Looking for POWER

I am stepping in here to maybe draw in other answers. 

Some questions, do you have grades, minimum radius one the layout, are A and B both powered?

I would believe with larger radii on your curves and no grades with two powered engines, you should not have a problem.

Ray

What years were the cars made? My newest NYC cars were made a dozen years ago and the trucks are not the most free rolling compared with Lionel trucks. Maybe the newer cars are better but rolling friction would be the biggest factor vs weight.

Pete

As Rayin said, it will depend on your layout. If you have tighter curves on the long loop, like you are running at the min diameter the cars suggest, or if you have grades it changes what you need for motive power.  If the cars are lighted, when you decide on your power, make sure you choose something with larger capacity, two engines+lighting (assuming standard bulbs) should have a larger transformer or power supply IME.

My Lionel Legacy E7 AB set (both powered, 4 motors total) doesn't have any trouble pulling the additional superbass B unit and 10 MTH premier UP 18" smooth side passenger cars around my layout. I have a 2% grade from 0" to about 3" but the train is longer than the grade. I have a Lionel ZW-L powering my layout and I don't think the entire train pulls more than 2-3 amps. These passenger cars have LED lighting, though, which helps a lot.

Hope this helps!

I believe the two unkowns here are how powerful are the 3rd Rail engines and how heavy and how much friction do 16 GGD cars have. Comparing to other brands doesn’t count for much here. Track power is not the question. I can only speak about the cars.

Based on my experience with older GGD metal cars, I think it would take at least three power units to pull 16 cars.

Pete

The newer 3rd Rail diesels use a single Canon motor that's somewhere in size between a 8000 and 9000 series Pittman motor. It's connected to all the drive wheels. Test results I've seen show they usually produce 2+lbs of drawbar pull, about what a twin motor Lionel or MTH diesel will do. So figure a powered AB E1 set will produce around 4lbs of drawbar pull.

An easy way to see if you need more power to pull that 16 car train is to connect a pull scale (fish scale would probably work ok) to the front of the first car and pull it up your worst grade or through your layout's sharpest curve and see what it registers. If it's more than 4lbs you may need another powered unit. If not then the E1 AB set should be ok to pull the train.

Hi Ray, Pete, BigKid, Mike, and Lou.  Thanks to each one for your quick response.  I'll kinda answer the questions the best that I can.  My outside loop is approx. 16' x 18' with no grades.  This loop is long  and I am hoping I can run this units comfortably.  Inside this outer loop are grades. Nutting but passengers and freight as needed to suit my daily schedule.  All of my GGD cars (total of 15)  are from Scott's latest run of the Super Chief and the El Capitan.  If Scott opens repeat runs I'll add on.  My Santa Fe E1 A/B is somewhere between Oakland CA and South Carolina.

I wish to let each of you know that I appreciate your help with this project.  Tommy

Next project: designing a power supply.  Not today, but another day and another dollar.

Life is good.