i'm a kid interested in model railroads

[Anonymous]

Okay, so i'm not exactly a kid, but i am a college student, so it's close. and lately, i've had extra money and time and have gotten back into model trains.

Some background first. I've always been into trains. My family always had them under the Christmas tree, then my sister and I got an HO layout in grade school, and when I got to highschool i built an N scale layout. Now I'd like to run a Z layout in my apartment. Marklin has a nice selction of Swiss locos and rolling stock, and i've discovered that entire country runs on electricfied rail. I've also discovered that there are model trains that actually run on overheard wires.

I'm wondering how that works, and how one goes about wiring it. Also, are there any good publications on building European railroads for beginner/intermediates like me?

[DSchmitt]

Continental Modeler published in England covers railroads all over the world. Naturally there ara a lot of articles on European lines. Although, I haven't seen much on electrics in the less than 1 year I've been buying it.

http://www.peco-uk.com/cm/cm_home.htm

Methods of powering electric locos:

1.Use dummy overhead and run 2-rail.

2. Power from overhead with rail or rails as ground. The rails may be connected together (this is functionally the same as O gauge 3-rail, the OH is the 3rd rail) or separated electrically in which case one rail is used as the ground and the other used for signals.

3. Independent control. One loco operates from overhead and one rail. Another operates from the rails. The same rail is common to both locos. This allows separate control of two locos even when the are coupled together.

There is probably no advantage to 3 if the models are DCC equipped.

Here's an organization that should be able to help you

http://www.ete.org/introduction.htm

[Anonymous]

Doing Z scale dosen't mean that german or european trains are the only ones out
there. Iv'e seen F-7's, P-A's, milkados's, 0-4-0's, &, mogul's in z scale. Z, from
what Ive seen is wired like Ho or N scale & runs off DC power. If you can I
reccomend going to Allied model trains in culver city CA. Their Z section has over
500 different items in it. If you can't they have a website (I don't know the address
tothe site). Have fun!

[CPR GP38-2 fan]

Hi,

I don't know too much about wiring, but I'd suggust you look at the book, Easy Model Railroad Wiring or something like that.  It explains about wiring 2-rail traicks and even over head ones.  Hope yall enjoy.

Your welcome,

CPR GP38-2 fan