Reply to "Wiring question for a newby electronics guy"

@Hp289 posted:

Bruce, you feel it's "up to snuff?"  It appears its good wire but I really want to be sure.  It also doesn't say it THHN so how is the casing/insulation feel?    Do you think it's true 14 ga?

Here are a visual comparison of the 25 year-old 14 gauge wire I originally used (black) and the recent "Amazon" wire I just added (white)

I then separated out the strands to verify that there were 19 each (yes!) and each strand measured 0.36 mm on my digital caliper for both types of wire.

Here is the label on the Amazon wire:

Here is the label on the original wire I used:

My "old" wire could probably hold up better outdoors or in automotive use because of the type of insulation used but that is obviously not an issue for train use. The only other comparisons would be ohms/foot and metallurgic tests for copper pureness.

But in general answer to your question, it appears that the Amazon wire is up-to-snuff for 20 VAC, 10 Amp-ish train use.