Bus Wiring

Rather than copy and paste all the threads, just go to the search tab and type <wiring bus>.  That will give you a lot of reading on buss wiring, star wiring, etc.

Copper wire is used as a bus because it has less resistance than steel track. In addition, steel track uses pins that have inherent resistance, which is overcome by using copper bus wiring. This problem presents itself in the center rail and the running rails.

If you use the insulated-rail method for signalling activation, you have introduced more resistance.  Do that a number of times, and you will have an accumulation of resistances.

The accepted wisdom is to provide a copper wire bus for both center and outer rails, at regular intervals along the ROW.

Thank-you all for your suggestions.  As far as Mike Regan's video, Moonman correctly states that Mike talks about separate bus wires for hot and common, but his drawings and his subsequent comment that one can use either one bus wire or two suggests an option. This is what confused me (See also another Lionel video dealing with phasing transformers).  Seemingly, it made sense to me to use the outside rails as a common ground by installing a short lead from the transformer to an outside rail of track and then just have the power bus wire go around the platform for tap-ins to the center rail.  In fact, it was suggested that wiring a common ground between transformers, once phased, would obviate separate grounds to other loops in the layout.  Anyway, Arthur Bloom's comment provides a whole new perspective when it deals with the quality of the connection using outside rails vs. copper wire as a ground.  So while we may save wire using a single power bus, we may lose in conductivity by relying on steel instead of copper.  I like that and will go with the two-wire bus.  And thanks to Bob Leese for his suggestion on how to maneuver around to get the archival forum postings.  Best wishes, guys...