Layout/train protection

[EKW]

First of all let me say this. I am a straight forward simple minded person when it comes to certian things in life. This question is one of them. All I want is a you will need this and this to accomplish this and this is how you do it. With tid bits of the whys and workings of it. Photos make it even better!!!

Not sure if there are any others out there like myself or not but I certiantly am.

Stay with me were almost there...........

Looking at and reading several post about layout/train protections filled with numerous explinations of what the components do, what components are better and those that you should not use. TVS diodes(Transiate Voltage Suppression), 5amp fast break circuit breakers that either self re-set or manually. Brands to use or not use. Then there is just as many installation ideas and suggestions. I get to reading so many of them that my mind goes to sleep as I am not finding the guts to the question.

Looking at operating trains from pre war all the way up to now on one layout with protection for all using KW, ZW and Z4000 plus my hefty American Flyer transformers power. Some day I will eventually add in Legacy and or MTH to the set up for operations. This will be two layouts in one actually, one being O gauge and the other being S gauge. 

With all of that being said. FINNIALLY!!!!!

What components are needed to best protect EVERYTHING ?  From where ? What is the easiest and best straight forward way to install the needed components for the best protection prefurablly without having to take power sorces, locomotives and assesories apart ? 

 

[Leverettrailfan]

EKW

What is the easiest and best straight forward way to install the needed components for the best protection prefurablly without having to take power sorces, locomotives and assesories apart ?  

I personally can't do much to help with other questions, but I think this one is an easy, straightforward one to answer: you'll want reliable protection on every circuit you're operating- that is, every single output you use from your transformer, should have a breaker on it. Almost, but not all train transformers made after 1945 had built in breakers, but these are a) not fast acting, and b) designed to protect the *transformer* from damage (not the trains or wiring). So consider any vintage transformer to have an inadiquate breaker at the very least.
What you want, is a breaker that will trip fast. I'm aware that at least some, if not most modern locomotives, cars, and accessories with fancy electronics are very sesitive to getting short circuited- if you run modern stuff, don't take any chances, and invest in something that will ensure you don't fry your precious equipment!
(Almost all my equipment is vintage stuff, so it's not as much a worry of mine)

You may or may not have read people reporting some "danger" with operating the Lionel postwar 'ZW'- this is because due to how it is wired, a short between two power outputs would not pass through the circuit breaker in the transformer, and thus in that situation there would be no protection whatsoever.

I'm sure that lots of the folks here on the forum can offer you their personal solutions, but... unfortunately, a "simple answer" is unlikely- because there's many choices you have to make, and there is no one right answer- you have to weigh and measure your options, and consider based on your plans, and the charictaristics of what products you're looking at, what you want to go with. 

Where the forum really comes in, is helping you narrow down those options to a point where it's easier to make your call. Nobody's layout is the same as someone else's, people have their own preferences, and nobody has tried everything personally. 

It may feel like a pain, but there's a silver lining: if everyone did everything the exact same way, then no improvements would ever be made, and there'd be no diversity in the offerings for model railroading. Having options wouldn't exist without people having their own preferences.
While it's bothersome to have to do your research and talk to people, it's also thanks to doing that, that a) you can get a decent understanding of what everyone else has tried, and how it worked out for them, b) you might learn about things you never even considered in the first place, and c) you can make a few friends along the way!

I hope you do well with your layout, it sounds like fun!
-Ellie

[Michael6268]

First- TVS (transient voltage suppressor ) installed across you transformer terminals, or even better at the track connection.

Second- a inline fast blow fuse or circuit breaker.