Track wiring, N Scale

[jseese]

So I have my roadbed down and am looking to lay track. I am using Atlas code 55. I am going to gluing the track down with caulk. Afew questions:

- Should I solder mulitple sections of track first then lay on the roadbed?

- Being small scale (N) should I solder wires for my DCC before or after gluing to the roadbed?

- I am mostly using flex track so I would like to solder feeds to each peice but have seen a variety of suggestions on wire size. My layout is a 20 foot long "u" with 3 foot wide with larger 4 foot by 4 foot ends. I am using the Powercab NCE system. What size should I use for the main bus and for the feeds?

[Anonymous]

If you add a sufficient amount of feeders, you actually don´t really need to solder the rails. For curves, it pays off to solder 2 pieces flex track to avoid kinks, though.

Soldering feeder wires can be done after you have laid the track. I prefer to do that prior to laying the track. Give both ways a try and establish what works best for you.

[sschnabl]

I soldered the 22 ga. feeder wires to most of my rails after laying the track.  Some turned out okay, some are a bit of an eyesore that I will probably redo.  In my roundhouse area, I decided to solder the feeders to the bottom of the rail.  They are practically invisible.  As long as the joint holds up, there should be no problems.  I am much more pleased with this method.  As for bus wires, I don't think there is much price difference between 14 ga. and 12 ga., so I would go with the heavier 12 ga. just to be safe.

[jseese]

Did you use 22ga solid core wire for the feeders? Thanks for all the help!!

[wm3798]

I typically solder my feeders after the track is down.  You do get little blobs on the rail, but they can filed down or painted to make them less visible.  While soldering to the underside of the rail is better looking, if you have to shift the track or change anything, it's a pain to undo them.

I'm using Atlas c55 as well, and I solder most of the rail joints.  I've got a couple of expansion joints, usually at straight sections, but all the curves are soldered to avoid kinking.

Lee