I was wondering if it would be better to solder all the track joints, or just stick with the rail joiners. I dont have any problems, yet. Or would jumper wires be better for expansion or contraction, due to weather changes? Doug
Well Doug, I have some hidden track, and don’t have a problem with temperature changes, as far as expansion and contraction, so I soldered all of mine, plus added short pieces of jumper wire between the sections of flex track, as I soldered the rail joiners, just as a back-up. I made sure the ends of the track were perfectly clean, and the rail joiners tight, then added the jumpers, and soldered it all together.
So far, no problems.
Mike.
I would not solder every joint, but if you don’t have a feeder to each rail, you may want to solder some together.
If you solder every joint, any roadbed (or below roadbed on the layout supports) expansion or contraction will mess up track allignment, creating big issues.
You need some room for expansion/contraction. So, while you can solder joints to help with electrical concerns, you do need to allow for other issues as well.
I soldered all of my rail joiners and have had no problems with expansion or contraction. The layout is in a well-insulated but unheated basement room. I have about 250’ of mainline, not counting double track, passing sidings, or industrial tracks.
I do cut insulating gaps for operational purposes (DC control) but those are filled with ABS plastic.
Wayne
I’m glad the guys are advising against soldering all the track joiners. It’s pretty simple, if you have constant temperature control (within 30° or so swing) and the same with humidity you can safely solder all the joiners. If you can’t keep the temperature and humidity close year round then do not solder all of the joiners! The track and wood will expand and contract and you’ll be replacing track. It cost me 6 flex sections, half of the track was inside tunnels and mountains.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
I soldered everything and mine buckled in an unheated, insulated basement in MD. Even if heated/cooled, around here an ice storm or a big line of thunderstorms can kill power for a couple days.
I recently read or saw something that suggested not soldering turnouts, so they could be easily removed if you change the layout. I’ve also seen it suggested to only solder the curves.
That said, the site http://wiringfordcc.com/ suggests soldering something to every piece of rail, either the joiner or a feeder.
My next layout is just starting construction and it’s going to have for feeders than soldered rail joiners.
If your layout space is as stable as a NASA clean room, you can go to the model equivalent of continuous welded rail without fear of unwanted consequences.
If, like mine, your layout space can expect to experience a temperature span of 100 degrees F (twenty at 0-dark-hundred in January, one-twenty on an August afternoon) soldering more than one rail joiner is a risky business. Joiners have to let the rail slide like a trombone - because it will.
So, how to maintain electrical continuity? Jumpers, soldered around every uninsulated joiner, arranged to allow the rail ends to move freely. Or, the oft-quoted DCC alternative, a separate drop from every length of rail to the bus wire. I don’t use DCC, and consider a drop every yard or meter to be gross overkill. My longest electrical section is six lengths of flex, has five jumpered rail joiners and a connection to the control grid at the center jumper. (That jumper is actually an extension of the end of the drop soldered to the next rail.)
Some of my trackage has passed its tenth birthday with no problems at the track end of the electricals. The track on my end-of-the-railroad module has been trouble free for 35 years. I must be doing something right.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hard telling what would be “better” for a given situation there are many variables. Personally I am in the no solder camp. I only solder flex track joints on a curve and or if there has been a real problem at a given joint.
If you are using wood framing, and you have a joint in tracks running mostly across the grain, you should solder that joint. Where you can leave a small gap and a sliding joiner, it’s probably best to do that, but figure that the join will be corrupted in time due to dirt and corrosion. So, what most of us learn ere long is to simply take the time to ensure each contiguous length of track has a direct feed of some kind or description…your choice, just make sure it is mechanically AND electrically robust.
My layout is inside of the house and here is what I did – I let benchwork and roadbed acclimate for several months and waited for period of year when relative humidity is minimal inside of the house so benchwork shrinks at much as it can. In Seattle area that would be mid-winter when heater runs most. Then I laid the track and soldered joiners on curves with no gaps between rails. On straight tracks I left 1/64”… 1/32” gaps between rails, soldered feeder wires to the bottom of the jointer and soldered jointers to one rail only. That way rails on straight track have some room for movement and robust electrical connection at the same time. I some places where rail had no soldered connection to a feeder wire I’ve added jumper wire to the next rail that had feeder wire soldered to it.
Slava
I had all of mine soldered, and had a section buy a glass sliding door flex and break the balast also, guesing from the sunlight shining bright on that section of track.
I soldered all the joints 2 layouts ago. Everything was fine for about 10 years, then the rails popped out on a section of track about 3 feet long. My current layout, only the curves get soldered.
Good luck
Paul
I did a lot of things wrong with track laying on my current layout. On my next layout, I will solder all curves to avoid kinks but not solder any other connections. In my experience, rail joiners are just that, a device to connect track sections for alignment purposes. But, I will solder feeder wires to the outside of the rails on each and every track connection, not the rail joiner (connection) itself, to ensure electrical connectivity.
Rich
I soldered the railjoiners on curves so that I could use the Ribbonrail type radius template tools to make a smooth curve through the joint itself. So far, no problems.
Years ago at a hobby shop’s going out of business sale I purchased a display track, about 4 1/2 feet long, made with styrofoam and with two levels, with two lengths of flex track, with soldered rail joints. Nicely ballasted and scenicked. After more than a decade in my basement the track buckled at the soldered joints! Go figure.
Dave Nelson
On my layout, with one exception (see below), every piece of rail has a feeder attached. This includes switches (uh, except guardrails).
The rail joiners are for mechanical alignment only. They are not expected to conduct electricity.
The exception is on curves. If I didn’t solder the rail joints, I would tend to get kinks at those points.
Stating the sort of obvious: I solder those joints when the tracks are still straight, before installation.
Ed
I’ll add another emphatic “some of them.” I prefer soldered joints on curves, particularly with flex track, to maintain curvature and avoid kinks. I generally don’t solder turnouts just in case maintenance is necessary. If I’m building a section like a yard ladder where there are a lot of short pieces of track, I’m likely to solder things there just because there are a lot of joints.
I don’t buy into the idea of soldering “jumpers” across the rail joiners. I’m a firm believer in a bus-and-feeder configuration. With a string of daisy-chained jumpers from rail to rail, you put yourself in a single point of failure mode, while bus-and-feeder avoids that. Also, nickel-silver rail is not as good a conductor as the typical copper bus wire, so you will get less loss with a properly installed bus-and-feeder design.
Doug,
Personally, I solder the feeders to the individual track pieces and allow for expansion and contraction at the joints.
Tom
I have solder a lot of my track and that seems to be the trouble spots. My layout is in an unheated basement and I live in Pa where we a large variation in temperature and humidity.
When I start my next track laying job, I will coat the inside of the rail joiners with Penetrox A electrical joint compound. This will allow the joints to move, prevent oxidation, and insure excellent electrical conductance.
(side note: Penetrox A will prevent thread galling of aluminum threads. I use it on any light bulbs that are outside or in damp locations. Works on aluminum pipe threads too.)
I uderstand the expansion of wood causing issues, but is anyone seeing any problems with buckling with a foam base? I would also say that the trend of using calk to attach the track sections would be more forgiving than spiking the track down. I just can’t imagine rails expanding that much.
If you solder you could get heat wrinkles, just like the prototype. I never solder any track. I try to only use new rail joiners so they are snug. I solder the feeder wires onto some joiners on the workbench to make it easier. I don’t like to solder.
