Hi,
I am very new to this hobby. I bought McKinley Explorer and planning to buy The Keystone & Overland Limited sets. I think Bachmann sets are less expensive compared to other products in the market. I am not sure about the quality.
My question is how will I be using the UL listed power pack for all the three sets. Do I need to use one power pack for all sets or use individual ones for each track. I am planning to join all the three track sets and make a big layout. Again I am not sure, if I can do this.
I will appreciate any help.
Thanks
Ken
you have quite a bit of reading and learning to do before you go any further !
1st , train sets are generally considered (by us serious [:)] model railroaders) to not be worth the money spent on them , however i don’t know the specifics of the sets you mentioned or their quality . if money is tight a train set may be your only option
2nd , if your layout will have 3 separate loops of track for the enginges to run on you will need to have one power pack for each loop . if you intend to join the tracks you have to build a system of switches and divide the track into electrical blocks to control which pack controls which block . if you don’t then when you turn up the power on 1 pack all 3 locos will start moving .
i hope this helps . welcome to the forums , and please post follow up questions !
If you run DCC, you can run all the locos at the same time at different speeds and directions, with no isolation blocks, all on the same track. That is provided your locos are all DCC equipped. If they are not, they can be converted. Do like I did. Go read something. LOL
You’ve jumped into a nest of vipers, Ken, but we’re good vipers.
Seriously, the others aren’t being rude or short with you. The hobby is quite a bit more complicated than your notions and train set instructions may have led you to believe. As the others have suggested, you really need to take a two or three-week time out and begin to read up on the hobby.
First, your post suggests that your sets use the older Direct Current (DC) rectifiers. If so, then running more than one of them on one piece of track will be a major frustration unless you are a patient and skilled electrical nut. The new way of controlling trains is with digital command and control (DCC), but only if the engines are ready with decoders built-in to control the motors.
That, alone, should give you pause. Please just accept that you will have to do some homework, and feel free to spend time here. We talk about all things toy train related, so as you learn, and generate more questions, you’ll get the answers here.
Welcome!
If you live in a community where there is a local club try visiting it to get a look see. You also didn’t mention what scale you are contemplating. You probably are looking at “N” scale or “HO” scale. I would look around and try to visit a club featuring each of the popular scales. Like the others said a trainset may not be the best way to start as the quality is generally lower. Look at some books or magazines before making the plunge and then have fun.
Bob DeWoody
Thanks for all the replies !!
I have been doing some reading on internet, but I think its not sufficent and need to read a lot more.
I have Bachmann HO train set (McKinley Explorer) and using EZ track.
From my child hood I am fond of trains and want to setup some good layout and I started at the age of 33
But I feel this hobby needs lots of research and dedication. Doing research for a car or camera is very easy.
I am sure I will learn by reading and from the wonderful support from this forum.
Thanks a lot for all the support !!.
Ken.
Researching a car or camera is EASY??? LOL I’ve done both, and you need a little background knowledge to do it successfully.
This forum won’t give you the background knowledge you need. It will answer your questions, so don’t be afraid to ask, even if you think the question is dumb. The only dumb question is on that isn’t asked!
In addition to reading the monthly magazines on model railroading, you may also want to pick up some specialty magazines such as track plans and electrical wiring. There are many of them out there. I like anything by John Armstrong (may be a little hard to understand at first) and Kalmbach’s wiring books are very complete and written for easy understanding. The track planning books will help you decide how best to use the equipment you have.
As for buying train sets, yes, unfortunately, most of the comments on the forum are correct. Train sets don’t offer high quality. They offer price. Don’t be discouraged, though, as a train set isn’t a bad place to start. You can learn and make bunches of mistakes and it hasn’t cost you an arm and a leg. Eventually, you’ll know what you really want and need and will be knowledgable enough to make an informed choice. It’s like buying a camera on price alone. You don’t really know what you’re getting, you only know it’s cheap (or inexpensive). After you use it for a while, you learn that it doesn’t offer all the things you’d like to have in a camera. That doesn’t mean it was a bad camera, only one that didn’t meet your ultimate needs. You learn and move on.
Was my 1.3 megapixel camera a bad choice? No. I bought it for the convenience of digital, for taking quick reference pictures, and for learning. I’ve learned that I want a better camera with more resolution, more features, more controls and the ability to get REALLY close-up shots. I knew enough about digital when I bought it, but not enough about HOW I was going to use it. Now I know better and when I’m ready, I’ll look at the S
kenneth19usa
Quote"My question is how will I be using the UL listed power pack for all the three sets. Do I need to use one power pack for all sets or use individual ones for each track?"
To answer your question: One power pak is all that is needed to run trains sequentially on a single track.
If you want to have two loops of track and run 2 train’s simultaneously you will need 2 power packs to do it right. I can’t envision anyone needing to run 3 train’s at the same time.
-
If you want to build a permanent layout, with block’s and 2 people running at the same time, you need an ATLAS track plan AND 2 power pack’s.
-
If you truly need 3 people running train’s at the same time, you will need DCC.