I am fairly new to model railroading as I have only built one HO layout and it worked but I am not convinced that it was wired with heavy enough gauge wire. So what I want to know is what gauge wire do you use for your primary for the jumpers to connect to? How big a lay out do you build before you need more power to the track, (power pacts)?
Also I am 65 years young and in great health. I want to build a new layout and would like to do N scale because to get done what I want the N scale would seem easier because of space (7' x 11' with walk way in the center). What do all of you have to say Pros & cons to N scale.
Jbird
Hello, and welcome to the forum.
Most of us overdo the wire gauge thing. Unless you need the equivalent of a household circuit with its 12 gauge wire, you could probably get away with 14-16 gauge wire very easily as the main power bus. The bus is like the water main running past your frontage under the ground, and the feeders are like the pipe that runs into your house. The guage most of us use, if we can keep their lengths under 3', is 22 gauge.
Therefore, you are likely to not have any problems with power. The only problem would be if you have the one central power distribution centre and run a bus for 100', say, perhaps somewhat less, and you are using 20 gauge wire for your bus. If you need to deliver a full 8 amps to the very end of that bus, and then up through a set of feeders, it will mean a lot of heat building under the insulation. So you would enlarge your gauge to something like 12 gauge in that case, perhaps even 10...although 10 is a whopping big wire!
The general rule should be to only run enough wire to satisfy the functionality of your track plan. As a general rule, 12 gauge is often used by us for the bus, and we use 22 gauge for the short feeders. To complicate things, though, some of us use a sub-bus (might as well use the same gauge as the bus if you have enough) and run that in separate lengths much like intermediate feeders to a portion of the layout that we want to run as a separate power block for short protection purposes.
As for N-scale, it's strictly a personal choice based on the pleasure factor. If you can see, handle, and enjoy your N-scale products in your layout setting, then by all means. Many of us find that our aging eyes and hands are much happier with HO, even S and O scale products as we march along.
If you have any clubs nearby, maybe an evening or two with them would steer you right?
jbird wrote:I am fairly new to model railroading as I have only built one HO layout and it worked but I am not convinced that it was wired with heavy enough gauge wire. So what I want to know is what gauge wire do you use for your primary for the jumpers to connect to? How big a lay out do you build before you need more power to the track, (power pacts)?
With your 7 X 11 railraod, you can easily get by with #16 gauge wire for the bus and #22 wire is an ideal size for feeders. Divide your layout into 2 power districts so you can isolate them for troubleshooting purposes. Some use suitcase connectors to connect the feeders to the bus, but I prefer terminal blocks.
jbird wrote:Also I am 65 years young and in great health. I want to build a new layout and would like to do N scale because to get done what I want the N scale would seem easier because of space (7' x 11' with walk way in the center). What do all of you have to say Pros & cons to N scale.Jbird
I know two fellows who have recently abandoned N scale and returned to HO because of the tiny size of N scale.
Just my two cents!
Joe Daddy
16 gauge bus and 18-22 feeders will be fine here. Definitely divide the layout into power districts.
Also you might want too look up Joe Fugate's "lightbulb trick". It works really well.
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net