I am a first time layout builder. just wondering if there is a wire block or something that I can connect all of my lights to?
Are you asking about ancillary lighting like street lights and lighting for inside structures?
I use a combination of LED;s and bulbs for my lighting on the layout. I also have several other accessories that need power. I wanted to avoid powering this lot from my track power pack so have separate power supplies that provide 12V and 5V power lines that run under the layout. This means that I can tap into these power bus lines as needed to provide for my ancillary items. I happened to use an old power supply taken from a PC for this.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
He may also be refering to a terminal strip. That's an electrical device that allows you to connect several wires (from the lights) to a power source (in this example) and be able to change or expand connections easily.
simon
Could you tell what size wire you use for the lights in ( or going to) your structures and street lights ?thank you
slow train Ed
This is a terminal strip sold at Radio Shack:
It's sold in a pack of 4 for a buck and a half. I run a single wire through all the connectors and then solder individual wires going out, giving me a low-budget distribution point.
This one is called a barrier strip. It has screw terminals rather than solder lugs.
You can do the same sort of thing with this, by running a wire between all the screw terminals on one side, and connecting your distribution wires to the other. Or, you can use one of these to make a number of individual connections, wire-to-wire. I like to put one beneath a bunch of structures, and connect the lighting wires to the barrier strip. This makes it a lot easier to remove the wires if I have to, in case I need to remove the building. This particular one, with 8 pairs of connections, is $2.49 at R$. (Not the recommended place to go for bargains, but they're convienient, and, since I used their graphics, I thought I'd at least give them credit.)
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Ed
From your power supply to the barrier strip I would install a 16 gauge or 14 gauge wire. This will help in reducing the voltage drop for long runs of wires. Also try to us a color code for your wires to help later in trouble shoting. Cat 5 or 6 computer wires is large enough to install from barrier strip to each light.
prrst 45,
thank you for reply was wondering that for a long time now to find where to buy the wire at?
slow trian Ed
Home Depot, Lowes, and if you hacve Menards there, they all have wire in spools from 100 to 1000 feet. You might look at a 4x8 layout and think 100 feet of wire is too much - it's not.
If this is just for structure lights you don;t need #14 wier, #18 is plenty for lights - even #20. Save the heavier stuff for the track bus.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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