Setting up an electrical system for my layout

The only thing you mentioned was Legacy.  Are you also considering DCS?

TPC or PowerMaster are required if you plan to run conventional.  For TMCC/Legacy only you do not need them; you could wire directly to the track.

I run short 18 ga feeder wires soldered to the track to under the table, then 14 ga to the distribution block, 12 ga to the transformer.

You can buy inexpensive antennas with long cables that attach directly to the Legacy base.  Do a search here on the forum. 

Maybe have two power districts per level with one PH180 per district. 

@CAPPilot posted:

The only thing you mentioned was Legacy.  Are you also considering DCS?

TPC or PowerMaster are required if you plan to run conventional.  For TMCC/Legacy only you do not need them; you could wire directly to the track.

I run short 18 ga feeder wires soldered to the track to under the table, then 14 ga to the distribution block, 12 ga to the transformer.

You can buy inexpensive antennas with long cables that attach directly to the Legacy base.  Do a search here on the forum. 

Maybe have two power districts per level with one PH180 per district. 

I've thought about DCS but I don't have any MTH trains at the moment, and when I got to try it on a friend's layout I didn't like the layout of the remote as much. I might add it in the future, but for now I want to stick to just legacy.

Thanks for all the help! I'll get to looking

Sam,

I would suggest to go with three of the Powerhouses, sounds like with you industries you may have quite a few turnouts. I suggest one brick for lighting to avoid flickering when activating a switch motor, of course this assumes you will be using lighting.

Ray

@Sams Trains posted:

Hey everyone! I'm building what looks like a double figure 8 15x34 layout soon, with a yard and industries. (It's also a two level table so tracks don't actually cross each other) I'm stuck on the electrical portion and how I should go about it. I think I want to use 2-3 180 watt transformers and divide the layout electrically into sections. First off, is this even a good plan or would there be a better option? If it would work, what wire should I use and how should I set up the transformers? Can I run wires straight from the brick to the track or do I need the TPC? As a side question, what cable can I use to run from the Legacy base to the antenna without having to do any soldering? 

Thanks!

Some reactions / suggestions / advice:

• Suggest you redraw your plan to show the separate levels.  It's hard to understand what goes where.
• What type of track you are using?
• Suggest 4 power districts with a 10 or 12 AVG bus for each.
• Use splice (suitcase) connectors from the bus to track feeders (16 gauge).  Be sure to color code and / or identify buses and label feeders.
• Are you running TMCC or Legacy?
• Avoid DCS like the plague - it's not very reliable and is now also a technological orphan.
• Powering all the switch motors only requires 1 fixed tap transformer at 15 VAC or so.  They're not going to all be active simultaneously.

Hope this helps,

George