I have TMCC and was wondering if 18 guage wire is the right size to power my layout. My Lionel Fastrack book shows a layout using 18 guage wire for the track. The layout size was 16 x 18 foot. I've heard 16 guage from everything I've read on the forums. But it worked on this track layout that was shown in the fastrack book. So, could I get away with 18 guage wire as shown in the book?
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"..could I get away with...."
IME, any time I hear that phrase I know that Murphy is right around the corner.
Another death knell term is "That's good enough".
Both expressions can get you in trouble.
"..could I get away with...."
IME, any time I hear that phrase I know that Murphy is right around the corner.
Another death knell term is "That's good enough".
Both expressions can get you in trouble.
Hehe...lots of truth here! 
IMO, Rick's thoughts are in line with reality. I prefer 12 ga buss or home runs. When calculating distance and power drop remember to consider out and back travel. A 20 foot run equals 40 feet of travel.
I use 18 ga for short drops, frog feeds and turnout motors. I believe you will be disapointed with 18 ga basic power connections.
I use 14 ga on a loop of 12 by 14 feet fed at four places in a star configuration. BTW, much of the "copper" wire is copper clad aluminum which has about 1 3/4 the resistance of pure copper. So you might go up a gauge (down in ga number) if you get that wire. And it's called CCA wire...usually the only mention of what it really is.
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