I am a novice to model railroading and am wondering if it is possible to solder the very small gaps that are between some of my sections of track. I know there sholdn’t be any gaps, but being a little new to the hobby my track isn’t perfect. Is there a way to solder the gaps and if so what kind of solder do I use? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks
the only place the rail should be soldered is at the rail joiners or attaching a wire to the rail…if the gap is too wide you’re going to risk melting ties because it’s going to take too long to fill in the gaps with solder exposing the rail to too much heat…a better way would be to take thin strips of sheet styrene plastic and force it into the gap…glue it in place with CA glue and let it dry…once the glue is dry, whittle it down with a hobby knife until it conforms to the shape of the rail…chuck
Solder the joiner itself and then use some JB Weld epoxy to fill in the gap. When dry, file or sand smooth. JB is semi electrically conductive.
I recently soldered my track together and ran across this same thing.
I can’t recall what I solder I have, but it has a low temp melting point. (I am at the office) My Soldering Iron was set at its highest temp. The solder melted almost immediatly and filled the gap. If I held the iron to the rails to long the solder flowed down, but if I was careful and did not heat everything up to much, I was able to leave a glob that filled the gap. I then used my mini file to get the inside and top of the track smooth and all is well.
Afterwords I used some metal poli***o smooth out the small scratches left by the file.
I am not sure why, but the ties never melted. Unless I slipped and hit them direct with the iron.
by the way, [#welcome]
Good luck
I have done this many times, both on my home layout and at other modeler’s layouts. The real key is to have a good heavy duty soldering gun (old Weller 150/250 watt) and very small diameter solder (.032). The tip needs to be a piece of #12 copper wire. I use this instead of the regular tips as it is cheaper and I can bend the tip to fit into places the factory tips will not go. Also the tip does not have the large end that will retain the heat. I can get in and out without melting the plastic ties this way. The #12 wire heats faster and hotter than the factory tip does.
You just need to heat the tip up on the gun and then wet the tip with the solder and then just apply the tip to the joint and apply the solder. Once the solder begins to melt into the joint release the trigger of the soldering gun. Keep the tip in contact with the joint and keep feeding the solder into the joint a little at a time.
As the solder melts it will draw the heat out of the solder tip and begin to cool down rather rapidly. This is where you can fill in the gap just as the solder tip and the rail looses enough heat to melt the solder. The solder gets into a plastic state and will not flow as it does when it is real hot.
Now once the solder and joint cool go in and file the area to match the rail. It will take some practice to get it right but it can be done. If you get too much on then use a desoldering braid and reheat the joint and remove the solder.
Practice, practice, practice
BOB H – Clarion, PA
I believe that is what I need to do is practice. I was using the solder that came with my soldering iorn, I believe it was the rosin type and maybe that was not the best to use. I thinnk I need to just practice on some old pieces of track.
rosin core solder is what you use…do not use the acid core…it’s for sweating plumbing joints only …be sure you use soldering paste also…daub a little paste where you entend to solder and then solder it…the solder paste cleans the metal and will also help the solder flow more evenly and rapidly…chuck
I use Electronics Solder (.032 dia) and is made to solder components to printer circuit boards. This is only type I have found to work well. The small dia. allows the heat to melt it quickly.
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Dittos on using .032 solder for this. It melts much quicker, allowing you to get in and out without melting the ties.
I can and have done what is asked here, but in the long run, I suspect that the differing expansion rates for solder and nickle steel will make properly fitting the rail a better option. So far, all my “fill joints” were in sections of track that have been replaced, so all I can say is that it works in a temporary setting, and the idea of using it as a long term solution makes me nervous.
I ended up soldering all of my rail joints, except where I have a block. So far (in the 5 plus years) I have not had any problems to speak of. The only time I started to have problems is when the temperature of the basement gets up into the high 60’s and I had the dehudmifier off for a week. Then I began to see sun kinks in my rails. I do not have much of of my track ballasted yet so the track was able to move some with the higher humidity levels. As soon as I had the dehumidifier running again the track returned to normal.
BOB H - Clarion, PA
I was told that the key to soldering is that you are trying to get both pieces of metal up to temperature and you need to make sure that the solder is in contact with both pieces of metal. I also find the paste really speeds up the process and reduces the amount of heating to the tracks.
NG
Curt,
Welcome. If you run a search on soldering you will find many people have asked questions about if before you. Within the past month there have been several good descriptions that you would find valuable to your learning the new skill. Good luck.
Curt, it takes a little practice, but you’ll get it. The basic points have been made: 1) sufficient heat for the gun (Weller 150/250); 2) a tip that allows you to put that heat on the spot; and 3) .032 solder.
Again, something I am new at is asking questions on this site(forum). Where exactly do I do the search to find out more informative information on soldering as it was suggested I do? The information I have received so far has been helpful and i would just like to receive more info. Thanks.
I’ve used a rather heavy gage solder that I got at Home Depot, and as a result have always been frustrated with that particular task. It takes a long time (long is relative) to heat up and melt. I think it’s designed specficcally for plumbers using propane blow torches! I will definitely be moving to the .032 Electronics Solder. Thanks for the tip! Now soldering will not be as big a chore. 
Trevor
There is a search function at the top of the page. Just type Soldering in the box and you will get get pages of hits. Some of it is useless conversation like " I soldered track this weekend" but there are also many good threads on the topic.
All good info on soldering curtv. I’m from the old school as I prefer a 30 Watt Iron for my rail chores and also for most of my electrical work. Use a high quality electronics solder/ rosin core and paste. CLEAN all joints first with a burnishing tool. (Micro-mark has these) Basically a wire brush with a small tip with tightly packed bristles. Apply your heat, and then touch the solder to the joint. Gap filling methods described above will have to do as solder won’t do a good job.[8D][^][:D]
Try to avoid “cold” solder joints. A cold joint is one, which the solder was not heated sufficiently to make a good contact, or where one of the components was moved while the solder was cooling. Look for a nice shinny color when you finish soldering.
This is a quality control problem in the electronics/automotive/computer/appliance industries. Many problems can be fixed by inspecting the joints with a magnifying glass and reheating any “suspect” connections on the board. As others have said, get some old track and practice.
Good Luck,
Jim