# Wire gauge for powering ho scale?



## adamsdp (Jan 19, 2021)

I am in the process of building a dc layout as shown in picture below. What gauge wire is recommended for powering the track? I am planning to have a total of 9 track blocks run through Atlas selector switches. I have some of the following on hand to connect power to the tracks https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006KQFSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is my first layout so any advice is appreciated!


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Generally recommended wire gauge for 60~ AC, with 5A maximum current on the bus is 14-AWG.
For a 10A booster, go to the next larger gauge (smaller number) i.e.,12.


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## Stejones82 (Dec 22, 2020)

Congrats on your first layout. Looks like a nice one!! I am also working on my first layout, but I am using DCC. I'll let the experienced DC-ers chime in with their recommendations, but in my VERY humble opinion, I'd say you could get by with 16 AWG. 

As a tip, I have been using the WAGO wire connectors and absolutely loving them! https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06XH47DC2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

Good luck with the layout!


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## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

Small layout, 16 or 14 for main wires to end of layout. I would not uses them rail joiner connectors, rather solder wire (16 or 18) directly to rail .


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i used 10 on the busses, and 20 on the feeders ... all joints were soldered .. wires and track but not the turnouts ... heavier than needed but i had it handly , layout was 15 x 16 feet


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Your small requirement would be completely safely served with 16 gauge wire bus and several 20-22 gauge feeder wires. You might want some circuit or shorts protection at some point if some of your metal tires short near frogs, as examples, and get a fair whack of amperage through them. If you want safe and effective, and not a lot of money, use the 1159 tail light bulbs wired in series in the feeders. They will throughput all the voltage, but will only begin to resist to the point of glowing when amperage runs high, such as when you get a hard short somewhere.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

adamsdp said:


> I am in the process of building a dc layout as shown in picture below. What gauge wire is recommended for powering the track? I am planning to have a total of 9 track blocks run through Atlas selector switches. I have some of the following on hand to connect power to the tracks https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006KQFSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is my first layout so any advice is appreciated!
> 
> View attachment 570073


adamsdp;

Welcome to the hobby!

On your original wire size question, you may not need bus wires at all on your small switching layout. Many such layout use only one, or two, sets of feeder wires run back to the power pack or DCC controller. Why are you using those feed wire rail joiners? They are only necessary if you don't know how to solder, but soldering is an essential skill for model railroaders, and 18-28ga.wires soldered to the outside of the rails, is the common system. It also is the most reliable system. Rail joiners are great mechanical connectors for rails, but don't stay solid electrical connectors indefinitely. They will eventually get enough corrosion to make them not conduct electricity well, often creating dead spots in the track. Some get around this by soldering rail joiners, but if you can solder then you wouldn't need those wired rail joiners in the first place. If you tried to solder those joiners to the rails, there is a high probability that you will unsolder the feed wire from the joiner.

Nine blocks in that small switching layout is a lot, and each block will be short enough that it won't hold a train of more than a few cars. Neither of those things is a deal breaker, but I think you're going to be operating those Atlas selectors a lot. All the Atlas electrical components are designed to be easy to install, but they are less easy to use than simple toggle switches and pushbuttons on a control panel. With the switches for block power, and turnout control, set into a track diagram, operating is intuitive. You can easily see which toggle switch controls which track block, and which pair of pushbuttons controls which turnout. Even when carefully labeled, the typical gaggle of Atlas controls mounted off to the side, requires some thinking about just which button to push. Not insurmountable, but not the easiest system to use either. 
The Atlas electrical components, like the selector, use an old wiring scheme called "common rail." This is a perfectly valid control system, but it is quite rarely used today, with the notable exception of Atlas. Again, not a deal breaker, and there is an advantage to the "common rail' system; it uses half the number of wires that are used in conventional DC "dual cab control."

Your little layout looks like a natural for the other control system, DCC. That uses even fewer wires, only two from the DCC controller to the track, on small layouts like yours. It eliminates the need for any insulated blocks of track or Atlas selectors. You probably won't be using more than a couple of locomotives on that small layout, which means less money would be needed to have your locomotive "fleet" equipped with DCC and sound. The sound adds a lot of operating interest to a small switching layout.

The files below are some I wrote for new model railroaders. Look through them if you wish.

Good Luck & Have Fun;

Traction Fan 🙂


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

You could power that with a single pair of AWG22 feeders. That's all my son's L shaped 8x8 has, and he has no issues and no soldered joints.

Using a slightly heavier gauge of wire (AWG18), and soldering joiners is good insurance, but not strictly necessary.


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## adamsdp (Jan 19, 2021)

mesenteria said:


> Your small requirement would be completely safely served with 16 gauge wire bus and several 20-22 gauge feeder wires. You might want some circuit or shorts protection at some point if some of your metal tires short near frogs, as examples, and get a fair whack of amperage through them. If you want safe and effective, and not a lot of money, use the 1159 tail light bulbs wired in series in the feeders. They will throughput all the voltage, but will only begin to resist to the point of glowing when amperage runs high, such as when you get a hard short somewhere.


Thank for the help and can I use one of the 1159 tail light bulbs in series with the wire coming from the power pack so that the one bulb will protect against shorts anywhere down stream?


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## adamsdp (Jan 19, 2021)

Thanks for all the replies and a lot of great information. Seems like a range of wire gauges will work. Not sure what a bus wire is versus a feeder? In my wiring plan, I have 1 wire running from the power pack to the Atlas selector and then 1 wire running from the selector to each block for a total of 9 wires from selector to track. Is the 1 wire from power pack to selector the bus and the rest feeders?


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## adamsdp (Jan 19, 2021)

traction fan said:


> adamsdp;
> 
> Welcome to the hobby!
> 
> ...


Thanks for the detailed information. I was planning to use the Atlas selectors because I already have them. I also will mainly be operating one locomotive and could get away with only 3 blocks to get the Peco electrofrogs to work with each other. The reason for going to 9 blocks is to allow an second engine to be parked on a siding will operating the other. I have seen the toggle switch control panels with the a block diagram of the layout and figure if the selectors are to cumbersome, can transition to that type. I will keep in mind the option of going to DCC. I grew up with a friend who had a dc ho layout in the 70's so some nostalgia factor in using the old Atlas style controllers. Thanks for the files and will go through them.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

adamsdp said:


> Thank for the help and can I use one of the 1159 tail light bulbs in series with the wire coming from the power pack so that the one bulb will protect against shorts anywhere down stream?


The point of a tail light bulb is to keep the rest of the operation fluid while only removing the hazard of damage and fire (shorts generate a ton of heat in small volumes, like our small rails and bits of plastic) from the area controlled by the tail light bulb. So, yes, you can do as you suggest and make one bulb control the entire layout for safety, but if you can stand the expense and the work, a bulb can control one or two 'blocks' or 'districts (in DCC)', and they'll only cut back the draw to the area in which they are wired in series. So, if you have two locomotives working, which is easy in DCC, and one area gets a short, only that locomotive will be stilled to to the draw sucked up by the tail light bulb. The other should keep working, albeit maybe at reduced speed. If the layout is to be DC strictly, then a single bulb in series toward the distribution panel from which all the feeders emanate would suffice. However, your power pack should include a circuit breaker, probably signified by a small red button somewhere.


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