We study the electronic transport properties of the Anderson model on a strip,
modeling a quasi one-dimensional disordered quantum wire. In the literature, the standard
description of such wires is via random matrix theory (RMT). Our objective is to firmly
relate this theory to a microscopic model. We correct and extend previous work
(arXiv:0912.1574) on the same topic. In particular, we obtain through a physically
motivated scaling limit an ensemble of random matrices that is close to, but not identical
to the standard transfer matrix ensembles (sometimes called TOE, TUE), corresponding to the
Dyson symmetry classes \beta=1,2. In the \beta=2 class, the resulting conductance is the
same as the one from the ideal ensemble, i.e.\ from TUE. In the \beta=1 class, we find a
deviation from TOE. It remains to be seen whether or not this deviation vanishes in a
thick-wire limit, which is the experimentally relevant regime. For the ideal ensembles, we
also prove Ohm's law for all symmetry classes, making mathematically precise a moment
expansion by Mello and Stone. This proof bypasses the explicit but intricate solution
methods that underlie most previous results.