David and Bryson can’t run trains on the HO scale (1:87.1) East Troy Industrial Park project layout without routing power to the rails! Follow along, as the hosts work to attach feeders to the rails and string a network of wiring underneath the model railroad. You won’t want to miss any of the insider tips and tricks the guys share along the way!
Be sure to keep up with the construction progress by linking into the Trains.com Workshop Webcam (available 24/7), and the full series of helpful, instructional videos rolling out every month until the effort concludes. Even then, the fun will continue in frequent Trains.com articles/updates and Model Railroader print features, beginning with the January 2026 issue. You won’t want to miss the Expert Tips and Techniques the crew will share with you along the way, as they have a bit of fun bringing the ETIP into fruition!
Awesome episode! I built my DC only layouts as a teenager. Now in my 60’s and working with DCC layouts at clubs and museums, I really needed this episode. You VERY clearly explained everything, especially how to work with a voltmeter. And using the power plugs and suitcase connectors will be great. Yes, about 1 year ago, hot solder dropped on my forearm while soldering feeder wires to the bus line. Hot!
Glad we’ve been some help and good luck on your project!
Agree with other comments re: taking fascia on and off repeatedly; using suitcase connectors vs Wago style connectors; powered vs unpowered frogs / turnouts (I use Unitrack unpoweted).
Final question about your bus wires – why stapled below cross members vs drilling a hole to feed through? And do they need to be twisted occasionally?
I like the point you made about feeders, you originally made them about 16″ then cut in half and will use the cutoffs later. Wire is too expensive these days to waist. Anything more than a 5-6″ piece goes into my spares bin.
Last comment, do you always use switch motors for turnout switches vs manual throws? So much wiring involved and I hear so many using decoders on switches. Button pushers!! ?
Possibly, the MR staff likes to keep their options open
One reason for going around rather than through Cross members is that going through them makes them captive and difficult to remove and possibly readjust position. Whereas removing the staple for a wire going around the Cross member completely frees the crossmember to be removed or adjusted.
Just my thoughts
Hello Andrew, Thanks for writing! See my responses on many of the other items in the comments below.
Since the layout has to be taken apart to move, I avoided drilling holes through the benchwork to string the wire between layout sections. I’ve used staples under the stringers for years without issue, and it’s faster and much less messy than hole drilling – but it’s also a personal preference. Holes work just as well.
And yes, when working over very long runs, twisting the DCC power bus is recommended.
I don’t always use switch motors or machines on a layout. Manual turnout control is easy and economical – particularly since many of the track manufacturers, such as Peco, Micro-Engineering and the new Walthers turnouts use wire toggles to hold the points in place. We’ve used that method on a number of different layout projects, and my former New Haven N scale layout used it was well.
Why motors here? We build model railroads for the magazine and videos with the idea of showing as many things as we can (within reason) that a modeler may choose to use on a layout. We chose the Walthers turnout motors for this project because we’d not really shown how to use them before, so it gave us something new to share. In the past 10 years, we installed Tortoise motors on the Canadian Canyons layout and Rapido machines on Jones Island. We used Blue Point mechanical switch machines on Rice Harbor and on my own Olympia. The other recent layouts all used manual control, so we were due for a powered turnout control project again.
Most of the time I’ll put motors on turnouts just in places that are hard to reach, as well as in staging yards to make it easy for operators to select the correct track. And although they add expense and wiring work to a layout, they do help protect fragile scenic details and models by limiting the need to reach into the modeled scene, so there are tradeoffs. I used them on my layout to protect all the scratch built items, however, I also use manual uncoupling, which still involves reaching into the layout, so I’m not sure the extra effort was really worth it.
And I hear you on the cost of wire! The fact that it is now under lock and key at most stores isn’t good. It used to be one of the least expensive things you could buy when building a layout.
Good questions, thank you!
A couple of comments: first, let me say I always enjoy the videos and find them informative.
I guess I’m old school, as a double E spending many hours at the bench in the lab, building and testing DC systems, red and black wires were always reserved for pure DC systems – red for power and black for ground, seems to be an industry standard. My DCC bus is yellow and brown with green for wires that change polarity, i.e. frog wires.
I second the idea of a soldered wire to every piece of rail.
To protect the rail head when drilling holes, wrap a rubber band around the bit near the chuck.
Finally, you seem to remove and replace the facia quite frequently, don’t the screw holes wear out:?
Hi Joe, thanks for the notes. We work with the wire we can get at our local stores, so that’s why we use red and white a lot. I’m not surprised to learn an electrical engineer would do things differently, but it’s good advice. The most important thing here is that whatever color code you use, you stick with it throughout the layout.
There’s nothing wrong with soldering feeders to every rail, it’s just not my preference as for the amount of time it takes. I’ve built a lot of model railroads, many which have to travel, and the number of feeder failures I’ve encountered over the years using one wire for every three sections is negligible – you can always add another one quickly if need be to solve a problem.
We remove the fascia far more than someone doing this at home will, simply because we have to film and photograph everything we do. If you are careful not to overdrive the screws, they don’t strip out the hole. If they do, I keep a box of the next size up for that purpose. Usually I work with no. 6s for fascia, and use no. 8s to replace them if I need to. However, we’re building a lot of this layout with leftover things we brought with us from the old office, so you’ve likely noticed there’s a mix of no. 6s and 8s. Best wishes on your layout!
David/Bryson.
Have you used WAGO connectors on any layouts? Are you going to give them a try? Lots of folk seem to think they’re more reliable than suitcase connectors. They do require cutting the bus up but seem to provide a very positive connection, and have the added benefit that changes and troubleshooting are easier. Your thoughts?
Thanks for the tip on the WAGO connectors. I’m typically not a fan of cutting a bus, as it just introduces more places for a failure, but I’ll look into the connectors.
Now the moment you have all been waiting for. Welding track together installing feeder wires and the first operating session on the new MR&T. After months of work trains are finally running on the newest edition of MR’s legendary layout.
Since I deeply distrust the continuity capabilities of rail joiners, even soldered ones, my practice is to connect a feeder to EVERY piece of rail. Only exceptions would be the short connections between modules. I also place another short bend in the feeder at the rail so that this short piece of wire lays against the rail when soldered. Less likely to break loose over time.
Hello Roger, yes, feeders on every rail is a more reliable option. Placing feeders every third piece of rail with soldered joiners isn’t as fool proof, but it does cover most issues and requires less work.
However, if you have a lot of humidity in your area, definitely use a feeder to every rail and don’t solder the rail joiners. Your track will need to be able to expand and contract with the layout as the humidity levels change, and soldered rail joiners won’t allow it to do that well.