I always solder to the bottom of the rails like this:
It works great. But remember to just hold the wire when you bend it 45 degrees or the ties may come off. How do I know? [:D] The best you can do is to bend the wire before you solder it to the rail. First I add solder to the wire, then the rail. And then I just hold the wire against the rail and let the heat melt the solder until it comes together. It’s strong and easy to cover with ballast.
Looks good but I like my way better…solder feeder to rail joiner and rail joiner to both rails, g iving you a 6 foot section electrically. Do this at every other rail joiner and you have electrically bullet proof track
That works OK if you put in the feeders while you’re laying the track. I usually put them in after the track is down, the way the club wants to do it. I drill a hole for the drop between the tie ends, strip the end of the wire, bend it 90 degrees to be parallel with the rail, then another bend in it to press it against the web of the rail. I solder it here and they’re darned near impossible to find after ballasting (I know, I’ve tried).