I have a 5mtr X 2.4mtr HO layout using NCE Power Cab and a Pro Cab with a SB3a booster on it , I run 7-8 trains at once and I want to expand my layout in my new home. The new place shall be a 6x6 mtr shed… I want to incorporate my existing 5 X 2.4mtr layout into, add a 3 shelf layout with a helix for the elevation which will run the whole way around the shed.
My question is will I need to add more boosters to each tier of the layout or will just 1 or 2 more on the top level and say the bottom level be enough for my needs?
Do I need a booster on each level. and what is the maximum size I can go to with just 1 or 2 boosters?
I do have 4 sound locos at the moment but I do plan on running more sound and non sound engines in due time.
Also does this sound like I am going crazy(a layout can never be TOO BIG can it ??) or am I missing something in this planning stage
Don’t know if this helps, but a “rule of thumb” is to consider one sound engine to be equal to two non-sound DCC engines as far as how much power they draw. So you if you are going to run 7-8 trains, all with one or more sound engines, you should adjust your power needs accordingly.
I think there are two important criteria for keeping good quality DCC power to a layout of a given size: amperage/power and transmission degradation over distance. You want all the amperage you’ll need, not just now but in the foreseeable future. As Stix says, count on about a full amp per sound locomotive hauling a 15 car train of reasonably freely rolling cars on level track. It may be quite a bit less, depending on the loco and how freely rolling those 15 cars really are, but one amp per is a decent estimate these days for the typical DCC with sound locomotive in HO. Sounds like you will need 7 amps, maybe more, but everywhere you run rails in the future plans. And that introduces the second criterion…degradation of both voltage and signal in DCC over transmission distance. A good quality bus system will help, but as you get further from your power supply, the voltage and signal both drop. Feeders just make it worse, especially at the ‘far end’.
Personally, I would add a booster every 40’ of distance from the power supply if I were using 14 or 12 gauge copper wire as my bus. Additionally, I would add a booster with the same capacity as the initial power supply after my 7th locomotive (in your case, assuming what you have running now is handled well by the power supply you are using). These are SWAGs, though, because I really have no idea what your locomotives’ needs are as you run them typically, and what the capacity of your current system is. If you do a load test, you may find that you can add another three or even four sound locomotives with trains and run them with your current sytem not overloading.
Total power requirements. Add up all the engines running simultaneously, including idling sound engines, and also the power requirements for any illuminated passenger cars. If you are using track power for turnouts from stationary decoders like the Switch-It, that’s about 30 milliamps each, too.
2.Track bus length. Beware of long runs. Put the command station in the middle of the bus, not at the ends, so you only have to worry about half the bus length. Use big fat wires for long bus runs.
More Power!!! I’m guessing that a lot of boosters are more to boost the owner’s ego than to meet requirements for the layout.
I have a Lenz System 100. It’s 5 amps. I have no boosters. My longest bus run is about 20 feet. I use 18-gauge wire for my bus, which borders on heresy because it’s so small. I typically run 2 or 3 trains, and my road diesels are run in 2-engine consists. Most engines have sound, and my passenger cars have (more heresy) mostly incandescent lights. I have no problems with power.
In your situation, because you will need a longer linear run of track bus to get all the way around that room, I would go with one booster. When you wire that upper deck, connect it to the lower deck in several places, to keep the bus runs short.
Another thing to think of is circuit breakers. Here, you want to consider isolating different physical regions of your layout, or splitting off yards from mains. Do this right away, as part of your layout planning and bus layout. When you have a layout properly wired with breakers, it is much easier to go back and add boosters later, if you need them, because the tracks and bus are already isolated, and all you need to do is change the source of the circuit breaker power.
My own experience is that at most a single booster is needed. Your present and future layouts lie in an area of power demand very similar to mine.
My max demand is about 6 operating locos and at least twice that many more making sound. I have my layout split in two using a NCE Power Pro 5 amp plus a 5 amp booser. Never needed any more power than that.They are located in about the middle of the layout, each feeding half of the bus.
Having a booster also means you have a backup, as you could run the whole shebang on 5 amps in a pinch by just jumpering the dead half bus to the other half bus… Of course, if the command station is down, you’re dead in the water…
I currently run two 5 amp boosters on my 11x15 two level HO layout. Each handles four power districts running thru breakers. While it may be overkill, I really don’t know (or care). There is plenty of power for whatever I run (4 unit sound diesels, etc.) and that makes me happy and gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
I actually got myself into one of those “borderline power cases.” When I bought my Lenz DCC system, I decided to run it off an old train transformer rather than spend the money for a proper power supply. So, even though the Lenz can put out 5 amps, the power supply limited it to maybe an amp and a half at best. I first noticed a problem when I added a few old passenger cars with power-hungry incandescent lights. All my trains started running slower.
I’ve managed to run three trains at once a few times on the current and previous layout. But what was really happening is two of them were running on continuous loops, and the third was doing switching duties. So while three trains were “running”, I could still only control one at a time…
I run 2 trains on a dbl track main (4 locos) a goods train in consist (6 locos) two trains on a separate 2 lines through a town in the middle of the layout (8 locos) and occasional switching in a yard .9 locos all up sometimes.
Occasionally a friend will pop over for a session but mostly its just me and my wife
There is a bit of point throwing to do as some lines cross over each other , this is a design oversight on my behalf but hey! its my first ever layout build with no-one experienced to help me so it is a bit hectic a times but all the while its a lot of FUN!!!
So when I expand my layout in the new home I cant see an end in sight to all the trains I want to buy and run so im not sure ultimately what power needs I will require , I guess at the most there will be 10 -14 trains running most of them with sound,
Does anyone think I will need another booster on? Im using NCE with a SB3A at the moment and it handles all these quite fine.
Also how do I wire my layout into districts if im not using any blocks or block detection on it, (another oversight perhaps)??
I use Digitrax 5 amp boosters (1 DCS100 and 2 DB150’s), one for each of my mains which are about 350 feet each plus sidings and a 3rd for my yard which is 42 feet long and 15 tracks wide. This way if there is a short from a derail or something else then the whole layout doesn’t shut down. I run 2-3 sound locos consisted together with 40 - 80 rolling stock and I haven’t had any problems in 6 years of running. Also all 75 tortoise machines and DS 64’s have their own power source as well as the other added accessories, Jim.
I haven’t taken any pictures lately,I haven’t been down stairs too much this summer, we have over 2 acres to mow and take care of. My wife is handicapped and we just had a 2nd ramp put in for her, we had to take a window out and put in a new door in and add on to the front porch. We also put the washer and dryer upstairs for her so that gave me the extra room for store age. I also belong to a model railroad club and do about 5 local train shows and the Christmas show for the club every year. My computer crashed and I lost all my other pictures. I bought a external hard drive to correct that problem so it don’t happen again. The layout takes up most of our basement ( 42 x 62) and its a free lance design that I drew up, We’ve used 22+ sheets of plywood and 6 sheets of Homasote for the yard and engine facility. I use mostly the blue foam for scenery and some with plaster cloth, joint compound and Sculptamold. I’ve used about 8 boxes of Atlas code 83 flex track and about 100 atlas # 6 turnouts, 75 with Tortoise machines operated with 10 DS 64’s and the others with hand throws. I have 2 Digitrax DCS 100’s 1 for the 1st main on layout and 1 in my work room for programing (my son once reprogramed about 20 loco’s at a time) and repairs and 2 DB 150’s, one for the 2nd main and the 3rd for my yard, each booster has its own fused power supply, it makes track and electrical problems easier to find. Also 2 SE8C’s for signaling and 2 BDL168’s for track detection and 8 Simplex Radio DT 400’s and a PR3 for computer control. Its mostly along the walls with (2 - 3) foot deep shelve’s and ( 28 - 30 inch radius) with 1 ( 6.5 x 14) 1 (6.5 x 25) foot islands with 2 double mains twice around with (2 - 40) foot passing sidings. My grades are about 2% so I can use two loco’s to pull 40 - 80 car trains. We can put about 7-8 op