Tony_V posted:First, What John said. Simple, the more power feeds you have the less voltage drop you will see around your layout. I use 14 gauge wire from my transformer to my power distribution blocks. From the distribution blocks to the track I use 16 gauge wire with connections about every 5 feet or so. I also don't rely on a switch or cross over to feed power to an adjoining section.
I have a PW ZW that I use for my primary power, which is limited to around 18v. And my oldest PW engine runs a fairly consistent speed around the entire layout. I also have an early TMCC engine with 3 poll motors that runs perfectly with this setup.
Thanks. I do have large wire (12 ga buss fed in center by 14 ga "star" feed for each block), and the voltage drop is with no load other than the COD train, drawing about 2-3 amps because lighting is LEDs. Surprises me too. Since I've invested in MTH and Lionel power supplies for most of my districts, would prefer not to have to sell them off and go to some industrial transformer to lick this! The voltage drop issue is internal to the Z4000, since the measurement is at the output terminals. See my query to JGL just above. I can't readily explain the drop, but it's not related to my wiring or to any extreme draw by this train. The problem is unique to these motors and their preferred higher voltage range. I will have 3 motors to spread load when done, so each will not be asked to pull more than a reasonable number of cars in the train. Amps then will still be <4a.
