I am almost giving up. I am having a hard time getting my train to run outside so considering battery power.

In addition to Phils2um's excellent advice i can add that you can use two rail joiners to connect your power lines to the rails.
You only have to solder two flat ring type connectors to the two power wires and then put them under one of the screws of the joiner.
I think you have had enough advice now in these 101 replys, so be serious and first bring all the good advice in practice and start doing your job and do your next reply in here after you have done your job. Good luck!
 
Umm it is not a job ha ha. I do not have a job... This is a hobby. I am at a junction now as to wether I go to battery or stay with track power. Thanks. I am giving track power a very good shot and things are looking up.
 
Gerard said:
In addition to Phils2um's excellent advice i can add that you can use two rail joiners to connect your power lines to the rails.
You only have to solder two flat ring type connectors to the two power wires and then put them under one of the screws of the joiner.
I think you have had enough advice now in these 101 replys, so be serious and first bring all the good advice in practice and start doing your job and do your next reply in here after you have done your job. Good luck!
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Gerard, well said, however the UK saying "you can take a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink" comes to mid here.
 
OK, if you want to continue with track power, let's recover what you have.

Did you put grease in the rail joiners before assembling?

What types of track (which will tell us about joiners).

You REALLY need to get rail clamps or solder copper wire joiners. Let's not hear complaints about cost, the copper wire joiners will only cost you the $$ of a good soldering iron.

Clamps are more convenient and cost $$, period.

I have clamps, no issues on track power in 10 years. enough said....
 
What kind of grease should I put in the rail joints? Won't it just get washed away anyways? Today I had a good run. I almost shot a video of it but I still have the shell off if my engine. Then the tracks got all dirty and grimy again. If I stay with track power I need a very good track cleaning car. I do appreciate your input. If I was not here I would of bought stuff I do not need and have no use for. I did not have any joint issues today ...just one possible one which is not bad at all. So now I have power to the track and can almost say no track connection issues. Yaaa
 
Didn't we go through all of this already?

OK, still need to know what type of joiners, but once you have clean rail ends and joiners, any kind of automotive wheel bearing grease will work, get from NAPA, and I use the black stuff in the can, that has Moly in it.

There are fancier greases, but this will do. BUT!!!! If your rails and joiners are already oxidized you need to clean them.

Now, are you getting grease or what on the rails? How is this happening?

I KNOW I gave you a link on track cleaning.... go to the grocery store and get a swiffer and the wet pads, not the dry pads and not the one that squirts water.

The Swiffer is on the link:

Track Cleaning

Greg Elmassian web site on large scale trains and garden railroads, cigars, and computers
www.elmassian.com www.elmassian.com

Greg
 
Ok Greg I am shopping tomorrow and will get a Swiffer and pads. Thanks for your and every one else's help.
 
Especially when they are on the ground and a puppy who wants to play ball all over the tracks. My romano track cleaner can't keep up. I spray dollar store degreaser on the tracks to keep the train going.
 
Well if there are no bad spots I won't ... For 1.50 the container is probably worth more than what is in it. Comes with a sprayer too.
 
We use graphite grease in the rail joiners to reduce conductivity problems. (LGB sell this in a tube) The track is pinned down so it can't move and if we need to the LGB track rubber comes in. The action of the rubber in moving the rails does more to help than cleaning the tops imo.
 
craigwrdouglas2 said:
We have graphite paste as picture below (and a tin of castrol stuff that my dad had left over from the 60s). This is applied to the rail joiners. It helps quite a lot with conductifity.

View attachment 299765
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An alternative is coper-slip, Kopr-kote, copper anti-seize grease, often mistakenly called copper grease, which it is not, does a similar job to the graphite paste, but can be a cost effective solution, is used a lot and vehicle electrical connections to prevent corrosion.
 
I will see how things go tomorrow with the Swiffer anddd. I really like my garden railway just I am spending too much time maintaining it. As it is now it is not suitable for display. If the Swiffer does not work out I think I should go to battery power. Start off with the 9 volt I already have. Then keep an eye out for 14 v 2 amps. God Save The Queen.
 
TTaannggss said:
I will see how things go tomorrow with the Swiffer anddd. I really like my garden railway just I am spending too much time maintaining it. As it is now it is not suitable for display. If the Swiffer does not work out I think I should go to battery power. Start off with the 9 volt I already have. Then keep an eye out for 14 v 2 amps. God Save The Queen.
Click to expand...
Part of the fun of any hobby is the maintenance, or up-keep, and needs to be factored in when selecting your past-time.
 
I once belonged to a h o model railway club. Each member liked the hobby just we all had different things we liked best. I liked to bring a different combo each week. It did not always make sense but I would say you never know. Like having a CN pulling amtrack. I think I saw that once like 20 years ago in Michigan. I have a high maintenance house to take of. What I am saying is electric tracks the way it is going is more than I bargained for. And my track cleaning steam engine is not working out. ...it constantly derails on my r1 corners so more reason to go battery eh. Will get a Swiffer later today.
 
Battery sounds like the way to go for you with dogs, dirt and general issues that you are having with track power. There are many suppliers in US and UK of Radio Controlled systems, some supply suitable battery packs with wiring looms to fit it all together - no soldering. But you may have issues of cost with cross border tariffs to worry about also. Look at Fosworks UK. There are others as well.
 
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