I am planning two long main lines with a mix of locomotives. The first line is an Aristo-Craft railbus followed by an FB1 and a USA Trains NW2 Calf pulling about 20 Bachmann passenger cars. The second line is four Bachmann 4-6-0 locomotives with coupler mods pulling about 30 Bachmann and Aristo freight cars. Each line will have around 250’ of track. I need some recomendations on a transformer with enough power to handle all of this. I would really like one unit with dual controls but seperate controls would be ok if it works better that way. Any advice will be appreciated.
How 'bout a pair of Aristo’s trackside TEs?
When outdoors, Radio control is a must.
The Aristo trackside 27mhz (10 amps of power when the cooling fan is added) unit is what I use and I added the Elite power supply as this supply gives 22.5 volts output at no load and at full load.
If you have some switches, there are receivers(55475) that can be added to radio control those also.
There are other vendors out there with similiar controls, I selected this method and most of my club members use the same setup.
I can’t tell you which one is “best” but I purchased a BridgeWerks transformer a couple of years ago and never looked back as I have been very happy with it.
Plenty of power, and the amp meter is very easy to read. I also purchased a remote for it and it’s great for just sitting back and watching the trains run.
Don’t know if you have purchased yet…
Whatever your decision make sure you know the VA rating of the power supply. The VA rating will tell you how much power is available at a given voltage.
Whiterab mentions the Bridgewerks units - they do manufacture the most powreful power supplies available and have units with 1, 2 and 4 controls.
Another thing to watch for is the wire you connect to the track. Make sure to use heavy gauge (10-12) wire. This will minimize power loss in the wire. It is also good to run to several locations on the track (equally seperated is possible) to keep the best power distribution which will make your trains run more smoothly over the course of the track. Oh, and keep the track clean.
My line has been using the Bridgewerks 15 amp going on 3 years . The railroad is about 275’ long . Also got their remote unit and have been very satisfied with both units . Heavy duty construction and it has been very dependable . I use only one conection for power and rail clamps at every joint . Haven’t had any dead spots anywhere . Usually run multiple units on my trains , sometimes with 6 lighted USA cars and the smoke units going and still have power to spare.
Thanks for all the helpful advice. I think I am leaning towards the Bridgewerks 200R right now with the option to add RC in the future. I got a good deal on a Bridgewerks MAG15 but don’t know what I’m going to use it for, Any suggestions???