All, I recently bought a Z scale starter pack (Museum Passenger Train, 81874) together with extensions E and T1, and looking towards buying T2 and T3 to start with. Having played with a Marklin HO set many years ago, I got a bit concerned about how light the powerpack feels as compared to the big chunky transformers I used for the several meters-long HO system. I have been browsing/searching this extremely helpful forum, but could not find answers to my questions using key words/phrases like 'power', 'power pack', 'length of track', etc.
If anybody could guide me to the right place for the info, that would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.
Questions:
1. What is the maximum length of a rail system for the power pack included in the starter pack (1 loc only) ?
2. Can I and should I use multiple feeder tracks (e.g. 8590) throughout the rail system all connected to the same power pack ?
3. Is there an alternative, heavy duty power pack available from a different source, suitable to run Marklin Z trains and available in Australia ?
Thanks for helping me getting started.
Kind regards

In principle, I don't see any (reasonable) limit to the length of the rails GIVEN you install multiple feeder tracks and sizeable enough a wire (1,5mm² to 2,5mm² or even more) to supply them (resistance drops with square of radius).



Yes, depending on the layout's length.

Welcome! Another Zed-ie in Oz.


Depends upon the distance from transformer and power loss in the rails/power wires to rail.
There is a finite distance electricity can travel from source to destination due to resistance and voltage drop, especially in the low voltage modelling world, as we do not have the option to boost voltage to counteract resistance losses. Feeder wires will help with this problem.
That is why electricity is sent vast distances at hundreds of thousands of volts via pylons. This is to counteract resistance losses.

If the second part of your question is whether 2 locos can be run from 1 transformer, then Yes but with a caveat.
Running 2 locos from 1 transformer will result in even more voltage drop, meaning both locos will run slower.
If planning on using block sections where one train stops and the other runs, there will be some noticeable jerk in the locos.


Yes, and that is recommended for any scale (see above answer)

In Z-scale, a thicker copper feeder wire every 1 to 2 metres of track, seems to be the norm.
Thick copper has less voltage drop than the thin nickel-sliver that tracks are made out of.

I have two 5 metre loops and notice power drop/slowing loco when at the extreme end from power source.
To mitigate this, I will be adding 3 thick copper feeder wires at equidistant areas of said loop (so one feeder wire per ~1.6m of track).


It won't make a difference.
You will still have power loss due to distance from power supply and losses in the rails/wiring.
All a higher powered unit will do is let you run more locos from same power source.

My unit was made in the 70's and has a 12VA rating.
This can run 2 locos but with stated caveats.

The modern controller comes with an external "wall wart" power supply, so the controller itself is really very light.
And yes, an old, blue 10 VA H0 transformer is much heavier than a modern 36 VA switching-mode power supply.