Accessory Wiring Newbie

Good morning,

I am trying to figure out how to wire some accessories on my new small layout and have some questions on how to go about wiring everything together.

First and foremost, I have a MTH Z1000 power brick with an accessory port on it. I know I need some way of distributing the power form that port and I was looking at the MTH 50-1014 12 port terminal block. Is this what I would need to distribute the power? Is there another product you would recommend?

From there, I have a few buildings with lights, a MTH Realtrax ITAD, and a MTH Modern Crossing Signal I would like to wire up. I am fine with the wiring, what I am wondering is what brand and type of wire you all use? Can I use the regular Atlas colored wire or is there something else I should be using?

Thanks!

Jon

3/10/179:58 AM

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Richie C.OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

The 12 port MTH distribution board should work fine. There is also a 24 port board that sells for less than the cost of two 12 port bards, so try to make sure you won't need more than one 12 port board. Accessories have a way of adding up and before you know it, you'll need a second or third board.

I use 18 gauge dual stranded wire from one of the big box hardware stores, which is marked for pos/neg, and relatively cheap. The board(s) is mounted underneath the layout and I use a simple U-shaped crimp connector at the terminal port ends and a variety of different connectors (bullet type crimp, plug-in, modular, etc.) depending on gauge, at the accessory end. I'm not a big fan of using wire nuts. I don't have any experience with the Atlas wire.

I also label the wires so I know where they go and have a separate log book that shows what accessory is hooked up to which terminal. Sounds like overkill but, at some point I can almost guarantee you it will be worth it when there's a problem.

3/10/1711:49 AM

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