track connection

[Anonymous]

iam starting to build a lay out and was told i should sauder all my track joint
together so i do not loose power through out the lay out. is this correct thinking?[?]

[Anonymous]

That's broadly true, but a better idea would be to install a power bus - a pair of wires running under the board carrying track power - with frequent feeder wires to the track. This is recommended for DCC and will help with DC control as well. I would suggest soldering track feed wires to the underside of rail joiners to make a neat job of it. Others may be able to advise as to a suitable gauge wire for these jobs - personally I would suggest adhesive copper strip (available in rolls like adhesive tape) for the power bus as you can stick it to the underside of the board and solder wires to it - no cable clips or other supports needed. This may be a bit more work but it's worth it in the long run - you'll have reliable DC running and be perfectly set-up to switch to DCC later should you wi***o do so. Hope this is of help!

[Anonymous]

Don't solder all your track joints. Only do those on curves where you are using flex track to keep the track aligned. Use feeder wires (18 ga) to each track section to insure good power: use 12 or 14 ga. for the main power bus if you have long runs. You don't say if you are going DC or DCC or if you are dividing your layout into blocks or not. More details would help get more specific feedback.

[IRONROOSTER]

The idea is to avoid relying on the rail joiners to carry the current. So by soldering the rails you establish a better electric path. On the other hand you need to leave some number of joints unsoldered to allow for track expansion/contraction - how many is debated, but the more constant your humidity and temperature are the less you need. This requires the running of extra feeders. There are many ways to do this, one of which Matt described above.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

The feeder wire is probably your best bet at determined intervals you should not have anymore than ten feet of track without a feeder espically if you are planning on dcc.Depending on the size of your layout waether you are using flex or snap track.I run a fairly large layout and I put feeders every ten feet with soldered connetions at different intervals to insure good current flow.A little extra time and effort while you are doing your track work will pay off many times over with smooth operation.