rail joiners

[1train]

I'm a first time model railroader using atlas code 83 track. Which is the best to use the metal or plastic rail joiners.

[Anonymous]

Tom,

You use metal joiners to continue the flow of electricity. The only time you use plastic joiners is to insulate the track.

Hope that helps.

-Wolv33

[Anonymous]

I also highly recemend that you solder your rail joints on the out side of the rails to insure a good flow of currant. The metal joiners are OK, but they loosen up and don't hold very good as time goes. So at the joiner, use a solder and flux with NO acid in it, put a little flux on the outside of the rail below the rail head, touch your clean soldering tip to the inside of the rail to heat it up, and place the solder to the OUTSIDE wear the flux is. It should suck the solder right in the joint, Remove the soldering iron and do ALL the joints the same way. Be carful not to touch the ties with the iron or they will melt bigtime, and it's a real good idea to get a couple water soaked cotton balls and put themontop of the rail about 1/2 inch either side of were you are soldering to keep the rest of the rail cool so you don't have the melting problem away from were you are working. It's not hard to do, Just takes a little time and patientes. As Wolfy said, the only time you use the plastic joiners is when you need to isolate at track were you may want to flick a toggle switch to park engines on a siding or something like that, then flick another switch to make another engine on another siding go without removing the engine from the track. Hope I helped.......Jamie

[Anonymous]

In the absence of soldering equipment, I have used a
ShORT nose pilers, pressing down on the joiner ends before forsing it onto the rail ends.
Then I nail down the track.

The plastic joiners are installed only to segregate track power into blocks or zones.

(----1------X-----2----)
(----------------------)

The X is the plastic joiner,#'s 1 & 2 are metal rail power lead joiners, utimately connected to an Atlas connector switch(similar to a light switch,
then to your power pack.
You now have two segregated power zones.

Your hobby shop probably carries the short form atlas electrical manual.

[1train]

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to stick with the metal joiners. Please, if you have any other advise about anything, let me know. I am assembling from atlas level #2 HO layout #13 so far it's going pretty good any advise will be helpful. (tricks of the trade)
Thanks, Tom

[1train]

Let me ask you a question. If I do soldier the outside of the rail joiners, what do I do if I want to change the track layout?
Tom

[1train]

Let me get this straight. Do I alternate metal versus's plastic and "crimp" the metals?
Thanks, Tom

[Anonymous]

if you wi***o create Blocks or segregated zones, then you would substitute plastic joiners in place of metal which carries the electricity from one rail to the next rail.
Look at a round wall clock.
You install a plastic joiner at 12 o'clock and again at 6 o'clock and the rest with metal joiners, two being power metal feeder joiners.
Install one power metal joiner at 3 o'clock and a second power metal joiner at 9 o'clock.
You now have two blocks, one block between 12 & 6 and a second block between 6 & 12.
If you don't want blocks, you don't use the plastic joiners.
The blocks-zones allow limited muti engine operation on the same track.
You must connect the power metal feeders to an atlas connector(similar to a light switch,on/off) and than to your power pack.
As Train A gaines speed on Train B, you turn off the power between 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock, momentary stopping Train A, thus allowing Train B to catch up, then throw on the connector switch.

[1train]

Charles, That makes sense! Thanks for the advice.
I'll stay in touch.
Tom

[Anonymous]

Tom, want to e-mail me direct, that's fine.
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Sorry it took me so long to respond to your question. If the joints are soldered and you want to change the track plan, A razor blade or dremel tool is used to cut the track right next to the rail joiner and the section of track can be removed. If you want to put in a switch, just lay the switch on top of the track were you want it, cut out a section the same size as the switch using the switch to measure, and drop it in. I have also unsoldered track, but it is a little tougher to do. A solder sucker from Radio Shack and a little pulling action along with trying to hold the hot iron on the joint is sometimes a two person job. Hope I answered your question.....Jamie

[Anonymous]

I've got a question about using plastic rail joiners. I'm doing a very small HO layout with Atlas code 100 flextrack and turnouts. I want to isolate a few stretches for locomotive parking and one reverse loop. I'm concerned about using plastic rail joiners, however. I'd like to solder the joints, and the location of the plastic rail joiners would be on curves between the turnouts and the flex track. I'm concerned the track won't stay in the proper position. I also plan to glue and nail the track onto the roadbed. With this be enough to hold things straight with the flextrack?

David

[Jetrock]

Yes, it will. You can't really do separate electrical blocks or reverse loops without stopping the flow of electricity (you could use DCC to eliminate the need for blocks, but that comes with its own hassles, namely expense, but nobody has figured out how to do a two-rail reverse loop or wye without stopping the current somewhere!)

If you have the track nailed down securely, and are gentle about the way you lay out your curves and changes in elevation, you shouldn't have a problem using plastic rail joiners. You can use some rail spikes to provide extra holding strength around trouble areas if you are worried about secure trackwork--and if you're gluing AND nailing the track to the roadbed, that should be very secure indeed. And keep in mind that ballasting also helps hold things together, since the ballast is glued in place.

Some modelers who don't like the plastic rail joiners simply stick a bit of styrene in between two gaps in the rail, and file down the edges so it matches the rail's profile. A little more work than I like, but an elegant and low-profile solution.

[dehusman]

I use atlas N-scale rail joiners on HO code 83 track.

Dave H.