MTH track

This layout is now 18 years old and I have never experienced any problems with any electrical connections between the track.

I think that might be overkill. I have over 14 MTH realtrax switches on my mainline  and a multi loop realtrax layout about the size of yours that was permanently set up and ballasted around 2004.  I have never had any electrical issues and none of my realtrax is soldered, except for the star wiring attached around the various loops to the TIU.  I get all 10's for DCS signal strength. Now, when i first installed everything, i carefully made sure that all contacts were very tight before screwing down the track.  Here is a partial picture from 2007 -

Very nice layout Bob.  The train room also looks very comfortable, but in my case, with a room over a single car garage apparently designed to fit a Model T as nothing else will go in, even though the outside temp swings from the +90's in summer to the teens in winter, it is 22 outside right now, and 45 in my train room, the proximity to the house moderates my 11X14  room to a range of 90 degrees in the summer and upper 30's in the winter  with heat and air only used when I am out there, and most of the time not at all.  So my thought was that those friction contacts would get intermittent and might need some help.

@CALNNC posted:

Very nice layout Bob.  The train room also looks very comfortable, but in my case, with a room over a single car garage apparently designed to fit a Model T as nothing else will go in, even though the outside temp swings from the +90's in summer to the teens in winter, it is 22 outside right now, and 45 in my train room, the proximity to the house moderates my 11X14  room to a range of 90 degrees in the summer and upper 30's in the winter  with heat and air only used when I am out there, and most of the time not at all.  So my thought was that those friction contacts would get intermittent and might need some help.

Thanks for the compliment...I agree your situation is different from mine...I have heat in the winter and it barely gets above 75 in the summer.