new build

[cookie]

Hi

Just joined the Forum,going to try a garden railway but don't know about powering the rails outside , hope to do dcc and mabe run two trains , I have built an n gauge 8 ft by 4 ft so now looking to try something different, so any information with regards to powering the rails would be helpful, The layout would be 30ft long and 20 ft wide.

[mick]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you mean actually connecting up a power source to the track then it's much the same as it is for an indoor layout but of course you have to ensure that only the low voltage stuff resides outdoors. Any mains connections/transformers etc must be housed safely indoors. All my 240v stuff is located within an outbuilding and then connections to the track from the controller can be safely run outdoors and around the layout to the rails as desired. In it's simplest form, a single track connection within a shed would be all that's required for total DCC control but to ensure continuity of power throughout the layout we either bond all rail joints across the fishplates or run bus wires alongside the track and connect each separate length of track to the bus wire. I use a combination of both methods and find they are equally as good at maintaining track power.

If I'm way off the mark with my response and you need me to expand on anything then just let me know.

[jimbob]

Firstly, welcome to the group.

As Mick says track wiring is the same out doors as in although some sort of bus wire or track bonding is essential. Just using fishplates for conduction is fine first off but you will get problems later on. Much easier to do it at the start , even once every 6ft is better than nothing.

Although l have the luxuary of a shed to work from it does not have mains power. To get round that l use a 12volt battery conected to an inverter. It sounds silly converting 12volts to 240volts then back down 12/16 volt but it works! I also have the battery conected up to a small solar panel so it gets a small trickle charge when not in use. Whole thing cost about £100, the biggest cost being the battery. I bought a mid range leisure battery but an old car one will do but may go flat quickly. Its been over a year since the setup was installed and never had to charge the battery yet.

Dont be afraid to ask question here, it may not be the font of all knowledge here but its dam close !!

[cookie]

Thanks lads, it seems the same as I wired up my n gauge dropper wires to every piece of track, been reading the forms and looking at garden builds on youtube and most of the oo gauge railways are using peco flex track so I will go that way. Watched jenny kirk video of building a garden railway , some good pieces of info from her build I might use like the brick pillars ect.

[cookie]

I used to fly radio control planes , still have all my equipment , so after looking at oo gauge coaches the size of the coach will take an airsoft battery,also found a speed controller which is used for radio control boats it might be able to wire up a loco to it by cutting the feed wires which pick up power from the rails and connect the wires upto the batteries that way track cleaning will not be required just a thought, will look further into it.

[jimbob]

If your starting from nothing then battery power is something worth looking at.

Procab is a system worth looking at but you may need deep pockets!

Talking controllers you may want to look at wireless control systems as well. Being tethered to one place on a garden railway keeps you fit running up and down.

[cookie]

Hi Jimbob

I have the powercab at the moment on my n gauge layout, I checked on the web for speed controllers and the viper at £25 looks like the one I might go for they say in can be paired up with a transmitter, I have a Futaba 2.4 fj8 so it should be ok to use.

[mick]

I imagine it all depends on exactly how far you want to go. There are one or two members of the forum who are (or certainly have been) experimenting with battery power and radio control. I'm not sure if these members are still active on the forum in order to give an update. Perhaps in time we'll all be using an alternative source of direct power for our loco's rather than powering the rails as we do now but there's only so much room within the confines of an OO gauge model in order to fit everything in.

Personally in my view I'm quite happy supplying power to the rails. Track cleaning isn't a big deal once your track is laid and electrically bonded where necessary. I would think even with battery power that some degree of track cleaning would be necessary outdoors anyway if you are to avoid a bumpy ride. Small particles of grit and dirt are always going to settle on top and alongside the rails, not to mention the havoc that snails, slugs and birds among other things can cause along the permanent way. Adding stay alive capacitors can greatly increase your chances of successful operation and lessen the potential for locos stalling.

Powering the rails means we can utilise the inners of our locos for sound, smoke etc and they don't have to remain permanently coupled to an accompanying vehicle. It's proved successful for many years now and remains the default way.

[chris]

Hi,

I have a twin track railway that is about the same size as your plan. I run it with a PowerCab, hooked up to a computer and use iPhones and iPads as throttles. It works very very well. I have a lot of points, about 20 in the shed and 16 outside. I cannot control all of that with the PowerCab, I need the computer to make sense of it all.

I doubt your system will be as point heavy as mine (I try not to think of the cost of all the points, motors and accessory decoders!) But it's worth thinking about whether you want points and if so how you plan to control them.

Buy a big shed. I've got a 12 foot by 6 foot. I'd love it to be 14 by 8.

[jimbob]

Size does matter! Mines 10 x 8 and l would say if you want to run full size trains thats as small as you can go. Trouble is bigger than this and the prices rise quite a bit.

[TheQ]

Edit,

I really must read the post properly before I reply to it...

[Dave1013]

Hi cookie 

Like the others,May I too welcome you to the forum. This has got to be the best and friendliest model railway forum out there.

I have had a go at RC using a simple 2channel transmitter and speed controller. For power a pp3 size 9v l ion battery with 650 milli amp hour capacity. I bought a class 60 Lima loco from eBay. Loads of room for the battery and radio gear. I can run it for an hour non stop with a scale speed of 80mph hauling 5 Hornby coaches.

I have several converted locos and a hst. Great fun for a quick operating session.

Hope this helps to egg you on. All I can say is go for it and enjoy.

Cheers

Dave

 

Edited January 27, 2017 by Dave1013
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