I am moving toward completing an L shaped switcher layout that's about 11' by 7'. I'm using Peco flex track and turnouts. The benchwork is complete and I now have @half the track down.Nothing is glued or tacked down yet. My DCC system is the MRC Prodigy Advance Squared. None of the track has soldered connections except a joint that is in a curve (joining two flex track sections). I've been running locomotives on the partially completed layout and feel proud I've made it this far. Power to the track is now only via two aligator clips attached to the MRC command unit. For awhile I marveled at having the near complete trackage fully powered and wondered why feeder wires would be needed at all. I found out 'why' when I threw a a trailing turnout between my loco and the sole aligator clip powered connection......dead track created there. Surprise for the novice; but made more sense than any of my reference readings as to why feeders would be needed (e.g. 'experience is the best teacher').
One upcoming weekend, I will be adding feeder wires to the layout. Soldering the joint in the curve was my first soldering experience. It occurred to me that with the feeder wire soldering, one rail will be right in front of me and the other will be near the back of the 18" shelf at some sites needing a feeder. @4 inches from the back will be the tightest feeder wire task. This is going to be a task with a mirror and a surgeon's hand, huh? I guess the alternative would be to pull up the track and solder the 'far side' of the detached track in whatever safe and comfortable way I could come up with? I hesitate to do this as I spent quite a bit of time placing the track 'just so' to have good connections and be properly placed for structure footprints. I was curious as to how some of you handled feeder wires at the back of a shelf. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
123mike
I have some hidden track, so while I was in the track layout phase, before I soldered the track joints together, I figured out where I wanted feeders, marked the track ( two sections of 3' flex track ), drilled the holes, then removed the track, soldered on the feeders, ( each feeder is a 8" long wire, red or black, depending on the rail it's on ), put the feeder wires through the holes in the track bed, and finished laying the track, and soldered the joints. I then did the "under the bench" work, of attaching the feeders to the buss wires. I have feeders about every 4' to 5', and I have a small layout, with about 50' of continuous run single track main.
HTH,
Mike.
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I typically solder feeder wires to rail joiners on my bench, and then use those when putting down the track. If I feel I need a more solid connection, then I can just add a touch of solder to the outside of the rails where the joiner is. In general, though, I can avoid doing soldering in awkward places on my layout.
To make up the joiners with feeders, I take a piece of scrap track and put the joiners loosly on the ends. Then I lay them upside down and place the feeder tip crosswise to the joiner, generally holding it down with a tool or even a 9-volt battery, just something with weight to hold the wire in place. Then, it's just a touch with the iron and some solder and it's done. Remember, though, that the joint will hold heat for a while. Don't just grab it and try to pull it off.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
A Shelf Layout?
Well, you dont want the wires under the shelf, so clearly you will need to put them on top of the shelf. You make a little raceway, a trough, in say the back inch or two. You then attach your backdrop to the front of the trough to hide it. You can remove the backdrop to work the wires.
Wires from the raceway to the tracks can just be disguised with some ground litter.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
In tight areas like you have, you can solder the feeders to the inside of the rail where the flanges run. To do that, you have to be neat with your soldering. I recommend that you use AWG 22 solid wire for this, and don't use too much solder. Solder it down low on the foot of the rail. Chances are the flanges won't touch it. If they do, you can use a jewlers file to clean up the solder joint some. When finished, just paint the side of the rail where the solder joint is and you probably won't notice it anymore. I do that when I need to when some places are tight, so I know it can be done.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Hi 123Mike,
There are some great ideas here!
I am at the early stages of a large layout with all Peco products. I've only built a couple of 2x8 modules so far wich will be incorporated into the larger layout. With the track upside-down, I attach my feeders in the center of each piece of track between the ties.
I put alligator clips or hemostats on each track on either side of the attachment point, put a small drop of liquid flux on the spot using a microbrush and touch the pre-loaded iron to the spot. Then, I tin the wires, put a 90 degree bend in them and hold them to the track and touch the iron to them to make the connection. When cool I brush alcohol on the connection to remove any soldering residue. rarely any melted ties using this method. [15watt iron, thin electronics solder from Radio Shack]
I then drill holes in my roadbed and feed the wires to the bottom and use the same method to attach them to the main power line. I do like Lion's suggestion regarding a trough, and I have considered moving the main power line to the front of the layout and hiding the wiring behind a fascia that hinges down to work on it or add new wiring. That would make only the two feeders in each track section visible from below.I hope this and the other suggestions are helpful. Have fun!
Dan