First time I n e e d e d a big transformer

I feel your pain. I went through the same thing. Those TMCC and DCC engines

are real power hogs. ( even in conventional mode )

So nothing smaller that an MTH Z1000 for me.

Then again I'm sure the intent of the CW80's were for starter sets anyway...

That is like having four home coffee grinders running at full tilt off your layout.

Lee,

Which track were you using before you replaced it with Atlas? And did you run those consists listed with the previous track?

Cesar

I had Fastrack for about five years - ran everything except that Santa Fe set on it alot.  It was good track if noisy and having a bit more voltage drop and connectivity problems than Atlas.  I posted a lot about having corroded and ruined it by using Simple Green to clean it and since it was ruined and I had to replace it I chose Atlas this time. 

Fastrack switches, by the way, are the best.  I use them (new ones) on my current layout, with the Atlas track. 

My Lionel Santa Fe Anniversary Passenger Set never ran on Fastrack - its the only loco set I have that hasn't.  I bought it during the time I began replacing the Fastrack with Atlas and the box unopened since new (2000) sat for six weeks in my trainroom before I opened it.  A few weeks ago I posted a brief video of it running on my big (72" curve loop) - first time I had ever ran it. Its a great set - not quite scale, but very detailed with really good sound, and beautiful to look at.

Could it be that the solid rail draws more current? My one and only layout is Atlas and I am using a Z 4000. I have ABA's with 8-10 passenger cars and they were pulling over 4 amps. I had to disconnect most of my lighted cars to bring the draw to around 2.8-3.2 range.

Cesar

Solid rail drawing more current doesn't make sense electrically since track should not draw current. It could have more or less resistance, however. If your track is drawing current there is a short, so fix or replace it.

Guys!   Solid rails won't draw any more current that any other track - okay, the strictly rigorous engineer in me will admit that any given loco will draw a very tiny additional amount on this track versus tubular  because the track has a lower impedance) - but so small a difference that you could not measure it with a Z4000's meters (which only measure current to two digit accuracy - 9.1 amps, 11 amps, etc.).

The only reason this train is so "hungry" is the combination of four Pullmor motors and seven cars lighted with incadescent bulbs.  My experience with other Pullmor motors is that, particularly under a sizeable pulling load, they run from 15 to 25 watts each.  So, a total of 86 watts for four is right on.  Similarly, while modern LED lite passenger cars use next to no power, cars with incandescent light use a noticeable amount - only 6 or 7 watts per car, but there are seven cars = 40+ watts. 

I have a modern ABBA Super Chief set with can motors and eight LED lit cars and it draws around 60 watts total, or less than half as much.

I knew within a couple of seconds of the CW80's green light blinking what was wrong - I just thought it very interesting that this train was sooo hungry compared to modern ones - it was the first "old technology" Super Chief set I have had (well, the first in 50+ years, I had one as a kid, too, and that probably had Pullmor motors, too).

You have to provide energy for both the armature AND the field coil.  That't what's sucking up the additional current in a PullMore.  The good news was you could MU/double head these without any fancy electronics.  Bad news was the three pole design wasn't very good at low speeds without excessive cogging (unless you used a fancy power supply to "pulse" it)

Glad you enjoyed the set, that makes for a very impressive train!