You apparently have the skills. The better way is to solder the courses back together, and that could have been done with the same torch.
I too use the brass bar rail, but screw it together with rings underneath, using 2-56 brass F/H screws before soldering. With the right flux, the solder just leaps in there.
Too late now, but when the Hines Lines show up, they go for $150-$300. And the Scale Craft K4 has the L1 boiler, but its taper is not like the big USRA.
Very nice work!