I recently aqqired some track and an old but working BACHMANN power pack. what kind of wire would be reqired to hook the power pack up to the rerailer?
also, do you have to solder the track sections together for the electricity to flow through them, or is it optional? PLEASE HELP I AM STUCK ON THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!
As to wire, almost anything will work. Zip cord, (lamp cord) is good. The stuff used for lamps is usually 16 gauge which is plenty thick enough. The stuff used as speaker wire is thinner, (18 gauge) but still good enough. Basically any wire small enough to fit into the binding posts is good. It is possible to find wire so small that it gets hot, but you have to work hard to find stuff that small. Stranded will lay flatter than solid, but both will conduct electricity.
As for railjoiners. On new track, shiny rail and unbashed joiners, you just push the rails into the rail joiners and everything works. As the track ages, surface corrosion will interfere with electrical conductivity. Also lunched and loose rail joiners will fail to conduct. You can buy new railjoiners and or bend the lunched ones back to shape with pliers.
You can solder the railjoiners. Works good. But, you can no longer take the joints apart to put the track away, or to change your layout. If you are still carpet running, soldering is not such a good idea. If you have a train table or benchwork, and have a permanent layout in mind, go for it and solder.
I don't solder my railjoiners. I started with elderly code 100 track from a friend, and bought some new railjoiners. To insure reliable electricity I ran a wire bus around and under the main line. I ran feeder wires from the bus to the track every 6 feet or so. Works good.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
David has pretty-well covered it, but unless it's a temporary layout, solder all the rail joiners: anything that can be soldered can be unsoldered, too. I've moved or removed soldered-in and ballasted turnouts and track almost as easily as they were installed.
Wayne
thanks, guys.
If soldering rail joiners (I did), do take steps to prevent melting ties in that area. I use a fairly high wattage (100w) gun solder iron for that, but add alligator clips adjacent to the joint as heat sinks. I believe a better way is to use a lower wattage iron but still be wary, as that way it takes longer to heat the joint. You might want to read up on how folks approach that if you have not done it before.
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=site%3A%20cs.trains%20how%20to%20solder%20rail%20joiners&oq=site%3A%20cs.trains%20how%20to%20solder%20rail%20joiners&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i58.15767j0j7
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
The only place I solder joints is on flex track that has to be joined on a curve. To do this, solder the joint togehter before laying down that section of flex track.
As for soldering, there are great tutorials in the MR "how to" section of their website. Also, Fast Tracks has a good tutorial on how it is done (fasttracks.com). I struggled for a long time with this until I watched both of these videos.