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I have no electrical skills at all...i plan on starting a large HO layout within the next year, but was wondering if anyone out there knows of a great book that can help me learn how wire the track, led's, street lamps, etc...just getting into this hobby and i'm in over my head
...looking for help!!
Are you asking about wiring for the trains as well, or just the ancillary wiring? Kalmbach and Cartsen's, (Model Railroader and Railroad Model craftsman) both have several book's out on the subject of layout wiring.
They both have ad's in their respective magazines and on their websites as well.
im asking about all wiring..lol..i have no clue when it comes to any sort of wiring for these types of things..
The best thing for you is search the How-To sites on Google, Bing, etc.
YouTube has some great how-to's about wiring & electricity. YouTube & search there sites.
I get a ton of info from how to sites. Then you can print what you want to save.
I ran a welding shop, speed shop, flea market & large hardware business for years & I taught myself a lot about single phase & 3 phase wiring before there was such a thing as the internet. You just gotta get in there & start somewhere. Teach yourself. It's not hard. Just in the last 6 years I've started repairing my own engines, scratchbuilding large & small structures, taught myself about LED's & a lot of other things I never tackled before w/trains. Practice makes perfect(well, almost perfect)(ya gotta make many mistakes before you learn it the right way) Dig IN>>>>>>>>>>>
You don't say whether your layout will be DC or DCC. A large layout where multiple trains will be running at the same time will be easier operate and easier to wire if it's DCC.
A site with plenty of information about DCC is
Wiring for DCC. The site is not easy to navigate, but it contains a wealth of valuable information.
You will probably want to learn how to solder. A simple layout can be built without soldering, but it's hard for me to imagine a large complex layout that won't require some soldering.
Most large model railroads use a system of Bus Wires and Feeders to distribute power around the layout. Bus Wires are heavy guage wires that run the length or perimeter of the layout. Feeders are short, lighter guage wires that connect from the Bus Wires to the track at intervals such that no part of the track is more than a few feet from a Feeder.
An incomplete diagram of this arrangement for a DCC layout appears below.
Not all of the Feeders are shown, but I there are enough to give you the idea. The Feeders are attached to the Bus Wires at one end and to the track rails at the other. Most of the time this is done by soldering.
- Jeff
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