how much track(length) will the speed controller supplied with train sets cover?
Add additional power feed wires to the track and you can make a very large layout with a smaller power pack. The reason is that voltage or power drops because of resistance in the track and at track connections, so adding extra power wires helps to overcome that problem.
Lee F.
TreMac
Adding feeders usually require's running a buss wire around your layout. I have included a link to help you. Try doing a search in this forum for buss and feeder's and you will get more result's than you can ask for.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,17357.0.html
Hope this help's Jerry
power packs control trains not track. as long as you have enough feeders to the track, one opower pack should be enough to power a train. where you run into trouble with inexpensive dc power packs is when you try to run 3 or 4 locomotives on the same train, such as an a-b-b-a set of ft's. you will probably overload a cheap pack, but more expensive ones will handle the load.
if you are running newer locomotives, figure 1/4 amp per locomotive, older locomotives draw significantly more. your power pack should have a rating in amps.
keep in mind the feeder bus jerry mentioned is intended for dcc. train set power packs are dc, and if you want to run more than one train you will need to wire your track with isolated sections, called blocks, controlled by on-off switches. this is called block control wiring, and the concept is covered in bachmann's and atlas's layout plan books.
Quote from: jward on March 31, 2012, 11:17:41 AM
power packs control trains not track.
Jeff-
I think that in the popular vernacular, power packs control track, not trains (locomotives,
more specifically). This usage is intended to demonstrate the difference with DCC where
one can argue that the DCC controller does, indeed, control the train but a DC power pack
controls the track
-- D
I run with regular DC and still use a bus wire. Works great for the "common rail" side of the circuit.
Les