CS
there are a few ways it can be done.
I ran a pair of wires to terminal strips at a location near some of the lights.
One strip I call hot and the other ground.
Now I can wire my lights and other devices with one wire going to the hot strip and the other going to the ground.
You can also run wires from these terminal strips to another pair at a new location and keep adding lights to them.
What I like about using several pair of terminal strips is the wires from the lights don’t need to be very long and it’s an easy to use.
CS,
I put an 8 inch pair down thru the platform for each light. Then I run one long pair from the accessory transformer, picking up all the 8 inch pairs. Its definitely low-tech, but I’ve found that this uses the least wire, and makes adding additional lights very easy.
Place your lights first then run the wires as needed, 16 gauge wire should do if using an accessory post from a modern transformer, cut and splice as needed and use wire nuts, rather low tech but less expensive. Go to Home Depot or Lowes for wire, Radio Shack is more expensive for wire.
If it is just lights you can use a small D.C. transformer with a regulated output, 2 to 3 amps should be enough unless you have more than a dozen lights.
Lee F.
On my layout I have about 20 streetlights and 15 building lights, so I wanted to devise a way to handle the wiring easily. I purchased a spool of 14 gauge solid bare copper wire (you don’t really need 14 gauge wire for the small amount of power used but it is used because it is stiff and won’t bend real easy. I ran 2 lengths of the wire underneath the layout about 6" apart and screwed to the layout at each end. The cross braces of the layout are 3 1/2" thick so I drilled small holes about 2" down from the plywood for the wire to pass through. This allows easy access to the wire and the braces prevent the bare wire of ever touching each other. The Power from the transformer is attached to each bare wire with 18 gauge wire and soldered. Each streetlight or building light then has about 15" of 24 gauge insulated stranded wire attached to them. After the position of the light is determined on the layout, a small hole is drilled through the plywood and the wires are inserted through. About 1" of insulation is stripped from the ends and the wires are just twisted around the bare copper wire that is within easy reach, hanging under the layout. Even though this is a poor electrical connection, each light uses so little power that this is not a problem. If some of the lights are too short with the 15" wire leads, I then use the smallest wire nuts to add a longer wire after the wires are inserted through the plywood. I use a fuse for the lighting circuit with the smallest size fuse for all the lights I am using, on my layout this is a 3 amp fast blow fuse.
Dave,
Your post is quite timely for me. I’ve just decided to add some street lights to our layout, and the way you did yours sounds easiest and neatest. Thanks for chipping in with some great input!
Jim
There was an interesting article in Model Railroader a few years back where a modeler used Nickel Silver N scale track as a voltage bus for lighting under the layout. The track comes in 3 foot sections, is relatively inexpensive, and since it is NiSi - does not oxidize badly - so it is easy to solder new wires later. The rail size is more than adequate to handle the current to feed the lights. This modeler also used short lengths in buildings for a lighting bus.
[#welcome] I use a CW80 transformer for my lights and accessories. The transformer leads are connected to ‘terminal strips’. The accessories are connected to the ‘terminal strips’.
If you can picture a tree…The transformer is the trunk…The ‘terminal strips’ are the branches…The accessories are the leaves… (No idea what I’m describing but after sipping my Harvey’s, it sure sounds OK [:-^])
PS: The other guys’ ideas are really great! All the best.
Here’s a picture for you, too - http://www.lionel.com/products/productnavigator/InstructionManuals/71-2742-250.pdf