I am trying to allocate my spare transformers to power (building) lights and operating accessories. I have (1) Lionel 1025 @ 45 watts; (1) MRC Pure Power AC @ 125 watts; and (1) Z750 with IR Remote Controller @ 75 watts.

I have 26 lighted accessories >>> 22 buildings (mostly MTH) and 4 floodlight towers (Lionel). I also have the following operating accessories: MTH Transfer Station; MTH Greyhound Bus Terminal; MTH Fire Station; MTH Sinclair Gas Station; MTH Transfer Station; Lionel Gantry Crane; Lionel Log Loader; Lionel Coal Loader (97); Lionel Culvert Loader and Unloader; Lionel Rotary Beacon; Lionel Horse Corral; Lionel Barrel Loader and(3) Oil Derricks.

How should I allocate my power supplies?

I'm good to go with my 16 MTH Realtrax Switches; 8 MTH UCS tracks; 13 Signal Lights ---- these being hooked up to a 100 watt (14 volts) landscape lighting power source. The switches snap nicely.

My DCS track power is also good to go --- amply supplied by 1 Z4000 and 2 Z1000 to power my 4 loops/sections

Thanks

The best way that I know is to first determine what the amperage is at a given fixed voltage. You'll need either an amp meter or multimeter. Take your amp reading from each accessory and multiply by your fixed voltage (say 12 or 18 volts) and that will give you the wattage. Now you can assign your accessories to the different transformers trying to use only 80% of its capacity as a safety factor. The conversion of Amps to Watts is governed by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts. This is about as simple as I can explain how I do it. Hope this helps.

Thank YOU WM for the tip
Makes great sense --- I'll head on over to Radio Shack

I divided my lights into four different groups. Then I can control them according to the time I am emulating.

I have:
Apartments
Stores
Offices
Streetlights


Rand