rewiring pre-war accessories and bulb selection

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Hi,

I have several Pre-war lionel structures that I need to rewire and I am curios about the correct wire guage and bulb voltage to use. I have found 18v bulbs in my street lamps and in my 127 station, so I figure those are fine. I need to add lights into the 184 bungalows, can I use 18v on those also?I have read on the forums that some recommend cutting down on the bulb voltage to use. Will 20 or 22 guage wire be fine or is that too small?

Thank you,

Kevin Coyle

2

What matters is the current that your lamps draw, not the voltage, as far as the wire size is concerned. However, few miniature lamps draw more than a few hundred milliamperes. Number 20 AWG is safe for about 5 amperes, 22 AWG for 3.5, 24 AWG for 2.5.