Making a Buss Wire system for postwar. (Old lionel tubular track)

Why do you want to act like an armature? Just purchase two terminal strips found on line or in any big box store. Use on terminal strip for the positive side and another for the negative side. One row of the terminal strip is used as a buss and the second row is where you connect additional lines to the track. You do the same for a separate buss line for accessories. stripping wire Midway and wrapping a wire connection off of the bare wire is do 50's and amateurish. The terminal strip is not only more professional looking but give a better connection than trying to tap in a line on an existing line. Not to mention the cost for a terminal strip is cheaper than your lunch.

To connect feeder wires to a bus wire I use Scotch locks like these: https://www.belmetric.com/scot...4fdke183klf4so7frak4

Using these you do not have to remove any insulation from the bus wire, just use pliers to close them on the bus and the feeder wire.

Regards

Fred

What size wire should I use for this? Something similar to doorbell wire?

I generally use 14ga stranded wire for track power (probably overkill, 16 ga would be okay) and accessory runs to localized terminal strips where I use 16ga stranded or 18ga solid wire to the accessory itself.

I ran five rows of 14 gauge wire under my 4'x12' layout.  They are 1" center to center +/-.  Each wire corresponds to a binding post on my ZW transformer.   Then I simply solder any wire to them.  

Moonman posted:

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Why do you want to act like an armature? Just purchase two terminal strips found on line or in any big box store. Use on terminal strip for the positive side and another for the negative side. One row of the terminal strip is used as a buss and the second row is where you connect additional lines to the track. You do the same for a separate buss line for accessories. stripping wire Midway and wrapping a wire connection off of the bare wire is do 50's and amateurish. The terminal strip is not only more professional looking but give a better connection than trying to tap in a line on an existing line. Not to mention the cost for a terminal strip is cheaper than your lunch.

How does one behave like an armature?

A terminal strip does not work the way that you have described.  One must jumper the terminals to create multiple connections from one terminal. An electrical bus has one s.

The method of connection of wires to the bus wire is a matter of preference. Wrapping a wire around another may not be the best way to do it, but I would suggest that you be more helpful than critical, such as Fred's reply.

Thanks, but in the long run he's probably right. Being critical is sometimes a good thing as it can show the flaws in one's ideas. (This being mine) I will be sure to pick up these terminal's and use them for my track and accessories. If I'm correct, I can use this method on accessories and not only track. If I use the buss method for my KW, I might be able to successfully operate accessories such as my lighted freight station or automatic gateman. I like to use contactors as for me it harkens back to the older postwar years.

sncf231e posted:

To connect feeder wires to a bus wire I use Scotch locks like these: https://www.belmetric.com/scot...4fdke183klf4so7frak4

Using these you do not have to remove any insulation from the bus wire, just use pliers to close them on the bus and the feeder wire.

 

Regards

Fred

 

They are also called "suitcase connectors"!

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Why do you want to act like an armature? Just purchase two terminal strips found on line or in any big box store. 

These are the ones I use, got them at Home Depot.

Jerry

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Why do you want to act like an armature? Just purchase two terminal strips found on line or in any big box store. Use on terminal strip for the positive side and another for the negative side. One row of the terminal strip is used as a buss and the second row is where you connect additional lines to the track. You do the same for a separate buss line for accessories. stripping wire Midway and wrapping a wire connection off of the bare wire is do 50's and amateurish. The terminal strip is not only more professional looking but give a better connection than trying to tap in a line on an existing line. Not to mention the cost for a terminal strip is cheaper than your lunch.

So you are sure this way will work? I just buy some of the terminals and I'm guessing I strip the wire when it goes through the first lockon directly after the transformer. From there I connect it to a terminal and then on the opposite side of the terminal I connect to different areas of the layout? This process is then repeated with the accessories right?

Remember that my layout is only 4x12 and a ZW can cover it without the buss wiring. I just want the train to run without my constant supervision as it slows down on the far ends of the layout.

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

... Remember that my layout is only 4x12 and a ZW can cover it without the buss wiring. I just want the train to run without my constant supervision as it slows down on the far ends of the layout.

Another option is to track down rail joints with high resistance and fix those, instead of running extra track feeders. I have a 90-foot circuit of track around a 23' x 23' room with only one track feed and minimal voltage drop because I soldered small jumpers across any rail joints with more than about 0.05v drop when carrying a 2 amp load.

On my last 4 semi-permanent, seasonal layouts, I ran stranded, 14 ga wire under the length of the table. 5 strands - A, B, C and D handle along with a common ground.

I then used suitcase connectors to attach my 18 ga stranded feeds at the most convenient locations. 

Very easy and I never had a loose or poor connection.

Another vote for suitcase connectors. On my PW layout I ran wires from the ZW under the table and tapped in with the connectors. Works great.

These:

http://www.micromark.com/Searc...e=IDC+connectors+905

I don't like those "suitcase" connectors, being involved in car electronics a # of years ago I saw to many that broke the wire in half and caused a problem that the owner couldn't find. I like a nice solid mechanical connection and some solder is even better. You need to know the correct size and have a good feel if its to tight it just might break the wire and it would be hard to tell. Most of the time they cut a fe of the strands of wire and you just don't know it... 

E-UNIT-79 posted:

I don't like those "suitcase" connectors, being involved in car electronics a # of years ago I saw to many that broke the wire in half and caused a problem that the owner couldn't find. I like a nice solid mechanical connection and some solder is even better. You need to know the correct size and have a good feel if its to tight it just might break the wire and it would be hard to tell. Most of the time they cut a fe of the strands of wire and you just don't know it... 

Yeah, I agree with that.  I don't entirely trust the suitcase connectors.  They often break some of the wire strands and you can't see that.

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Why do you want to act like an armature? Just purchase two terminal strips found on line or in any big box store. Use on terminal strip for the positive side and another for the negative side. One row of the terminal strip is used as a buss and the second row is where you connect additional lines to the track. You do the same for a separate buss line for accessories. stripping wire Midway and wrapping a wire connection off of the bare wire is do 50's and amateurish. The terminal strip is not only more professional looking but give a better connection than trying to tap in a line on an existing line. Not to mention the cost for a terminal strip is cheaper than your lunch.

So you are sure this way will work? I just buy some of the terminals and I'm guessing I strip the wire when it goes through the first lockon directly after the transformer. From there I connect it to a terminal and then on the opposite side of the terminal I connect to different areas of the layout? This process is then repeated with the accessories right?

Remember that my layout is only 4x12 and a ZW can cover it without the buss wiring. I just want the train to run without my constant supervision as it slows down on the far ends of the layout.

One lesson I learned from my early garden railway years was to solder jumper wires across every rail joint.  As I am building my O gauge layout I have continued the practice.