Wire

[Ninemil]

Having finally made a start on "Project 1" (as I described in the "Members layouts" section), I realise that there are some things that I'm going to need to purchase fairly soon. One of which is wire to connect up the track but also lighting on the layout and (for "Project 2") point motors and other accessories. (I have some second hand point motors that appear to work fine but have had their leads cut (for who knows why) to about 1cm!)

Any guidance would be appreciated concerning that type and gauge of wire that would be most suitable, and the best sources if possible but I guess Amazon will fill the need if necessary. I've seen things like "24/2.0" and other specifications, but not sure what would be best?

[Walkingthedog]

A few years ago I sold dozens of point motors and all of them had the wire cut off at about an inch. Bit difficult to sell with loads of wire on them.

[Ninemil]

Hadn't thought of it like that. Makes sense I suppose!

[Walkingthedog]

May I suggest you purchase a copy of this, you won’t regret it.

Written by Brian who runs this forum.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Newcomers-Guid ... oks&sr=1-1

[darkscot]

Gaugemaster point wire GMC-PM51. You can get it on Amazon, but I like to support some of the smaller enterprises, such as:
https://www.modelrailshop.co.uk
and others. Quite often these small shops will have certain items in stock that the big boys don’t.

[Brian]

Having finally made a start on "Project 1" (as I described in the "Members layouts" section), I realise that there are some things that I'm going to need to purchase fairly soon. One of which is wire to connect up the track but also lighting on the layout and (for "Project 2") point motors and other accessories. (I have some second hand point motors that appear to work fine but have had their leads cut (for who knows why) to about 1cm!)

Any guidance would be appreciated concerning that type and gauge of wire that would be most suitable, and the best sources if possible but I guess Amazon will fill the need if necessary. I've seen things like "24/2.0" and other specifications, but not sure what would be best?

OK, So for Analogue operation of Solenoid point motors use as a minimum 16/0.2mm equipment wire, This wire size can also be used from Accessory Decoder to the solenoid motor on a DCC system.
For DC track power feeding usually 7/0,2mm is ok to use. On a DCC system consider installing a Bus two wires for power and date distribution around the layout of at least 32/0.2mm with smaller sized Dropper wires connecting the DCC bus pair to the rails.

[Ninemil]

Thanks for your replies.

I do fully agree with supporting the smaller shops as darkscot says. I try to do exactly that whenever I can. Thanks for the link.

My project is at the woodwork stage at the moment, but I want to try to buy a few bits and bobs over the next few days so that work does grind to a halt when I move to the next stage. It shouldn't be long because, as I've said before, Project 1 is tiny! Good preparation for larger projects to follow though.

[Brian]

Hi
Just be careful if purchasing "layout wire" from a model shop, as frequently they stock and sell so called "Layout wire" which is in fact often 7/0.2mm which is too small for solenoid point motor operations and the return wiring. 16/0.2mm is the recommended minimum wire size. If you are unsure then don't purchase until they confirm the wire size being supplied or go elsewhere!

[Ninemil]

Thanks for the tip Brian.
I'm obviously keen to avoid major pitfalls so I'll be careful.
I also want to avoid minor pitfalls too as putting things down as a "learning experience" could wear a bit thin in the end...
Cheers.