Hello everyone. I am a newbie here and practically a newbie with model railroading. My 3 1/2 year old grandson has rekindled my passion for the hobby and I am building a 7x10 'around the room' layout that I plan to run two trains on. I bought the LionChief PennFlyer remote set and am going to add another LionChief remote locomotive in the very near future. I learned from some research that the power pack that comes with these sets will not power both trains. My question is: will the CW80 transformer handle two of these trains (about 5-6 cars each) as well as a lighted passenger car and lighted caboose? I plan to add some lighted accessories down the road as well. Please advise
Thanks in advance
Lonnie
Welcome to the forum, Lonnie!
Your grandson did a good job getting you back into the hobby!
You can certainly move up to the CW-80 transformer to run 2 trains. It should handle the trains as well as a few lighted accessories.
Eventually, as your layout expands, you may look into either a bigger transformer than the CW-80, or another stand-alone transformer specifically to power your accessories only.
Many hobbyists look to the used transformer market to upgrade power. There are many transformers available at hobby shops and train shows to be had at very reasonable prices that can handle multiple trains, with power to spare for accessories, such as the old KW and ZW transformers. For the price of a new CW-80, you can get a refurbished ZW with 3 times the power of the CW-80.
Larry