Soldering Wires To Track

Sure - drill a small hole into the sides of the connecting rails into which a small screw can be threaded in. Strip a small amount of insulation at each end of the wire you are using and wrap the ends around the screws and tighten down. You may also be able to solder the connection at this point. 

Bobby....why is this in the 3-rail scale forum?  This is NOT a 3-rail scale topic rather you are asking about a product made specifically by MTH.  PLEASE post in the proper forum.  I have moved this to the proper forum.

That's referred to as the "screw-it" method and I've used it all over my layout on Atlas switches. It's best to tin (with solder) the wire bundle that will go into the hole and then there's the itty bitty machine screws you need. But yeah, lots easier than holding a soldering iron to the rail and watching the plastic melt.

I've soldered a ton to Atlas solid rail, I can't imagine it's any different for the MTH solid rail.  If you're soldering between joints, don't try to directly solder the joint, it'll crack and fail.  You want to solder a small wire jumper over the track joint.

I just use my Dremel cutoff wheel at low speed and scuff up the track near the bottom and then solder it with my Weller 100/140 gun.  I've soldered a ton of Atlas track that way and never melted any plastic.  The trick is not to keep the heat on too long, that's assisted by using enough heat that you can be in and out before the plastic notices you're there.

Nickel silver solid rail is easy to solder with just a little cleaning and a non-acid flux. Use a small-gauge feeder (I use short pieces of 18 or 20 gauge solid wire for my code 148 nickel-silver 2-rail Micro Engineering track) for the connection to the rail itself, then connect that to your bus wire under the table. Or use the small wire as a jumper across a joint, as described by gunrunnerjohn, above. I have not had any problem with melting the ties when using a small feeder with proper preparation. The extra effort of drilling and tapping holes for the connections seems unnecessary to me.

@B Smith posted:

Nickel silver solid rail is easy to solder with just a little cleaning and a non-acid flux…

I repaired more than 5,000 CB radios back in the 70s and 80s, plus TVs, and other equipment. That’s tens of thousands of solder joints. Over my years in the model train hobby I’ve made thousands of solder joints, including hundreds of them on Nickel Silver track in both HO and O scale.

In all that time and all those solder joints, I NEVER, EVER used flux. I used rosin core solder and let the rosin do the “cleaning” work. Using a separate flux makes it a lot more difficult to do, and is simply not necessary.

@Rich Melvin posted:

I repaired more than 5,000 CB radios back in the 70s and 80s, plus TVs, and other equipment. That’s tens of thousands of solder joints. Over my years in the model train hobby I’ve made thousands of solder joints, including hundreds of them on Nickel Silver track in both HO and O scale.

In all that time and all those solder joints, I NEVER, EVER used flux. I used rosin core solder and let the rosin do the “cleaning” work. Using a separate flux makes it a lot more difficult to do, and is simply not necessary.

You chimed in before I could, you are correct. I rebuild antique radios and you know there is lots of soldering. I have rolls of multiple types makes the job much easier.

craig

PennCentralShops

I've soldered a wire or two myself, and the only time I use flux is if I'm soldering to structure as a rule.  Just soldering wire or track, I've always found that the rosin core solder had plenty of flux for the job.  I use flux if I'm soldering larger chunks of brass/steel together.

When adding a stack to a smoke unit, I do use flux.

Rosin core solder and a higher wattage gun work for me on track (tubular). I clean the rail first with a small grinding wheel to get a clean surface to attach too.

Bob

I agree -- rosin core solder is usually just fine and nothing else is really needed. I also use pre-tinned solid wire for the feeders (I bought a large roll years ago on sale at an electronics store).

@RSJB18 posted:

Rosin core solder and a higher wattage gun work for me on track (tubular). I clean the rail first with a small grinding wheel to get a clean surface to attach too.

Bob

That works for Gargraves as well; as long as it’s not stainless. I somehow ended up with a few pieces of stainless. Of course it was in a spot where a connection was needed. I drilled a hole horizontally under the railhead; and inserted the pretinned wire while heating the rail and adding additional solder.

Thanks all for your advice. I am finding more & more poor connections between sections of MTH Real Trax. I need to perfect a soldering technique with flux core so I can put jumper wires across open joints.

When soldering track you need a high wattage iron ; because the heat dissipates down the rail. Tin the rails first and tin the wire also. Hold the wire against the rail with a wooden stick or non metallic soldering tool. Apply the iron holding the wire to the rail and remove the stick. Apply a little more solder to the rail and wire with out touching the iron. You want the solder to flow without direct heat. Put the stick back on the joint and remove the iron. Hold the stick firmly until the joint cools.

Scrape the rail spot to soldered to bare metal with an old pocket knife.  Usually flux is not needed with rosin core solder.  I used an old Weller 8100, 100 watt soldering gun which worked fine for a hundred are so wire to rail joints 44 years ago.

Charlie

I use my 100/140 Weller gun.  I lightly scuff the rail with my Dremel tool, then tin both the rail and wire.  I'm pretty generous with solder on the rail, and I then just apply heat and solder the wire to the rail.  No need for more solder, I've done hundreds (could be several thousand) track drops this way, they all worked fine.