Thanks for the ideas. Most of the stuff I had mentioned use a dedicated voltage from various taps on the transformer and the common AC ground.
hey flintlock id recommend flea markets and resale shops usually you can find people who just want stuff gone i bought a box of O-27 like 12 peices clean no rust for 7$ at a flea market event. another man sold me 3 marx switches and a huge box full of o-27(roughly30+peices(didnt count rough estimate) for 20$ cause he sat on it over a year said he has more in storage and if he finds them their mine.
ive even gotten G guage before at flea market the emmet kelly jr circus train animals in cages flat car for cages and cages the steamer the tender the passenger car and included a bunch of LGB track i think somewhere around 45-65$ the steamer dont work but still not a bad deal plus i got a extra boxcar and reefer car for like 10 ea for the G scale.
another advantage finding vintage/no longer produced items. like a hotwheels mayflower truck or tootsie toys, or nylints. and sometimes in almost new or like new condition. and when it comes to stuff like transformers switches etc most sellers throw them and sell it as misalanious railroad electronice throw a 15$ price tag on it and call it a day. ive bought totes of model railroad items for 10$ ea one came with 12 premade buildings, random trucks couplers etc, a few hallmark store tenders that fit ho tracks, and other random various junk including dirt and some dirty green greasy foam blocks at the bottom
That and the insulated outside rail are by far the more reliable method for activating signals. 
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When people asked about trains at any of the 67 garage sales I had I said “no, but if you want a peek at MY collection that’s fine” 
I do remember one guy looking for Flyer Hudsons.
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Oh, absolutely! At the DC Big Flea in Chantilly VA a few years back I found a complete K-Line Hershey’s 100th Anniversary steam set for $85! AND six months later at the next one found an MTH 4-4-0 “Texas” for $80! I haven’t had any luck at resale or thrift shops but that doesn’t mean I don’t look if there’s one in the area and I have time to spare. You never know.
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I found a Marx Nickel Plate wedge tender once for 5 bucks. That was exciting for me 
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I picked up my KW at the Hartville flea market for 50 bucks. That one is well worth attending. I saw at least a half dozen people walking out with real railroad signals, lanterns and other goodies.
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theres one resale shop in my area and i been needing a G scale engine but man the problem is taking the chance because its a shay style engine for like maybe 200 bucks but the downfall it comes in box untested you dont know if it works or not and last time when i bought the circus train the steamer didnt work. and the other i got that did work was a battery powered one so yeah its iffy
I currently use a Williams by Bachmann 80 watt transformer for my loop of MTH Realtrax in my garage. Works good for me!
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congradulations on the tender
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I settled on three phased traditional ZW transformers. At the time they were powerful and more economical than modern transformers. Although I did not install TVS diodes as many do, and I should have, I settled on 7amp breakers installed into my control panel to best protect the modern electronics.
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That’s a big control panel @BigAl_956
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MRC 1370-My all-DC layout is a secondary line with a few smaller yard areas. I have no use for anything more.
MRC Pure Power Dual. 225 Watts, pure sinewave power output, modern circuitry, built-in quick blowing circuit breaker (which safe for running newer locos with sensitive circuitry), separate amp and voltage gauges for each throttle, works great with DCS (no experience running TMCC or Legacy) and about half the price of a Z4000. Unfortunately, these transformers are out of production but I’ve seen quite a few in the aftermarket at great prices.
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What equipment do you run with this?
With one transformer I’ve run up to 6 locomotives and also some powered accessories with no issues. These were PS1, 2 and 3 MTH locos which draw less amperage that post-war locos.
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Welcome back aboard cstuart! 
Wow!
Yeah, they are nice transformers. Wish they still produced them. When they first came out, maybe 20 years ago or so, they were selling for around 225. I picked another one up at a local train show a couple years ago for 200. You don’t see or hear too much about them in most of the forums but I’ve never seen any negative remarks about them either.
I have a couple of 1090s plus a large Marx transformer that came with a train set I bought.
None of my equipment is command control, so the transformers still work well on my temporary layouts.
Fred W