Darryl sent in this question:

“I would like to know if I should solder all my track joints, or just use the rail joiners? I haven’t had any problems as yet, but I’m quite new to this. I read that jumper wires might be a better option allowing for expansion or contraction, given likely weather/humidity changes? Maybe I should solder the rail joiners as a back-up?”

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Jim asks:

“What is the best method to clean track other than a track eraser?“

John is looking at OO gauge and wants to know:

“What is the best way to ballast track and points?”

Lincoln sent in this question:

“I was wondering what is the correct spacing width between parallel straight tracks (HO), and does this differ from on curves? I presume curve spacing is different depending on the curve radius? I want to run some long freight trains and I am looking at buying some long passenger cars, so I want to have enough space between the tracks. Thanks in advance for publishing my question, and to any rail fans who can help out.”

S-curves can be a railroader’s worst nightmare, yet they are a feature of many track plans because they can add interest to a layout. If you are going to add an S-curve, plan it carefully. That means that you need to have at least one straight section of track at as long as your longest car between the curves. Otherwise, regular derailments might become unwanted events on your layout. Fixing a problematic S-curve can be exceptionally hard once the track is permanently placed.

One of the most challenging placements for an S-curve is just beyond a turnout.  Avoid having a curve in the opposite direction immediately after the turnout diverges.  Follow the straight section between changes of direction practice described above.

With the pressures of fitting everything into a layout, there will always be the temptation to make the curves tighter than they should be. This is typically fraught with problems, even if you have done some test runs with locomotives and cars around the curve.

Even if the trains run okay –

• Does the tight track curve look natural? If you are modeling a modern era railroad, rolling stock lengths are much longer these days than they were in the past. Long cars make the curves look even sharper than they are.

• Would a real railroad have curves that tight? The answer to this is always a resounding“no.” Real railroad curve radii are much larger than can be accurately modeled in a reasonable space. The best that can be done is to make the curves as large as your space will permit, then use some scenic tricks to distract the viewers from the appearance.

• What happens when you buy a new loco or longer car that won’t make it safely around the curve? This actually goes back to the choice of era you choose to model. A setting with large late steam era articulated locos is not a good decision for a very limited space.Logging and mining or switching puzzle layouts with shorter rolling stock are better choices if your situation requires sharp curves.

The golden rule is this: make the minimum radius AT LEAST as large as that recommended for the longest car you plan to run on your layout. That way you won’t have any regrets later.

Ian models HO and asks readers for opinions on dead rail systems – “Any thoughts anyone
if so best systems available please?”

Dead Rail Definition – One of two rails that are laid across a railway track-scale platform, but which are not connected with the weighing beam, and that will permit a locomotive, or other load exceeding the capacity of the scale, to move across the scale.