Now why not head on down to the local hobby shop and get wire there?  Well for those who don’t know, I live in Jamestown, ND.  The nearest hobby shop is 96 miles away at best.  Also – the one place I ordered wire from had a couple of the control boxes in stock.  (Though as I also mentioned, using toggle switches is a viable alternative to the original control boxes.)

As you can see in the picture, some of the wire is actual Märklin brand wire.  Was this needed? Not at all.  I just was able to get my hands on it for the same price as I saw non-Märklin branded wire of that size.  The green wire came with the other set, but it was extra and I figure it will work in a pinch or if I want to specially denote something.  Otherwise I plan on keeping with the Märklin color coding.

I was waiting for a friend over lunch break, so had a little time to start working on some of the wiring.  My initial test of the power distrobution strips was sucessful.  (Unhooked and powered just 1 section of track, then powered the light on a bumper section.)  I still need to add a piece of wood where I am going to have my switch controls, but that shouldn’t take long.  Now that I think I understand how everything is supposed to be wired – it is mostly a matter of doing it and testing as I go.

I will take more pictures of my progress – I am leaving all of the wiring quite loose as I might shift the layout some and for when I add homasote or cork under the track.

Technorati Tags: Märklin, Model trains, benchwork, electrical

Post from: Model Train Rookie

Wiring now possible!