80 watt transformer and wiring

[chad tm5000/trainstation]

i got a problem with this and ive tryed to get the humming out. i got a layout that i still got humming and lack of power to my loco in certain spots. my question is... i have a 80 watt lionel transformer and the wire that came with it and the layout is atleast 4x12 total that should be good for the power that i need and i have the lionel trestle for the loco to go up and down. do i need a second power supply or what can i do with the humming and the lack of power. i need the loco to be at a steady and enjoyable pace for my kids and for me. i dont have dcc or any remote like things till next year. so if you can im *** about this and it seem like i need to fork out more money that i dont have . thanks chad from pittsburgh

[laz 57]

Hi CHAD,

  You could add another drop,lockon, just in front of the tressle set to get a splice of power going to that section.  On my layout I have drops every 5 feet or so, adds power to remote sections of track.  As far as the humming is concerned its probably the fan inside the CW.  Hope this helps.

laz57

[phillyreading]

I have found that with 027 track I need to have a power lockon every fourth section of track to maintain constant voltage with my layout and I am using brand new 027 track. Like Laz mentions, you need more power drops to the track!! Use at least 16 gauge lamp cord, you can buy it at Home Depot.

If you have the CW-80 by Lionel go with TMCC for command control.

Lee F.

[Darth Santa Fe]

I agree with the recommendation for more Lockon feeders around the track. Steel isn't a good conductor compared to other metals like copper, although the tin plating does help. A single Lockon will power a small train set sized loop fine, but as the layout gets bigger, the power needs to be spread out more. It's the same way in every scale.

[lionelsoni]

The resistivity of steel varies with its composition but is not very much worse than tin.  In any case, the thin layer of tin plating contributes very little to the track's conductance.  Toy-train track seems to be roughly equivalent to 16 AWG copper wire, which is why I recommend using no smaller than 14 AWG for feeders to get a significant improvement over the track itself.

A complete loop of track without any rail gaps has one-fourth the resistance to the farthest point, compared to an unlooped stretch of track of the same length.  The resistance is halved by the farthest points' being only half the loop's length away from the transformer and halved again by there being two halves of the loop feeding that farthest point from opposite directions.

Poor electrical connections at track joints are an important contributor to track resistance.  Soldering fixes that problem.  If joints are soldered with the track pins removed, it also becomes easy to remove sections of track for replacement or maintenance without disturbing adjacent track.