02-05-2015, 12:43 AM
If the rails are soldered together, each becomes a single conductor without interruptions, just like your bus wire. I keep seeing this need for constant feeders for DCC, but it seems like a lot of work and a waste of wire. My DC-powered layout has over 200' of main line, all powered by two feeder wires. If you're not soldering rails together, then every length of rail requires a feeder - rail joiners are not reliable conductors of power. While a helix is unlikely to be ballasted or have its rails painted, these operations increase the chance that the unsoldered joiners will lose contact: without soldered joiners or, alternatively, feeders for every length of rail, finding such a fault becomes time consuming.
Wayne
Wayne