Soldering Techniques?

[RobertInOntario]

If you have to push down on a loco to make it run, look to cleaning the wheels and track, then check pickups.,I avoid soldering joints and feeders at switches and crossings as these are a bit more expensive. Most of my blocks aren't more than a couple of lengths of flex long. I've only had one expansion incident: we have this electric fireplace under the long bridge and the heat was cranked up. The unsecured flex on the bridge rose up about an inch in the middle.

Thanks, David & Andrew. Re the loss of current, it's the track that I have to push down on (not the loco) to restore the current. Sometimes when a loco stalls, if I move the track slightly -- whether it's horizontally or by pushing down on the track -- the loco starts moving again. This indicates a current problem in the track while the loco itself is fine.

Rob