N Gauge Forum

General Category => N Gauge Discussion => Topic started by: leshump1949 on September 27, 2013, 09:55:36 PM

Title: K.I.S.S
Post by: leshump1949 on September 27, 2013, 09:55:36 PM
 :doh: I am new on the forum,and what I want to know is :Has anybody missed a simple solution to a problem that I only discovered after 33 years of n gauge modelling.
What was it:I never thought of soldering wire to the underside of metal fishplates to supply power to the track.
Title: Re: K.I.S.S
Post by: guest311 on September 27, 2013, 10:07:56 PM
been doing it for years, so much easier than soldering to the bottom of the rail.

now peco supply them ready soldered, but at a fair cost, and only with a short wire.

I find it easiest to do a strip of them then split them apart, measure the length of cable needed and then cut off.
Title: Re: K.I.S.S
Post by: Newportnobby on September 27, 2013, 10:27:08 PM
Hi Les, and welcome to the forum :wave:
There has been much discussion about this with arguments for and against. See.......

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=12386.0 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=12386.0)
Title: Re: K.I.S.S
Post by: Bealman on September 28, 2013, 01:04:18 AM
Welcome to the forum mate - as NPN says there are divided opinions. Each to his own, I guess. My layout is very old and uses feeds directly to the rail. Being DC and not DCC it has many track section breaks, many of which were cut after the trackwork was fixed in place. Hence I had no choice other than to solder directly to the side of the rail. Sure, you get a 'blob' on the side of the rail, but with careful soldering it is hardly noticeable and even less so when the rails are painted.