Have you practiced soldering? If not, I'd do it on some test track before trying on the layout.
Perhaps getting a good book on DCC can give you an understanding of it. Kalmbach has one and Atlas also. I never knew the value of reading before starting anything until this hobby.
BigDaddyI'd recommend a good soldering station. Randy, one of the electrical gurus recommends this one, and I have been happy with mine.
I'll second that. I can't believe how vastly superior the Xytronic soldering station is to the Weller station that I had before. The Weller was a piece of junk. It was very hard to keep the tip clean and to control the temperature. The Xytronic is a breeze to keep clean and temperature control is very accurate.
Henry's link went missing out of the quote. Here is the link:
https://www.howardelectronics.com/soldering/soldering-stations/by-manufacturer/xytronic/lf-399d/xytronic-lf-399d-mini-type-80-watt-soldering-station/
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
to the forum. I'd recommend a good soldering station. Randy, one of the electrical gurus recommends this one, and I have been happy with mine.
Thermal paste is heat sink paste. While it may be conductive, do you want paste on the rails to collect dirt?
Solder paste, I think, is used for soldering things like the components on a decoder board, tiny stuff. It still needs a soldering iron.
mediocre_minis I was thinking about only joining the side of the track that doesn't move
I'm not sure if that means soldering all the rail joiners or something else. Some do solder all the rail joiners. I had issues with the underlying benchwork expanding and contracting, causing kinks in the rail.
If you are new to soldering, I would practice on a scrap piece of track. Ties can melt surprisingly quick.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
MisterBeasleyFeeders are needed on both sides, because current goes all the away around, out and back. This holds for both DC and DCC....
Mr. B is correct. However, for your small layout, a bus wire is overkill. It's much less work to solder the feeder wires to the rails at a point convenient to your power supply, then solder all of the rail joiners. This assures power to all of the track. If there's a section of track to which you want to control the power, gapping a rail and adding a simple On/Off switch will do the trick.
My entire layout, about 250' of track (not counting double track, industrial sidings, and staging yards), is all soldered together, with two wires feeding power to all of the layout.
Wayne
Feeders are needed on both sides, because current goes all the away around, out and back. This holds for both DC and DCC.
There are a couple of reasons right off the top of my head. First, the copper wire normally used for a complete bus arrangement is a much better conductor than the nickel silver rail, so there is less loss in the bus arrangement. Second, track connections are notoriously flakey. You can get away with the occasional weak joint with a complete bus, but if you depend on rail continuity for power, well, good luck.
I wouldn't use solder paste, just solder.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I am about to lay the track on my woodland scenics n-scale layout kit. I was thinking about only joining the side of the track that doesn't move and connecting that as ground and then run a feeder wire to each section of track for positve side. Would this work? Also has anyone tried using thremal paste instead of solder to make connections?