Power and control

7/0.2 wire is what railway modellers most commonly use for wiring auxiliary features to their layouts and to carry power to and from a controller and the tracks. The code simply relates to the number of individual metal strands inside a wire (in...

Sometimes, us mere mortals completely forget what values we have set to our decoders, other times our decoders just start to misbehave for no reason whatsoever. When the latter happens it's easy for panic to set in as it can appear that your...

Deciding which wire to use when wiring a model railway can sometimes be a little overwhelming, there are so many choices between different colours, thicknesses and also whether to use stranded or solid core wire.The good news is that a lot of...

A bus-wire is a single cable that carries power around a layout with numerous wires splicing off it along the way (known as dropper wires) to supply various components or sections of track with the power.There are two main reasons why you...

A CDU is a Capacitor Discharge Unit. It is an electrical component that can be included into a circuit and stores up an electrical charge, it releases the current in a powerful short sharp burst on the demand of an operator (you) by pressing a...

Slow action point motors are an alternative to the more commonly used solenoid motors. Their name pretty much suggests what they do (they change your points slowly) and if you are considering using point motors for the first time on your layout...

When using a bus wire (shared common wire) to distribute power around your layout, you will inevitably have to tap into the wire at various locations to install small stretches of additional wire to connect the main bus wire with the components or...

A push-button switch is a switch that you press to operate something opposed to other types which involve moving (or flicking) the switch from one side to the other. A good example of a push-button switch is the bell that you would press on a bus...

If you are building or own a model railway layout, then you have likely heard the word solenoid, a lot! and that is because modellers use them, a lot!A solenoid is a coil of wire which acts as a magnet when an electrical charge is applied. The...

A passing contact switch differs from a conventional switch because it does not perform a simple on/off function, instead, its purpose is to supply a short sharp burst of power to any component that doesn't require a continuous power feed, for...

Most modellers will be aware of how a controller makes a locomotive move along the tracks, with an analogue controller, the more power that is sent from the controller, the quicker the train moves, reversing the polarity reverses the direction of...

Rotary switches are operated by a rotating (twisting) action apposed to regular switches that require throwing, flicking or pressing. They are generally used when you require one switch to be able to divert current between numerous circuits either...