Track Feeder Wires

[rrinker]

 It helps _ I can do them without the helping hands gizmo, but it's MUCH easier with it. I can set up 2 at a time (joiner on desk, clip of the hands holding the wire in place) witht he tool, and churn out a batch in no time. Assembly-line style - first I cut a bunch of feeder wire to length, then I strip each piece, then bend the stripped end, then line up joiners and go to work.

                    --Randy

 

[richhotrain]

rrinker

 Seriously, just make them. For the price of a couple pair of the Atlas ones, you can buy a pack of 4 dozen plain rail joiners and a spool of wire. In a couple of hours you can make a dozen pairs or more of feeders. You don;t have to be super duper neat when soldering wires to teh joiners, but it does help to have a set of those "helping hands" with the alligatoer clips o you can position the bared end of the wire and the joiner and hold them in place while your hands hold the solderign iron and solder.

                 --Randy

 

That's th truth.  It does takes three hands, or two hands and an alligator clip, to make your own feeder wires, although it is worth it.

Rich

[rrinker]

 Seriously, just make them. For the price of a couple pair of the Atlas ones, you can buy a pack of 4 dozen plain rail joiners and a spool of wire. In a couple of hours you can make a dozen pairs or more of feeders. You don;t have to be super duper neat when soldering wires to teh joiners, but it does help to have a set of those "helping hands" with the alligatoer clips o you can position the bared end of the wire and the joiner and hold them in place while your hands hold the solderign iron and solder.

                 --Randy

 

[galaxy]

Here is yet another link to the rail joiners with feeder wires attatched:

{and you won't pay the hgh $3.95 or $4.50 per}

code 100:

http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detail.asp?Scale=HO&Item=150TRACK100&offset=50&ID=20012095

code 83:

http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detail.asp?Scale=HO&Item=150TRACK83&offset=25&ID=20014771

{If you wnat N scale, go to the Atlas section of the N scale lisitings}

[alloboard]

Thanks all for the links and information.

[BroadwayLion]

the LION just solders the feeders to the rails, almost NEVER to the joiners.

Can the be seen, well duh! subway systems have all kinds of wires hanging off of the tracks and infrastructure. I could surface mount a 12 ga wire, and it would just look like part of the scenery.

Indeed, just for the fun of it I surface mounted a huge 5.1Ω 5W sand resistor on the railroad. (It attenuates the speed on the down hill side of the main helix.)

 

LIONS have no problem hiding wires in plain sight.

[MisterBeasley]

The pre-made ones from Atlas use very thin wire.  I make my own with 22-gauge wire instead.  I make half of them with red, and half with black so I can color-code the two rails, which makes it a lot easier to connect them properly under the layout.

I take a small section of scrap track and loosely install rail joiners on all 4 rail ends.  This gives me a solid, convenient support for the joiners.  Then I solder the wires on.  LET THEM COOL.  Otherwise, you'll find how much heat the connection will transfer to your fingers right after soldering.

[PennCentral99]

A google search of "terminal rail joiners" (the exact product name) revealed numerous hits.

As others have stated, you can solder your own.  I prefer making my own because I solder the wire parallel to the the rail joiner instead of a "T".  It makes it easier to conceal and once the ballast is down, the wire is unseen.

[richhotrain]

TA462

Why not make your own?

So true.

That's what I do.

Rich

[richhotrain]

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/150-553

Rich

[Phoebe Vet]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atlas-842-Terminal-Rail-Joiners-Code-100-HO-1-Pair-/170604308756 

These?

[alloboard]

I once had a bunch of track feeder wires that I purchased from a hobby shop but I ran out. Where can I find those wires in HO scale that's connected to the metal rail joiners? I Googled then and found nothing. What online retailer has these so I can buy them?