@shorling posted:Wire is one of those commodities on my 10 x 20 layout that is in constant demand. I started years ago using 14 gauge for primarily track power feeds. I did star wiring in the 1980's. I use 18 gauge for most everything else. I've used three 500 foot reels of 14 gauge and I'm on my fourth 1000 foot reel of 18 gauge. There's a lot of wire under there but DCS and Legacy both work fine, modifications are easy and there's no overloads.
How in the world did you use that much wire in that space? I can only imagine you have a drop ever foot if you need that much wire! I currently have around 50-60 18ga drops installed, and I figure when I'm done I'll be close to 100 drops. That's about 150 feet times three of the 18ga. I have two 500 foot rolls of 14ga, and I can't see any reason that isn't going to be enough for my 23 x 12 layout with an added 12' x 3' 8 track yard extension, and I'm likely to have some left over! The layout plan is for around 400 feet of track total, so I'm looking at averaging a drop every four feet, it's hard to imagine you need more than 500 foot of bus wire for that! I'm also wiring a star configuration with each power block coming to a common connection block centrally located on the layout.
