you could use a bit more power

Five trains @ 2 locos each = 10 engines live, which could easily be 3-4 amps, particularly on grades. Then you might have other sound locos idling, and there may be some other current draw. For example I have lighted passenger trains and some lighted cabeese. Now you're pretty close to 5A. If it were me, I'd go for another booster, particularly if you have locos heavily concentrated such as a large engine terminal.

I have a similar board mounting PSX and reverse loop boards. This one is smaller than the one you show, but it's also a relatively small prototype layout. There's a bigger one building now and I expect it to be as effective.

I put...

I put one 5 AMP supply one one level and the other one on the lower level. I divided each level into districts and added reversing loop breakers (PS-AR) as well. I use NCE and my layout works very well. I did add a third booster to my engine terminal, even though some tracks have on/off toggle switches to shut off power. The other tracks are live and they hold anywhere from 10-15 engines.

Like CandOfan stated, you can use and should add another booter, possibly one each level.

Given the maximum number of

Given the maximum number of engines you've discussed and the potential for lighted passenger cars, cabooses and multiple sound engines. I agree it maybe worth it to use 2 boosters. 

My Experience

Brian,

I remember dealing with the same issue regarding boosters on my last layout.  I was afraid my 5 amp NCE smart booster wouldn't have enough "oomph" to power all the trains.  So I wired the layout with 4 booster districts, which would enable me to add additional boosters if needed.

I never got another booster though.  My 5 amp booster worked just fine. During an op session I usually had the following trains running concurrently, all with active sound decoders and keep alive capacitors:

Yard switcher: 1 engine.

Through freight: 3 engines pulling 35 car trains up 2% grades in the helix.

2 locals, usually 10-12 cars in length:  1 double headed coal local & 1 single engine freight local (although occasionally it ran double headed.)

1 continuously circulating train:  2 engines pulling approximately 35 cars.

To be honest, according to the calculations I made at the beginning of my wiring, I should have needed another booster.  But in real life the engines didn't draw as much as expected, and I never ran into problems.

My advice would be to wire the layout so you can add another booster later if needed, but start with one 5 amp first like I did.  You might find it works just fine for your application.

wouldn't distributed be more convenient and save wire?

i'm assuming a power district is a chunk of layout, parallel track are not in different districts.   so a central board may not be visible when working in a power district.

when a train stops because of a short, it's often nice to confirm if it's a short by glancing at some nearby device.    if there's  a persistent short such as a closed gap, having the breaker visible would helpful

if the booster is centrally located (from a wire length perspective) two pairs (opposite directions) of heavy gauge wire can be run from the booster around the layout.    the breaker taps into that bus inside the power district and the feeder bus run just within the power district.

Booster

BOOSTER
Sounds like I should at least make room for a booster in case i should need one.

BTW, what do these look like, and do they require another (or more) power supply??

SHORT NOTIFICATION
I believe I recall seeing something about an audible alarm one can install to let the operator know of a problem he may not visible see quickly??

(Sorry, as I have said I am totally new to DCC subjects).

JMRI & dedicated laptop

Perhaps I need to read thru this rather long subject thread?
https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/deciding-on-command-station-throttle-12219150

I recall reading about JMRI and would like to make use of it. I have a separate laptop I could dedicate to that. Do I need to provide a space for that laptop,...in my control center??

space for command station/booster

won't you need space for a command station/booster such as the NCE PH-Pro 5A?

i don't know of any products that are solely a command station.    if an additional booster were needed, it would usually be on the other side of the layout.

DCC needs 3 components:

• a command station which interface to controllers and generates the DCC signal
• booster which powers the tracks using the DCC signal from the command station to determine polarity, and
• a controller which sends commands to the command station to control a specific decoder either in the loco or stationary

audible circuit breaker -- there's still the issue of extra wiring

Been watching your progress

Been watching your progress without active forum replies/input. 

IMO.....

Nothing wrong with having the circuit breakers centralized. Adding additional boosters, if needed, will be easy with the DCC system established in one location. Plan ahead using proper gauge wire (BUSS) to carry the load over the distance with minimal voltage drop. PSX breakers have the option for a buzzer or an additional light to be added to help identify when/where a short has occurred.

I suggest a RR Amp Meter to monitor the amperage draw from the main booster.  PSX circuit breakers draw a minimal amount of amperage from the available booster source.  

"relatively small size wiring running between the various elements. That wiring would go thru to the backside of the board and connect in with terminal blocks that would wired to the numerous larger gauge bus wires reaching out to their districts"  

Wires between the command station and the booster(s) should follow the manufactures recommendations. Wires from the booster(s) through any/all components (PSX, PSX-AR, on/off switches, terminal connectors, etc) eventually becoming the buss, should be of the larger gauge. A short but smaller gauge wire will become a choke point for the amp/voltage. Yes, smaller gauge wire can be used for the final connection between the buss and the rails without issue due to the short distance and amp/volt requirements. 

distributed electronics

something to consider  -- electronics distributed on large layout

@ gregc

WOW, what a marvelous job they did both building that 'system',...and documenting it.

I don't think (nor want) anything that complicated for my relatively small layout. (but I will try and look at some of the individual sections when i have a bit more time,...likely it will really challenge my non-electric mind)

My bus wires are a

My bus wires are a combination of #14 and #12 stranded wire,...which I understand are fine for my relatively small layout and relatively short runs. Those bus wires will arrive at the backside of the central control panel and be connected to terminal strips.

I'm thinking I do not need to use such a large wire size to connect the PSX boards to the buss wires at the terminal strips, particularly when these connecting wires will only be a foot long or shorter? I figure something like #16 or #18 would be enough??

Wiring Diagrams/Illustrations

I just found this saved on my computer

....

or perhaps I should review this,... https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/nce-smart-booster-sb5-12215253

I think it depends on the

I think it depends on the size of the layout.

My layout is pretty large and has distributed electronics on the DCC.  
I have 5 “cabins” or drawers on the layout,

Each drawer has 1 booster and at least 2 breakers.  They are wired so this I could double the number of boosters in any drawer in case an area of the layout starts to use more power then expected,  

This keeps my wiring much simpler and shorter as the wires only go back to the local cabin/drawers and then there is a set of communication wires connecting booster to carry the DCC signal.  
Essentially I have 10 separate layouts which are combined to run off 5 boosters.  Allowing flexibility and a way to turn off sections of the layout for diagnostic reasons.

Biggest suggestion I can make to larger layout owners.  Make sure you can turn off sections of the layout to isolate them for diagnostic reasons.  While I don’t use blocks as such I do have much smaller sections I can easily shut off.  I hat to think about how often I have seen someone have to pull apart wiring to figure out what went wrong with the layout.  It is not pretty.

-Doug M

My layout is only 11' wide by

My layout is only 11' wide by 15' long.

I think Dave accounted for cutting off certain sections of his layout with those toggle switches just below the PSX boards??

Operations and Locations of Locomotives

Just thinking out loud.

Adding a booster doesn't increase the capacity beyond 5 amps.  Each booster district is still limited to 5 amps.

So - If all of your locomotives are in the same district, the second booster effectively doesn't do anything to help.

You need to review your operating plan and determine where locomotives will be running.

If there is a concentration of locomotives in one location, that is where you need to figure out how to break it up and provide the additional power to each section.

gs

wire buses

with a central location, the command station/booster should be next to the circuit breakers 

the diagram attempts to illustrate the wiring between the booster and PSXs, from the PSX to the area it serves and the bus in that area where feeders are dropped

the (cyan) bus wire from the booster to multiple PSXs needs to be able to carry the combined current of all the PSXs (16g)

the (orange) wire from the booster bus to the PSX must be able to carry the current of the PSX as well as the wire to the area covered by the PSX (18g)

the (green) feeder drop can be lighter (22) gauge wire  since current will flow thru many of them and reach the loco from both ends of the track

A few thoughts. Yes and no..

A few thoughts.

Yes and no.. adding an additional booster does not in and of itself help as you can only have one booster per district.  But if you wire the layout the right way you can divide the layout district into two section and add a second booster.  That is what I did.  I have essentially 10 districts powered from 5 boosters (actually adding in yards and Ys and loops gets me up to 15) so I have room to add boosters to increase capacity.

That being said there are some 10 amp booster available. (or at least were a couple years back) 

As for the toggle switches at each breaker…. That sounds good, but (and this is a personal choice) that still means the layout will be devised in huge chunks that make diagnostics a pain.  We seam to have lost track of that in this hobby.  We act like the only use for blocks was in running DC trains closer together.  But having been involved in trying to diagnose more then one layout that was not decided into very many blocks it can be a pain.  And it can REQUIRE you to take the wiring apart.  As determining exactly where a short is when 150’ feet of track forming 10 track sections connected with 12 turnouts is potentially impossible when the are all wired together.  Now it is entirely possible you will never have a problem.  It is also possible you will have so few problems that taking the wiring apart to find the problem is not an issue.  But in my experience wiring issues (typically a short) happen at times that cause stress.  So you are having a bad day, you are stressed trying to find the issue and now you have to undo work you have done (and that takes even more time). Often you are doing this after spending a half hour pulling every car and engine from the track…. Where as $20 in toggles and an extra 20 minutes wiring would allow you to spend 2 minutes turning off all the layout into relatively small (manageable) sections to determine the location of the short.  You do that as a first step you don’t have to wait until you are so desperate you are willing to cut wires.

But it is your layout….

-Doug M

Toggle Switches

@ DouglasM

I thought the use of those toggle switches served another good function??...they could completely isolate a power district from its connected PSX board for both trouble shooting, AND the use of my resistance soldering unit for track repair/maintenance.  As I understand it I would NOT want any stray high currents from the solder unit entering my PSX boards, nor NCE system components,...via a back-feed??

EDITED: oops that means those toggle switches need to be placed on the buss wire after it leaves the PSX board??

WIRE SIZE required for input

WIRE SIZE required for input side of PSX boards

I just read back thru the instructions sheets that came with my PSX boards, and I could NOT find a specific reference to the size of the wire needed?....to wire the PSX boards to my NCE power supply/booster?

I realize that I need to use large size wire (#14 or #12) BUS wires on the output side leading to the tracks,....to limit the amount of signal lost that might occur over longer track distances from the booster.

But the wire between the booster and the PSX board will likely be VERY short (1 foot or less in my case), so why should I need a real heavy wire,...why not something like #16? This size could surely carry 5 amps, the max output for the HO NCE 5 amp system?

  "AND the use of my

Hi Brian,  I routinely solder my feeders with the DCC system attached to the layout.  The current on a resistance unit goes from tweezer point to tweezer point or from probe to ground, it would take a lot of effort on the user's part to get it to go thru the DCC system wiring . I suppose it could be done if one tried but I've never heard of it being a problem.    I use toggle switches to turn off certain tracks where I might want dead engines to park. My layout is divided into four power districts that can be unhooked for trouble shooting, within each district everything is soldered wires with no toggles(other than the engine tracks).If I ever need to further disconnect pieces for troubleshooting I just cut them and wire nut them back when the problem is solved.....DaveB

what are you trying to save?

I'm using 12G from the booster to the PSX's. Yes it costs more but since it's only about five feet worth, the cost delta is insignificant. (You'll need more of that 12g running between the PSXs.)

I don't know if you have any older locos with open frame motors; I have several, and they can pull easily 3-4x as much current as the modern can motors. With a handful of these, you can get to 5A pretty quickly if you're not being careful. (I know, I was warned. They're all in older brass locos and they will get replaced eventually, as I accumulate time and skills to do so, but in the meantime...)

Not a question of cost

Its not a question of cost,...its more a question of that very stiff 12 gauge wire on control panel board, when I don't think its needed? I'm wondering if its just a carry over idea that the outgoing buses need to be something like 12#

Stiff

wire can be your friend.  Doesn't need tie wraps, anchors, etc. to achieve a neat layout.  Just hot glue it to your backboard where needed.

Blair