Its a good transformer. These small power supplies are designed to supply a few amps of power. The other type of cars are the Scale cars, which are exact or near-exact replicas of actual freight cars. Some systems will use bluetooth technology enabling you to control the trains with your tablet or cell phone. All Lionel transformer comparisons should start here. Apparently there is a difference between old conventional and new conventional power. I run an MTH 4-6-2 PS-1 pulling five Madisons on about fifty feet of track and the transformer I am using (Z-4000) has a digital amp readout. I think the RW is a bit better value, but that could just be timing. The whistle requires more power than the outfits that don't have it. Lionel Ready-to-Play is a large sized train that's made to be affordable and easy-to-use for both kids and adults alike. I will make a note here. If the second digit is 9, it could be either, so be careful when considering one of them. Do not operate the CW-80 Transformer with a damaged cord, plug, or case. Our community is FREE to join. Controlled Magnetics has the manufacturing experience, knowledge, and facilities to repair a wide variety of electrical power transformers. Here are some simple definitions for these electrical terms: Most power supplies will be labeled as to the scales they are meant to handle. You should take care, however, to replace worn cords and wires. Again, an independent power supply and distribution bus is a good idea for your switches. Sell Your Trains Yourself At Train Shows. Ryan Kunkle is a nationally recognized professional model train expert and writer with over 25 years of experience. He directs production at Lionel, the premier model train manufacturer, and he istheformer president of theConrail HistoricalSociety. To amplify CTvalley's very valid instructions: A forum community dedicated to model train owners and enthusiasts. Stop it with your hand to full stall, and it goes up to four amps--sixty watts--trying to pull. The Lionel 1033 is a great choice for small or medium-sized layouts. This tool will allow you calculate the KVA that you need. $2799. Most feeders will be only a few inches long so the smaller diameter wire will not be a problem. Take the hint. I'm not sure I completely understand your question. Join Today! Professionals Need: Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime: Prime Video Direct If they do, follow their recommendations. Here are a couple examples: As you can see, with a bit of experimentation and imagination, numerous different track layouts can be created. Lots of good information for building any size O Gauge layout. [:)]. If you plan to add a second loop for another train in the near future, the 14198 would be a wise investment. Then power every other one with one of your smaller transformers. For Lionel power the 45 watts is good for a 4 by 8 as a rule of thumb to compensate poor track you just use more feeders. Theres nothing inherently wrong with them, though I would shy away from the smaller transformers that are less than 75 watts, including the modern CW-40. I use to use one KW for 70 feet of main line, sidings and switching yard entry track. For a transformer less or equal to 500 kilovolt-amperes, a typical %Z impedance may vary between 2.3% and 5.2% based on the voltage level. What do I need to do that with? It is 5" long. A bigger transformer is better and always looks nicer too! An Essential Guide for Toy Train Enthusiasts! It would be advantageous if OGR magazine would put an article together comparing the major manufacturers transformers output waveform compatibility/ incompatibilitywith the various manufacturer's locomotives - Atlas O, Weaver, 3rd Rail, MTH , Lionel etc and conventional , DCS , TMCC, Legacy command control. I went to mth Z1000, jason's train shop has the best price's I have seen for these. Lionel Model Railroad and Train Transformers Lionel Model Railroad and Train Transformers Best Selling Lionel 1908080 O Gauge CW80 Transformers - Black (4) $147.85 New $110.00 Used Lionel Legacy Powermaster Lnl637146 (13) $134.99 New $90.00 Used Lionel 634120 TMCC Direct Lock-On Transformer - Silver (21) $58.99 New $49.99 Used These bus wires are often more important than the size of the power supply itself in getting good results. To my knowledge, you should have no compatibility issues with a pure sine wave track feed with any major brand locomotive. The typ miniature incandecents we use average about 100 ma of current each. Ive talked more about the Lionel RW and the LW as well. The two types of cars will connect together just fine, but when side-by-side in a train, they may look a bit odd. All Lionel transformer comparisons should start here. Not really a how-to-build-a-layout book, but it is a good general introduction to the hobby full of interesting stuff. Sell Your Trains Yourself On eBay. Find 500+ popular train rides, museums, and railroad vacation destinations in the U.S and Canada! Keep the power supplies in an area where they get plenty of air circulation to prevent overheating. For safety reasons, the batteries were soon replaced by a 110 volt transformer. I've read that it is good practice to add feeders every 10 sections of track or sothat seems like a lot but I suppose that beats having "dead" spots in the track. Ok our layout is 10 x 20 = 200 sq ft x 2 = 400 watts. Please see our article on Fastrack here for more information. As you progress with your layout there are a lot of people here who will help you with any questions you have. These transformers are much cheaper than they were even just a few years ago, but that just makes them a bigger bargain today. :-). I thought you wanted information related to your layout not operations at a trains show. If youre comfortable doing some work yourself, you can buy a fixer-upper, and my informational links will tell you more about fixing one yourself. Sign up for new product releases, promotions, and more. Multi-conductor wires with many strands of finer wire are more common for telecommunications and electronics. With multiple switches, lights, power supplies and more all concentrated in a small space, color coding and neatness pay off. So, if you want to connect eight landscape lights to an electronic transformer, and the lights use 20 watts each, you would need a 160 watt transformer. There are many advantages in repairing or reconditioning your transformers. Thanks! A rule of thumb from the elders, (I had to go to the mountain top for this one), Add 2 more watts for Spankybird's fun-filled layout! It does run on conventional power but not great and no whistle or bell. If you have to ask,your needs are a lot more modest than that. 24v, 120v, 208v, 240v, 480v, and 600v). At fifteen volts which is about as much as I can put to it without jumping the track, it pulls an average of 2.5 amps, or 37.5 watts--less than one tenth of the transformer capacity of 400. Should it be a Lionel or should it be an MTH with command control? Many load and unload freight from specially designed cars as well. In some cases. I have purchased diodes to put into the older transformers to see if this resolves the issue with newer tenders. Thanks in advance for any information, Mike. In the middle range, Lionel made a lot of other transformers. Keeping in mind that I will likely continue to add to the layout as my addiction develops! Its expensive, but the same factors that drove KW prices down are also driving ZW prices down. God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of theNRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified. It is not uncommon to see 50-year-old transformers still going strong on a model railroad. Our community is FREE to join. Sell Your Trains Using a Live Auction House. Adding lights to buildings, streets, and other scenic accessories usually do not require anywhere near the amperage demand of the trains themselves. TRANSFORMERS ransformers were issued by Lionel thoughout the Post War period. DCC is less common in starter sets, but some are available. The 110-wattLionel RW is a cheap option, and the 125-watt LW, while a bit more expensive, gives a bit more power. Plug one of your transformers into each Fixed in. They're controlled with a simple handheld remote control and run on easy-to-connect plastic track. If you plan to just run MTH go with their DCS system if you plan to have a number of different engines or the MTH DCS Remote Commander which is limited to running only one engine at a time. So far, I haven't seen any way to do this except to take amp measurements or just wing it and see how hot your transformer gets. All Lionel transformer comparisons should include the common 1033, RW, LW, KW and ZW transformers. I have one R transformer from which I run everything - but only 1 train at a time and a few accessories for a layout in a space about 24 by 10 ft. Good choices are the Lionel 32923 Accessory Transformer, or another 80-watt transformer like the one included in your set, #14198. Never had a problem. Used a 1033 for accessories and lights. (using 4 of the 180 watt Lionel bricks) That's 10 amps per channel on all 4 channels. And again regardless of scale or manufacturer, switch machines of these two types will have similar needs and performance. This type of transformer is cheap, its reliable, and its easy to find. Transformers are sized by determining the total load required (in amps). Members enjoy 15% off any purchase in our store. They are reasonably durable and were popular in their day, which means there are still a lot of them floating around so they tend to be inexpensive. For a 300W set up this will cost you about 100. Classic cars have a 5 or 6 as their second digit [25051, 16686, etc]. This will spread the load of your lighted passenger consist across the two transformers. The thing that eats current is a lot of light bulbs on the layout. They run on O Gauge track, but they are not exact O Scale cars. For a classic setup of a single freight train running on a 48 (or smaller) sheet of plywood, a 90-watt Lionel 1033 or 1044 is an excellent choice. I know my train club had an issue with conventional locomotives not running properly on a layout with DCS and TMCC and apparently solved it by replacing a Lionel transformer with an MRC transformer that puts out a pure sine wave. Come join the discussion about brands, various scales, repairs, storage, displays, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more! $7.89 delivery Feb 2 - 6. If you have a starter set and have had thoughts like this, youre not alone. For a classic setup of a single freight train running on a 48 sheet of plywood, a 90 watt Lionel 1033 or 1042 is an excellent choice. White and black are common selections. The first Lionel electric trains were powered by wet-cell batteries, which were, of course, dangerous. Now, I am going to make a suggesstion that you use a larger diameter curve for your corners. My current layout uses about 28 sections of track (Lionel o-27). And even when Lionel trains run on AC, they sometimes do some DC trickery. Mike to the forum. A while back, approximately 2 weeks ago while running two very lengthy loops of fast track an old transformer nearly fried (50 years old) one of my wires that I was running to my Fastrac. Does Lionel still make standard gauge trains? You don't really need a diagram -- you want to pick your interval (some would recommend as often as 3'), drill a hole down through your base, and connect a wire to a bus which runs beneath the layout and connects to your transformer (obviously, you need two wires, one for each powered rail). Now, I diconnected that old dinosaur and connected two separate smaller ones which weren't powerful enough to run my Amtrack MTH trains. The same is true for other electronic projects around your layout and inside buildings, train cars, and even locomotives. These systems still require a power supply but it only needs to supply a constant voltage to the rails. Just get a Lionel #12053 Accessory wire set and enough extra wire to connect from the wire set back to your transformer [speaker wire works well]. This conserves the trains' power supply for their needs and makes troubleshooting much easier. Needless to say the "Spring into Spring" train show very nearly became unsprung! To participate you must either login or register for an account. A new ZW will run you in the neighborhood of $450.00 or a little less depending on your dealership. Why Sign In? And of course, individual Fastrack sections are also available. (NEW/LIKE NEW), running TMCC And DCS engines with DCS handheld, terrible crash in Greece, multiple fatalities, Its.Public Delivery Track ..NEWSpecial run corner, Improving Appearance of 0-gauge Tubular Track. In three-rail systems, the outer rails are both grounded, and the center rail is "hot.". Smaller feeder wires are used to bridge the small gap from the bus to the track. JavaScript is disabled. By creating alternate routes, more complex loops, and storage tracks, your trains will suddenly be even more interesting to watch and they will begin providing you the feeling that they are going somewhere and that you are running a small railroad. Lionel makes two expansion sets for this purpose. I have had the same problem. Which Lionel transformer do I need? you ask? Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers' Henry V. I am a person with a very active inner child. If you have time, check out the "Coffee Pot". Never Enough Room, Time or Money for all the Trains! I am assuming that your starter set came with either o27, brown ties, or 031, black ties, track and it runs well as is. Price Received. Turn on the throttle, then short the A and U posts (in the case of Lionel) or variable and base posts (in the case of Flyer) with a screwdriver or a piece of wire for a maximum of five seconds. Lionel made these for years and kept them in production under a different model number well into the 1970s because it was a reliable, dependable design and had enough power for a typical starter set while leaving some room to grow. A solid and stranded wire of the same gauge will be the same total diameter. Faq No: 1029 The CW-80 is a nice little transformer, has accessory output as well,but as you have stated you will outgrow the CW-80 pretty quick. They do not include a track or power supply, so you will need to buy both separately. Actually it was a train show with varied trains of all different eras being run I have mostly MTH trains though and they wouldn't run because the transformer that was running wasn't powerful enough to cycle through my MTH trainsounds. Early issues used a Bakelite case while later releases had a case made out of plastic. Get DIY project ideas and easy-to-follow crafts to help you spruce up your space. All power supplies will be rated for volts, amps, and watts. The Lionel 1033 is a great choice for small or medium-sized layouts. If mixing both non-command as well as command engines, both by the way will run without any thing other than the appropriate transformer, it really depends on the budget. It does not work with O27. Ryan developsmodeltrainlayouts for public andprivate display. Sell Your Trains To A Train Dealer or a Single Buyer. its the amount of engines you need to worry about, I'm currently running my entire layout on a single DC power supply that came with an Athearn engine/track set. If you're experiencing problems with your wiring due to humidity, for example, you are going to face even greater issues with the trains and tracks themselves. The fraction of your transformer's power lost in the track will therefore be well under 10 percent, since it is proportional to the voltage drop. From 25 Watts to 275 Watts, a Lionel transformer could be found for every power requirment from simple circles of track to extensive railroads. Atlas and Bachmann have the same transformers with 80 watt outputs as well that get good reviews and would be appropriate for a smaller layout. The Lionel 1033 is a great choice for small or medium-sized layouts. This diagram shows all of the controls and the pinout for the Lionel RW transformer. The 190-wattLionel KWwas the second biggest and second best transformer of the postwar era. I really doubt you will need more than that. As the train goes by, the door to the shed opens and a figure pops out, and once the train has passed the figure re-enters the building and the door shuts. Stop it with your hand to full stall, and it goes up to four amps--sixty watts--trying to pull. (8 lights X 20 watts = 160 watts). Lionel trains value varies depending on design, materials, and era. Use this index to see additional details about the individual transformers issued by Lionel during the post-war period. Just like with your track bus and feeders, running an accessory bus of slightly heavier wire to connect to each light or accessory with a smaller feeder is a good plan.
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