Just plain DC pack talk

[OldEastRR]

Sorry, forgot to check back here sooner. OK, it's a Tyco power pack. I was sure the 12v was OK it was the amps I was worried about.
It's just to test run DC-only (no decoders) locos. My layout is DCC (not Digitrak w/ DC option). I want  to run DC locos around to see how they look/work, not worried about speed or ops. In this case I've got some special unit trains -- M1000 and the AeroTrain -- which I don't ever plan to DCC but they'd be cool to JRTM at times. Probably have to hardwire decoders into them.
And yes, a good portion of my posts (here and on other sites) are grumpy old rants from a grumpy old 70 y.o. It's a natural part of aging.
Yuck on Alexa, Cortana, Invicta, Omnipota, etc -- don't need anybody tracking my net use.

And it's always nice to get a thread drift -- I think TRW muxt be the champion site for doing that.  Like how Ed K's layout thread swung into pages of favorite foods. And Lee's query about Chicago hobby shops went totally into favorite restaurants, pizza, and pierogi. I like the smart-alecky aspect of TRW. Probably because I'm a smart alecky 70 y.o.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

don't need anybody tracking my net use.

Man, tracking use of the internet has been going on since almost day 1.

[mmagliaro]

If I may be so bold, the reason it's not so easy to find a "straight answer" to a question like,
"Can I use a 12vDC, 1.25 Amp HO power pack to run N scale DC?" is because that is not as straightforward a question as you think it is.  If somebody tries to give you a simple "yes" or "no" answer, they are doing you a disservice.

As other posts in here have already pointed out, it depends on which power pack, because many of them
put out a lot more than the "12 vDC" that's stamped on their labels.  Many of them put out harsh pulses from the days of yore that are not very kind to some motors, or at least, are no longer needed.

[peteski]

Or if they use a low resistance rheostat (variable resistor) for running old H0 models with high-current-draw motors, they will not provide any slow-speed control to N scale models with motors which draw very little current.

The excessive voltage warning is valid, but if no electronics (decoders) are involved, then standard DC locos (just a motor and headlights) can tolerate excessive voltage quite well.

Also, regardless of how much current a 12V power pack is capable of supplying, it will only supply as much current as the device consuming it will need.  You can have a 12V power pack that can supply 10A of current at 12V, but if the N scale loco's motor only consumes 200mA at 12V, the pack will only supply 200mA.

[Mark5]

As for the Tyco, I still have this from a Christmas trainset I received in the mid 1960s:

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I don't think I've run any trains with it since about 1970. I use it as a 12V source from time to time.

For N it probably has three speeds: fast, faster, and fastest! 

Mark