# NCE power cab vs track size?



## Artieiii (Apr 25, 2011)

I am planning on buying an NCE Power cab. My plan is to make an HO scale shelf layout around a 12'x12' room. I want to make 2 tracks (inner and outer loop with some turnouts and crossovers). Since I am new to DCC I am not sure if the power cab will provide sufficient power for a layout of this size or if I will need to send power to several sections of track. Since this will be new construction I want to know in advance so that I can make arrangements to hide the wires from below TIA.
-Art


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I don't know about the NCE Power Cab, but I'd arrange for some bus wires to run with the tracks, as well as independent wires for the switches.


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## Artieiii (Apr 25, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I don't know about the NCE Power Cab, but I'd arrange for some bus wires to run with the tracks, as well as independent wires for the switches.


I was planning on using conventional DC power for the switches and make a control panel to keep track of what switch controls what turnout. Not too sure yet. If I go digital for the switches then I guess I can use the cab controller for everything......hmmm gotta rethink that.

When you say bus wires do you mean extra wires in parallel from the power source to various parts of the track?
-Art


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Yep, if you're doing DCC, you'll probably be running the tracks all from one source. The classic way is to run a bus of say #12 or #14 wire along with the tracks and have drops every 8-10 feet to minimize voltage drops through the track joiners.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

if you wire everything right to minimize power losses (bus wire and drops suggestion). the amount of rail, whether on 12x12 or 120x12 maters exactly zero. track does not consume power. 

bigger layout of course allows for more locomotives running together. power cab will pull three sound + one non sound engines, tested. perhaps one more. if you fin't this is not enough you can ad a SB3a booster for not to much money. controlling them all with one cab will be much more serious issue then sheer power


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## Artieiii (Apr 25, 2011)

tankist said:


> if you wire everything right to minimize power losses (bus wire and drops suggestion). the amount of rail, whether on 12x12 or 120x12 maters exactly zero. track does not consume power.
> 
> bigger layout of course allows for more locomotives running together. power cab will pull three sound + one non sound engines, tested. perhaps one more. if you fin't this is not enough you can ad a SB3a booster for not to much money. controlling them all with one cab will be much more serious issue then sheer power


Perfect Anton,
That's exactly what I was hoping for. I will probably only run 2 maybe 3 at a time. I figure if I get the power cab I will be able to add to it as needed (possibly more power in the future or a second throttle or maybe a PC interface).
-Art


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Here's a pic of my bus/drop wiring for a visual example. The bus runs parallel under the tracks and the drops are run about every 3' (I used flextrack) I run drops to every piece of track (I don't rely on rail joiners to transmit power and don't solder the joiners to the track to allow the track to flex a little from humidity variation in my basement) It's a bit overkill, but I don't have power issues.

I also wired my layout to run either DC or DCC and have 9 power blocks on a 11'x13' layout (4 Mainline blocks, 1 return loop, 1 wye, and 3 industrial sidings) With DCC, you don't have to break the layout into blocks, but it can help you diagnose shorts/etc if it is broken up (a short would only affect that particular block narrowing down where the problem may be.)


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, as you say, overkill. No doubt it works fine, but I suspect drops every 8-10 feet will be more than adequate.


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## SRV1 (Nov 14, 2010)

Yeah, you have to run a bus wire around with feeders as they've shown you. The only limitation the Power cab will have by itself will be the number of trains you can run with it, which is 2. Which you'll be able to run at the same time if you want. If you want to run 3 or more, you'll need to expand the system and add a booster. DCC engines with multiple lights and sound use more power than a regular DC. You'll have to read the directions closely when you get it. 

I just bought one from a forum member here but I have not hooked it up to anything yet. I've got a switcher I'm hoping to try it out with once I get the decoder and a speaker and get them installed.


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