# Power for track



## CPO (Oct 17, 2010)

I recently bought from Only Trains a USA Alco PA-1 & PB-1 loco, along with some .332 straight brass flex track. Track seems to be from American Mainline.
Don't know if I will run this inside or outside yet.
Will eventually want to run 2 trains. 
My questions are 
I want to use track power. Where should I be looking for track power supply? 
Is DCC a power source or just control? 
Can I use any .332 track from any manufacturer?
Can I use a R2 curve?
Would R3 or R4 curves be better? 
Sorry for such mundane questions, but this hobby is not cheap, and I don't want to make purchases that I cannot use.
And local train/hobby stores are not well versed or supplied with G scale stuff. So I will be looking to buy on-line. 
I have the last 3 issues of Garden Railways as well as the December issue. And I have searched and read much on-line, but can't seem to find the answers to these very basic but important initial building blocks.
So any guidance early on would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Shelley


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

The PAs are long locomotives. R1 and R2 are made for very short engines and cars. Long engines and cars that go with them require larger diameter curves.

R1 has a diameter of about 4' and R2's diameter is about 5'. I don't have any PAs, but they would not be very happy runners on those tight curves. There would be a lot of wear on the wheel, track, and gears. 

I use track power, straight DC from a power pack, and I like it. Others have different opinions. I use Bridgewerks power supplies. They are very reliable and some come with a remote for changing speed and direction. 


Code 332 track from LGB, Aristo, USAT, and Accucraft are all suitable. 


Chuck N


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Posted By CPO on 24 Oct 2010 03:33 PM 
I recently bought from Only Trains a USA Alco PA-1 & PB-1 loco, along with some .332 straight brass flex track. Track seems to be from American Mainline.
Don't know if I will run this inside or outside yet.
Will eventually want to run 2 trains. 
My questions are 
I want to use track power. Where should I be looking for track power supply? 
Is DCC a power source or just control? 
Can I use any .332 track from any manufacturer?
Can I use a R2 curve?
Would R3 or R4 curves be better? 
Sorry for such mundane questions, but this hobby is not cheap, and I don't want to make purchases that I cannot use.
And local train/hobby stores are not well versed or supplied with G scale stuff. So I will be looking to buy on-line. 
I have the last 3 issues of Garden Railways as well as the December issue. And I have searched and read much on-line, but can't seem to find the answers to these very basic but important initial building blocks.
So any guidance early on would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Shelley 


A Meanwell 12 amp 24 volt model power pack with a basic 27 mgh Aristocraft train engineer R/C system is a great combo and is fairly cheep, You Betcha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

DCC is a control system, Much more advanced then basic DC operation


All 332 rail will work good together just stay away from Bachmann tinplate stuff


With these locos i wouldnt run them on anything less than 10ft dia curves for best performance


A great place to buy from is RLD Hobbies, he's a advertiser on this forum and great to deal with.


Also if you can afford them, Split jaw rail clamps make life much easier LOL You betcha


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## CPO (Oct 17, 2010)

Thank you very much Chuck for your reply and answers to my questions!!
So now I know which R's I need to get, something over R2.
Could I add DCC to the Bridigewerks power supply system? 
I'm assuming USA loco's can pull any brand of other cars.


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

No less than 10ft. diameter curves, that is what I run, and have the pa/pb setup and 4-5 cars running on battery r/c, you can view them in my you tube site link below! Part 1 of 2 of my favorite train video's. Yes you can use 332 track from any manufacturer! DCC is a type of CONTROL, and check with Greg E. I would say Meanwell, and or Bridgemaster if money is not a factor! As I have said many times never go less than 10ft. diameter curves bigger is even better! Regal 


http://www.youtube.com/7485jerry


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## CPO (Oct 17, 2010)

Nick
And thank you too for you guidance. I was planning on contacting RLD to buy the necessary stuff, as it seems he has a good reputation and would help guide me in my buying.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Shelly:

Any DC power supply can be used with DCC. I don't use DCC, so I cannot answer a lot of detailed questions. My understanding is that with DCC you put a constant voltage (lets say 20v) on the track. A controller installed in the engine receives a signal from a transmitter that will then adjust the voltage to the motor. DCC requires adding a controller to the engine.


The Bridgewerks with a remote changes the voltage at the power supply, not at the engine. If you want to go to DCC you just need a basic power supply that puts out the amps that you will need, now and in the future. Most will recommend a 10 amp supply. 


As a beginner I would recommend that you leave DCC to the future. Start with basic track power and get familiar with building and maintaining a railroad. You may find that you would prefer battery and Radio/Control. Or, straight track power may meet your needs. My recommendation is to start with straight DC track power and go to other more complicated systems when you have a better idea as to what you want and where you think that you will want to go.

Don't make it too complicated for the beginning. Sit back and enjoy seeing a train run on your layout. I still do after 30 years in this hobby.

Chuck N


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Bridgeworks does not recommend using their supplies for DCC. 

The control system and the filtering in the Bridgeworks is wasted on DCC, good for DC track power. Bridgeworks is good for MTH DCS. 

And DCC is not too complex to start with, it helps to have a friend show you the ropes the first time. A DCC conversion of a PA can be done in about 15 minutes, if you don't need constant brightness on the lights. 

Regards, Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

DO NOT go by "R" value for referencing curve radius. Different manufacturers use different values for different curves, so if you buy manufacturer X's "R3" curve, it may or may not be--most likely not be--the same radius as "R3" from manufacturer Y. It's stupid, but it's the way it is. It's always best to use radius when talking about curves, though large scalers tend to use diameter just as often. (Just remember two important truths: 1- Radius is half the diameter, and 2- the person on the other end of the phone may not remember that from geometry. It's very common to get the two confused and order the wrong track, especially when manufacturers make 5' and 10' radius track.) I'll echo others' statements that with the PAs, you really want to stay at 5' radius or larger if at all possible. You could probably go down to 4' in a pinch. 

As for cars the USA locos can pull, yes they can pull other manufacturers' cars provided the couplers are compatible. Some manufacturers (including USA) include multiple styles of couplers so you can choose ones that work for you. You may also consider converting to a 3rd-party coupler such as those made by Kadee. This is always a good thing to do when you're first starting out, since adding an extra $8 for a pair of couplers with each piece of equipment you buy is easier on the budget than adding $800 worth of couplers a few years down the road once you decide then to convert. 

Later, 

K


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

To reinforce what Kevin said, USA trains goes to lengths to make the addition of Kadees easy, they just screw on in virtually all cases. I have a number of PA's and they are all Kadee. 

Regards, Greg


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

KPosted By East Broad Top on 25 Oct 2010 09:04 AM 
DO NOT go by "R" value for referencing curve radius. Different manufacturers use different values for different curves, so if you buy manufacturer X's "R3" curve, it may or may not be--most likely not be--the same radius as "R3" from manufacturer Y. It's stupid, but it's the way it is. It's always best to use radius when talking about curves, though large scalers tend to use diameter just as often. (Just remember two important truths: 1- Radius is half the diameter, and 2- the person on the other end of the phone may not remember that from geometry. It's very common to get the two confused and order the wrong track, especially when manufacturers make 5' and 10' radius track.) I'll echo others' statements that with the PAs, you really want to stay at 5' radius or larger if at all possible. You could probably go down to 4' in a pinch. 

As for cars the USA locos can pull, yes they can pull other manufacturers' cars provided the couplers are compatible. Some manufacturers (including USA) include multiple styles of couplers so you can choose ones that work for you. You may also consider converting to a 3rd-party coupler such as those made by Kadee. This is always a good thing to do when you're first starting out, since adding an extra $8 for a pair of couplers with each piece of equipment you buy is easier on the budget than adding $800 worth of couplers a few years down the road once you decide then to convert. 

Later, 

K 

Kevin, I have 10ft curves on my layout, and I am running USA pass cars, and a baggage car with the pa/pb! The baggage car is shorter than the passenger cars. I wouldn't want to go smaller than 10ft as even on mine when they round the corners they tend to get closer and catch the rubber pieces on the ends of the cars on either side, and really, I wish I would have gone with 20ft curves from the beginning. Everything else runs well on my 10ft curves even my Mallet which is the longest engine I have, and even then I had to do some adjustments on the hookup bar between the engine and the tender so it would have more room to swing on the curves. It was lifting up one side of the wheels on the two plastic hang downs under the floor of the back of the loco where the bar to hook up the tender is!! So I would always advise guy's if they are even remotely possibly going to run the bigger stuff, 10ft minimum!! Regal


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

I should have said that I was referring to LGB's "R" values for curves. 

Chuck N


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