Lone Pine & Grizzly Flats Railroad

Soldering track jumpers.... I use Aristo track and I have soldered jumper wires on all the rail joints I use a method that a professional model railroad builder had posted on one of the lists (I think it was the old LSOL) it is easy and it works...
	(Above left)First drill a 5/64 inch hole, in the bottom corner of the rail/web pointing down so the drill comes out the bottom of the rail, 3/4 - 1 inch or so from the joint... (Above right)Second take a 8 -10 inch piece of #14 wire shove it in the hole, solder it using a regular 60/40 rosin core electrical solder, fold the extra wire under the track (Left)Finally hide the wire in the ballast
I was able to do all the joints on about 350 feet of track in one week-end. The only thing I'd do different today is use rail clamps on the turnouts and jumper wires around the turnouts, so it would be easier to remove the turnouts for repairs, also the electrical conductivity through any of the the switches is a weak point. One thing you need is a BIG soldering iron that will heat the rail quick, I used an old iron I've had around for years, also soldering rail on a warm sunny day will make heating the rail easier. By big I meant a BIG soldering iron.... The soldering iron in the picture is only 150 watts but the tip has enough mass to heat the rail and melt the solder almost instantly, I've never melted a tie.... FYI, that is a 12" ruler in front of the soldering iron... Building a resistance solder tool I have since built a resistance solder tool similar to the one in Vance Bass's article Resistance Solder Unit, (it's in PDF format so give it a while to load.) On mine I believe in the KISS method so here is how I did mine... I just used an un-modified battery charger put a dimmer switch and a foot switch on an extension cord that I plug the charger into, then I made the "work" leads that I clamp the positive wire coming from the battery charger onto and another smaller lead with a clamp for the ground/negative battery charger lead... Although I haven't done anything but play with it, it seems to work great... If you build one, let me know how you do yours and how it works.... Here is an e-mail from Vance discussing changes he would now make.. "...You can put the on/off switch anywhere. Some people recommend putting it on the primary side. Advantages: you can buy 110V footswitches for power tools, and just plug the battery charger in. When the switch is off, everything's off. Disadvantages: you can't walk into the corner hardware store and buy one. My plan put the switch on the secondary side for a couple of reasons. First, it didn't involve messing with the 110V line, and I wanted a beginner to be able to build one without having to work with the dangerous side of the transformer. Second, I didn't know about the power-tool switches at the time. Disadvantages: the biggest one is that you have to have a switch with a huge amperage rating. I finally found a 20A switch for my rig and it's held up nicely. But the first few switches, and the 24 gauge wire I connected them with, and the 1/4" music plugs in the box, all failed due to the heat generated by that amperage. This, it turns out, is the weakest part of my design, and after five years of using it I would do it differently if starting over. The ideal was to just string together as many pre-built (and tested!) components as possible. 20A momentary-contact push-button switches are not easy to find, either, so if you're going to have to hunt for a part, why not continue the "string of ready-built parts" design and just get one of those? Regarding cutting all the leads and resoldering the inside of the charger, don't bother, except perhaps to install a 30A fuse and dimmer. Leave the switch in one position and leave the box closed. (Some point out that low voltage and high amperage are the best combination.) Putting a dimmer on one side of the power line coming in will work fine. I had a roommate in college who built stained glass, and he mounted a wall outlet and dimmer in a junction box to control his 1000-watt soldering iron. Same principle here. Works a treat. Summary: do only what you feel completely comfortable and competent doing. Modify as little as possible (this is a safety statement). Did that help? regards, -vance-"