# track power



## Stratham Controller (Oct 22, 2012)

members of g scalers,
i am seeking advice for powering of outdoor layout. i am toying with a couple of options, 1) solar power 2) hd car / truck battery power 3) home power (240v).
I am going to power it with 10 amps DC max.
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
gazza.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, personally I would opt for a power supply running from the utility lines. Fooling around with batteries doesn't seem productive. As far as solar power, I'm guessing that by the time you buy the solar cells, the controller, and the necessary battery, you'll spend a ton of money! Unless you plan on this layout running 24/7, the payback will be measured in centuries.


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## Stratham Controller (Oct 22, 2012)

well thanks for the advice, friend,
i guess you couldn't spare me some advice in powering at least 7 separate lines, some 3 lines will be end to end & the other 4 lines will run following the double dog leg layout. the controllers will the standard lgb or other types that let each alone line is running one train at a time..
I would like to be able to control all trains from one place, dcc seems to hard to understand.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, from your description, your layout screams for DCC! Controlling all of these and keeping track would be a ton easier.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2012)

DCC may seem hard to understand, however, you just need to commit to getting into it and doing it.
Running DCC is fairly straight forward, it is the engine mods that is what most do not want to do as they are not soldering or electronics friendly.

LGB does sell many engines with digital installed (MTS) and these will run on other DCC systems. Plus many shops will convert engines to digital and with custom features.


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## dkirksey (Apr 16, 2010)

I run bridgewerks power and use solar power for all of my trackside street lights,buildings, bridges. I dont know if they make a transformer to run off 240


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2012)

LGB made power packs for both 120 and 240.

Many power units now have both, some are smart and others have a switch for this.


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