Best Track Joiners? & Should Top of Rail be soldered?

[NewConductor]

What's the best track joiners for HO scale?
Should the top of the rail and inside also be soldered then smoothed out?
I'm looking for the best possible way to make track connections, obviously so there are no bumps in the track that seem to de-rail my rolling stock.

[Doneldon]

NewCon-

I haven't noticed that brand of HO rail joiners is better then another. Be sure to use the same kind of metal, however. This is not true of large scale because there are significant differences in the way large scale rail connectors are engineered.

No, you don't need to solder your rails to keep them smooth except that it's helpful to do so when connecting flex-track on curves. Without soldering, you can get kinks. This would apply to hand-laid track, too, unless the trackmaster is really careful. There is another reason to solder at least some rail joints, however, especially if you plan to run DCC: ensuring a strong DCC signal and full power to your track.

DCC advertises that you can connect just two wires to your tracks and you're ready to go. Well, that may be true in an ideal world or with an extremely limited layout. In truth, long-term reliability on a DCC layout requires numerous connections. There is much disagreement about just how often this should be and I am unaware of any empirical data which conclusively says what to do. I wired my DCC layout so the electricity (and DCC signals) never have to cross more than one unsoldered rail joiner joint. I generally solder two or three pieces of rail together so I have feeders about every 4-6' with sectional track and every 12' or so with flex-track, assuming there are no short pieces, turnouts, etc., along the way. And, there is a reason not to solder all of it together: temperature and especially humidity changes can cause track and roadbed to change dimension a little. (Roadbed is much worse than rail in this regard.)

If the rails and/or roadbed are all one giant piece you can get kinks, dips and bumps in your track which need to be repaired. Leaving the occasional rail joint with a tiny bit of lengthwise leeway will prevent this in all but the most extreme examples of climatic changes. Garage layouts, especially, can react dramatically to climactic changes. This is also true for some basement and attic layouts but those environments can usually be controlled if one is willing to do the work and spend the money. Garages are pretty hard to fully button up.
                                                                                     -- D

[jward]

solder only the outide of the rail and rail joiner. heated properly, the space between the joiner and rail should suck the solder in. i don't recommend soldering the surface where the wheels ride.