Branch line wiring question

[drt7uk]

Hello,

 

On my new layout I will have a branch line, and wanted tips on how to ensure a good connection along the line?

 

Is the answer a bus wire?

 

Or will soldering each fishplate to the rails suffice?

 

My previous layout was not permanent and so I couldn't do any wiring/soldering. I was using Kato track and noticed that at some points the motor would jerk when it reached certain bits of the branch line (I think because of fishplates that were too loose).

 

The same EMU would run smoothly when put on my mainline, which was a loop.

 

I'll be using Kato track for the new branch line but it is on a baseboard now so I can wire, solder as I please.

 

Grateful for any advice!

 

Thank you, David

 

[AndyB]

Hi David.

I guess the answer would be no different for a branch line compared to any other length of track.

 

Best practice would be to have a power bus with droppers soldered to each section of track.

 

Don't rely on fishplates to conduct electricity.

 

Personally I'd not solder the fishplates. Should you decide to change your layout it would be more difficult. Also if your layout has any temperature changes then the track may buckle - better to allow for expansion and contraction.

 

You may find the erratic behaviour you've seen is down to dirt on the track.

 

Hope this helps. Andy

 

N.B. my text editor wanted to replace fishplates with fishcakes. Fishcakes may not be ideal for conducting electricity either! 

[DCB]

Soldering fishplates on RTR is pretty pointless you need them to move to cope with temperature changes.  I laid my garden line on the hottest days of summer and the gaps in winter are quite something, far more than the theorists suggest.    Indoors if you de burr the rail ends so the fish plates slide on nicely and don't use much more than 1 amp then you can have quite long lengths with no extra feeds, we have six sets of fishplates which is seven yards, 21 feet on one section laid 20 years ago which doesn't give any trouble.  The bit on a lifting section insulated and fed by a bus suffers voltage drop and trains noticeably slow over it.

Outside we have constant trouble with fishplates not connecting and bus wire leads coming unsoldered.  If laying fresh tracks I would use individual section bus wires alongside the track under the ballast shoulder to future proof it for DCC.

That way you aren't working upside down and repairs and track realignment doesn't require new holes.

You need sections for fault finding, If you don't and the whole layout is on a single bus and something trips with multiple trains running you have an impossible task in fault finding.   A loco with pick up on one axle is invaluable for testing.  If it doesn't crawl everywhere on the layout at walking speed some thing is wrong. Maybe dead frogs which I detest, or dead point blades?  The only locos I know of to need additional pickups are  Wrenn 8Fs where the wheelbase puts both end axles on the insulated frogs of a Peco Long crossing simultaneously.   If you go DCC bond the moving point blade to the adjacent rail.   Don't rely on the hinge.  I have several faulty ex DCC Layout points  where the hinge is blackened and burned and does not make contact.  Its why so many DCC locos need extra pickups to span the 60mmof electrically dead point blade

[RobinofLoxley]

As a general rule I wouldnt solder fishplates in order  to allow for expansion but if you happen to have any sections of 10cm or so then they can be soldered to longer sections without any impact. But it does depend on conditions - I know someone with a layout in a conditioned environment and no temperature changes who has soldered everything.

 

David, you get good connections on a loop because current can flow both ways around it, sidings or branches are immediately affected by any single poor connection. I would put droppers on all the long pieces of track on a siding.

[drt7uk]

Thank you all for your sound advice on this.

 

So far I've not found a need to have a bus wire for the OO9 branch line but will keep an eye on performance and (now I've finished the rest of the layout and have more patience) perhaps add it in future.

 

For the N gauge layout I - by chance - had just enough existing wires (Kato ones that are connected to fishplates that you just clip in) that I have been able to create a bus wire all the way along the branch line with minimal effort and no soldering and it's working well!

 

Here's the end result for anyone interested!