Does anyone have experience soldering track for droplines using Woodland Scenics
foam track base ?
My track sits right on top of foam tablr top. Have no issues soldering drops or joiners.
If your concern is melting the foam,perhaps a small piece of tin, like the top of a can, slipped under the track would work.
Although I generally use wires soldered to track connectors, I have just soldered wires to rail when necessary. No problems with the WS roadbed.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Just to clarify. Iam using a two inch foam base on 1/2 inch plywood, the Woodland Scenics track Road bed is glued to the foam. Since I have always used cork road bed ,I am concerned that the Woodlands Scenic foam road bed would melt or become deformed when I solder the drop lines for DCC. I generally solder drop lines every 3 feet or more frequently when needed. Thank you for all your thoughtful answers. Mark ( Casco Bay)
You could try soldering the leads before laying the track. My soldering iron slips are hidden by the ballast.
Hi Mark!
Welcome to the forums!!
I don't have any experience with WS foam track so I can't answer your question from personal experience, but I would suspect that the foam won't be damaged. Otherwise, we would have heard about it. Using a heat sink like a damp paper towel, or a reflector as was suggested, should eliminate the risk.
I think that the risk of melting ties would be greater, and that won't happen if the track and feeders are properly prepared. Lightly pre-tinning the track makes things go a lot faster. Also, getting the right bend in the tip of the feeder wire helps too. The ideal way to shape the wire is to start with a 90 degree bend that will sit parallel to the rail, and then go down the wire about 1/8" - 3/16" and put a 45 degree bend towards the rail (at right angles to the first bend) so the wire will naturally sit right against the web of the rail. Depending on the size and position of the hole you may have to adjust the point where the 45 degree bend is, but with a little practice the feeder will sit right where you want it to.
If I can make another suggestion that is based on personal experience, I would consider getting a long drill bit to make the feeder holes. We had a problem at the club with the drill chuck hitting the track after the bit passed through the plywood subroadbed when using a standard length bit. In a couple of places the chuck hit hard enough to bend the rail. Straightening out the bend was a royal PITA. The longer bit makes it easier to avoid hitting the rail. If you are using foam for your subroadbed it won't be an issue.
Keep us posted!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I did nothing special or different from when using cork roadbed when I used the WS foam roadbed. With a good clean iron (and a real temperature controlled soldering station IS a HUGE benefit to all types of soldering - and doesn;t have to cost a fortune, mine was $50) and resonable techniques, you should be able to get in and get a joint soldered in seconds, before there is any chance of the ties or roadbed melting. I solder my track joints and such without any sort of heat sinks clipped to the rails, and it's been many many moons since I melted ties doing so. Just make sure the rail is clean - a fresh piece of rail right out of the box is NOT clean. And the stropped end of the feeder. Use a little paste flux to help - a water soluable electronics flux, NEVER plumbing flux. The iron tip should be clean and shiny, if it's not, you will have to hold it in place that much longert to get the heat to transfer, which increases the chances of melting something.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker I did nothing special or different from when using cork roadbed when I used the WS foam roadbed.
Hi Randy,
I think there might be a bit of confusion about the term 'roadbed'. I wonder if the OP was referring to using WS foam 'Track-Bed' as opposed to cork roadbed. I'm guessing that you used cork 'roadbed' on WS foam 'risers'. Is that correct?
WS foam Track-Bed:
https://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/item/ST1471
WS foam 'Risers':
https://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/item/RISERS
I could be out to lunch. Come to think of it, I didn't have lunch today! That would explain it!
No, two layouts ago, i used the track-bed foam roadbed, on top of pink foam. I liked the idea of few seams, by using the long rolls instead of short pieces. My yard on that layout was laid on the panels of the N scale thickness they sell, instead of one strip per track. I did buy one pack of the inclines to experiment with but thelayout ended up not having any grades. The planned expansion around the rest of the basement would have had some grades.
Last layout I got lazy and went back to cork, only because I used the turnout pads instead of cutting and fitting each one.
Edit: as seen here:
rrinkertwo layouts ago, i used the track-bed foam roadbed, on top of pink foam.
Sorry, I was guessing a bit. Assuming that you didn't have any problems with the Track-Bed melting, that answers the OP's question quite clearly.