10 feet, soldered to the track. No problems with conventional engine. We'll see about command control...

I'll update my shelf layout with some new pics and such. I made a nice little box with terminal strips for my transformer and such. I'll get those on here later...

 

[Dave Farquhar]

I remember an article in CTT a few years ago that said every three feet. I remember another article in OGR that said every three track joints, and start over with your counting after every switch or crossover. I wondered who was right, but on my layout where I use the long straights every three track joints ends up being about every three feet.

Depending on the condition of your track and the size of your layout, you can definitely get away with less than that (as many others here have), or you could end up needing more than that (but I hope not). I know one person who wasn't satisfied with how his trains ran until he ran feeders to every single track section, but that's definitely an extreme.

I do agree with starting over with your counting at every switch or crossover though. That's where I see my biggest drops.

As far as lockons, there's a cheaper alternative. If you're using Lionel/K-Line tubular track or Gargraves, go to the hardware store and get a package or two of quick-disconnect spade connectors. They're in the electrical section. Crimp or solder those on the ends of your wires, drill holes in your table big enough that they can feed through, and push the spades into the bottom of the track. I think a package of 25 costs about three bucks, so it's a lot cheaper than buying lockons.

[Jumijo]

I remember an article in CTT a few years ago that said every three feet. I remember another article in OGR that said every three track joints, and start over with your counting after every switch or crossover. I wondered who was right, but on my layout where I use the long straights every three track joints ends up being about every three feet...

 

You mean 9 feet, right, Dave?  

[lionelsoni]

Your mileage may vary; but most types of track have about the same resistance as 16 AWG wire, which means that using wire that small is only slightly better than no wire at all (assuming decent rail joints).  I second the recommendation of 14 or 12 AWG, which is probably easier to get than 16.

However, with good joints, a complete loop in a not-too-huge room doesn't need feeders at all:  The resistivity of 16 AWG is 4 milliohms per foot.  So, if the track length is, for example, 50 feet, you would think that the the resistance would be 200 milliohms and that the voltage drop a typical train drawing 5 amperes would be 1 volt, which borders on noticeable.  But there is are only 25 feet of track from the transformer to the farthest point on the loop; and the resistance of those 25 feet is in parallel with the 25 feet the other way around.  The actual resistance is only 50 milliohms and the voltage drop an undetectable fourth of a volt.

(There is no positive nor negative.  Put the transformer's common to the outside rails.)

[palallin]

I am loathe to rely on track joints.  Unless they are soldered, they will work loose even if the track is screwed down.  With only a couple of exceptions, I attached a feeder to every piece of rail.

 

It may be overkill, but I doubt I'll EVER have to trace down a dead piece of track.

[Dave Farquhar]

You mean 9 feet, right, Dave?  

Not on my layout. One long straight to get most of the way across the table, and O42 curves to get around the corner, and once you reach three track sections, you've gone somewhere between 3 and 4 feet.

But you do bring up a good point, that on larger layouts the variance between track joints and feet could be pretty large, especially if you were using Gargraves.

[Boyd]

I will run feeders to both sides and middle of bridge sections. All of the track, Fastrack, tubular and switches are brand new or used very little. The main lines route has at least 100 feet of track. I will have to measure it when its done. Lots of the tubular track being brand new I use a kitchen fork or needle nose pliers to open up the end when mating track together. The newer tubular track it seems you need arms the size of tree trunks to mate the track sections together.

[rlplionel]

My layout consists of good, used O27, O, and O72 tubular track. When I first started building the layout 14 years ago, I began with a single feeder wire for each track loop. As I added additional track and existing track connections aged, I added feeders to track sections where I noted a train would slow down. So my rule of thumb for track feeders has been to add them where needed.

[3railguy]

With tubular track, every six joints is a good medium if your joints are sound. Fastrack has better continuity than tubular so every ten joints is good. Lockons don't have the greatest continuty as they don't grip the rail as well as they should for a sound connection. Take others advice and use terminal connectors or solder wire to the underside of the rail.

[laz 57]

I have mine every 3-4 feet and had no problems.  I use dual run 16 gauge wire and Lionel lockons for tublar track and soldered right to the Lionel fast track.

laz57

[phillyreading]

For brand new track you won't need that many feeders, but who can afford brand new track every time?  About every four feet(unless using long straights) works good for track older than seven months or taken apart many times as that loosens the track connections.

Depends on what brand of switch you use you may need to run a hot wire to the two outbound tracks, straight & curved(GarGraves older switches or GarGraves 072 switches).

14 gauge wire should be able to handle almost any model train power supply needs.  I used 12 gauge because I had it on hand, didn't have go out & buy it. Also used GarGraves track clips instead of lockons as I can make the GarGraves clips blend in easier with a little paint than the lockons from Lionel.

Lee F.