For what it’s worth, I tried soldering some tracks today. I’ll be ordering some rail joints the next time it’s in the budget! At lest no harm was done in the attempt! [;)]
I had a bunch of 1 and 2 foot sections of used track when I needed to add a couple dozen feet of track to a SVGRS member’s layout. Not wanting to break his bank with new joiners, I soldered the rails, BUT I didn’t melt ties nor remove them. I used a resistance solderer. I cleaned the old joiners or replaced them, used lots of flux, and soldered the rails to the joiners by simply heating up the joint 'til the solder flowed into the joiner and the rails. Worked great, and a two-rail rail bender fan right over the joints to make any size curved we needed.
Dick, Thanks. I have some tracks I could tinker with. Tom had suggested a jig, too, but, for the moment, a purchase of 4’ sections obviated that for my straightaways. The key trouble spots seem to be my curved portions. I think the combination of stress as the train negotiates the tight curve and old connectors is causing the breaks, as, after getting things up and running, a few loops later I tend to get a stall on / near a few of the curves. A bit of jiggling and things are on their way again. The curves are all 3’ radius (it’s what I had and they fit my space), and the tracks float. Just a guess, of course. - Eric
All,
Using longer lengths is the way to go, here in Australia I go for 6’ lengths most of the time. Relatively cheap and less mucking around.
A seller in Bargo (around 700km away) has 12’ lengths. I have not purchased any as yet but certainly intend to. Long way to go to collect and shipping could be a bitch. Just need another reason to travel in that direction.
Enjoy your trains
Bernie
I too have mostly used the 6 foot rails. I thought once about using the 10 foot rails, but the shipping charges on the extra length brought the totals way too high. For the cost plus shipping on 200 foot of 10 foot track I could get 300 foot of the 6 foot track. Made myself a jig (to keep the joints straight) and using the slip on joiners soldered up a bunch of 12 foot rails.
I just discovered the marvels of a torpedo level. Not only did it stop a few derailments, having level track did wonders for connectivity. Rail clamps are in the future, but other budget priorities (stupid mini van!) got in the way.
- Eric