B Smith posted:I don't understand the point of soldering and filing a rail joint without using a rail joiner: if you are going to solder the abutting rails anyway, why not add the mechanical advantage of a rail joiner? The rail joiner becomes almost invisible after it's painted and it serves to keep the rail ends securely aligned.
I think it is important, whatever system you use, to solder an electrical feeder wire to every section of track, no mater how short. I have wired my layout this way, and the current supply is therefore completely dependable.
I agree 100% with this. I used Micro Engineering track and thought it's pretty fragile (especially the turnouts) when you install them, it looks pretty good and works okay once it's in place and you're not messing around with it other than cleaning it*
I used rail joiners everywhere, ran feeders to every single piece of track and soldered every joint shut. I didn't need frog juicers of special wiring to the turnouts as all my locos (Bachmann ten-wheelers and one Whitcomb 50-tonner) have all-wheel pickup and are long enough to span any turnout.
*One tip is if you're cleaning the ME turnouts with a bright boy or scrubbing block, never scrub away from where the rails diverge. Always scrub toward the spot where the tracks go different directions, as the rails on the points can easily pop out of the connectors holding them to the rest of the turnout.
