Am in the middle of laying a bunch of track and thought i'd share some thoughts while my eyes are resting. I got a great deal on a bunch of the 9" sectional track from IHC. I solder 4 pieces together to get 36" long pieces- by dipping my rosin core solder in flux i get a real good spread of the solder without my usual lumps, so solder joints are hardly noticeable, then i spray the whole section with dollar store flat black, then red primer just aimed more towards the rails. This gives a good weathered look and makes the sectional track joints hardly noticeable. I am also soldering wire to the bottom of track connecters and using these to connect the 3' sections after i dremel off the weathering at the connections with a wire brush-can hardly see the wire and still good electrical connection. All that's left then is brightboying off the top of the rails for coductivity. I use 3' super flex on all curves, and laying this goes much faster and smoother by using the trick of soldering the joints together towards the end of each piece before i finish curving it and tacking it down- smooooth curves with no kinks at the joints this way. This is the first time track laying has been actually fun. Curt
I hope you got a really good deal on the track. It sounds like a lot of work to me but the end results are what counts. I too solder the electrical feeds to the bottom of the rails. Having the electrical feeds on the outside of the rail really stands out. If it looks good to you then it is great.
NC; 9" pieces cost .14 apeice- that's fifty six cents per three feet section- worth a little time, and i'm lucky enough to have lots of time to play RR- about 7 hours a day. Lots of different projects keep me from getting bored with one thing. Curt
