@Scottyq posted:By far, I love the look of Atlas-O track. However I had a few challenges along the way. The plastic ties are problematic in that they are fragile, and the tiny plastic tabs used to hold the rail in place are very fragile, as I learned the hard way.
1 Question: I have an an Atlas 72 degree turn out that was damaged while deconstructing the last layout. The center rail came completely loose. I want to reattach it but most of the tiny plastic tabs are torn off. I'm thinking a few drops of hot glue where the tabs were will hold it in place long term... thoughts? Other solutions??
1 Solution: While attempting to solder power feeds directly to the rails, I could not get the timing right (how long to hold the iron to the rail/solder). The result was a coupe of "test" rails melting the plastic ties. I know Atlas sells pre-wired rail-joiners, but I already have rail joiners, so the additional expense seems frivolous. My solution was to take some scrap plywood and cut a bunch of shallow grooves in it, then pressed the joiners upside down into the wood. I cleaned the bottoms with the Dremel wire brush and went to work wiring up each joiner by soldering some 18 ga wire to the bottoms.
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For reattaching rails, Slugger has the the solution I would prefer. HO or O-scale spikes tapped down thru slightly under-sized drilled holes. Just like the real thing!
For soldering to rails, you might try a trick that's widely employed by HO and N-scalers. Remove a few plastic ties from where you want to solder. You shouldn't have to remove more than 2 or three ties at the most. Do your soldering and cool down each soldered joint immediately with a damp sponge. Or make use of heat sinks (basically little metal clamps clipped on the rail that help absorb excess heat radiating out on either side of your soldering joint). After the track sections are mounted on the layout, you can slip the cut ties back under the rails. Slice the spikes and tie plates off if you have to in order to slide them under the rails. A little glue to the roadbed will hold them in place if necessary.
