I am new to railroading after a break for say 20+ years. I have a collection of US trains from the 70s; mostly Atlas and IHC etc. I live in Germany now and just received a German (Fleischmann) train set with a 14v 220 voltage power pack.
Can I run the US trains on the same power pack? I dont think I can but the more I try to find info on this the more confused I get.
You can run your american trains with any 0-14 v dc power pack (110 or 220 volt). You cannot use a Marklin AC pack. The Fleishman pack is OK.
As long as the power pack is converting household current from 220 Volts 50 Hz to 0-14 Volts DC, it can be used for both U.S. and German models. You cannot run any German AC-powered locomotives with it, though.
We are in the process of constructing an N-scale layout as part of our club, and many of the locomotives are German but they run the same as any U.S. model because their motors are DC.
I have such a power pack which I used in Germany to run US trains. It also works here on 110, but the range is 0-7v DC - does keep the kids from racing the trains though.
Enjoy
Paul
Just a clarification: I think the problem with running a German AC engine on DC is really that German AC (Like Marklin) is made to use three-rail or center stud power system. Otherwise if it’s two-rail, an AC locomotive will run on DC with no problem. When I was in Lionel O I used to run my engines on DC, eventually I put in bridge rectifiers so they would reverse based on polarity but even before that they worked fine on DC.