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Offline amartinezv  
#1 Posted : 13 March 2021 09:57:37(UTC)
amartinezv

Spain   
Joined: 25/08/2004(UTC)
Posts: 320
Location: Madrid,
Hello everyone,

Lately I have read several times that the märklin M route is not recommended for digital, mainly due to the difficulty of obtaining or making the contact routes, unlike the K and C routes, in which it is very easy. Well, with this method, both straight and curved contact lines can be made without major problem.

How to make a contact track märklin M-track
Obviously this work consists of isolating a certain length of rail from the body of the track and giving it a connection to connect to an s88 or other devices to trigger automation.
It is valid for analog and digital.
The first thing to do is to make two cuts on a rail with a dremmel or similar.

20210223_133928.jpg20210223_133917.jpg

Then with a cutter or with a fine screwdriver we carefully open each of the claws or tabs that fix the rail to the body of the track.

20210223_134756.jpg

Once open we can extract the rail.

20210223_145148.jpg

Now we solder a cable to the rail.

20210223_145148.jpg

We cut a heat shrink tube the length of the rail, and we make an opening near the welding area of ​​the cable to the rail
We introduce the cable through the tube taking it out through the opening and we introduce the rail through the tube.

20210223_145548.jpg
20210223_150540.jpg

Now with we apply heat to the tube (with a soldering iron, a lighter or a dryer, I usually do it with the soldering iron itself), the heat shrink tube contracts and is perfectly adjusted to the rail.

We place the rail covered with the tube on the track and pay attention to whether the rail that aligned in height with the two pieces of rail that have remained on the track, surely the rail wrapped in tube is a little higher than the ends fixed to the track due to the thickness of the tube, then you have to flatten a little the sleepers of the track where the rail will rest, we do this with a small hammer and some tool such as a flat screwdriver, and you have to give very gently, a couple of Gentle blows are enough, we can put a piece of wood under the track to avoid its deformation.

Once this is done, we place the rail wrapped in tube, and we close the claws or fastening tabs a little, checking with a multimeter that the rail is isolated from the track, it is not necessary to tighten the claws too much, and it is necessary to prevent them from piercing in heat shrink tube.
And then with a cutter you have to cut the upper part of the heat shrink tube to expose the upper part of the rail.

20210223_152801.jpg

And that's it. Now we can connect the cable to an s88, a relay, diverter etc, for our automatisms.

20210223_154639.jpg

I have done it with white tube so that in the photos it looks good, but you can use black tube or paint it.

20201121_203035.jpg20201121_203025.jpg

Best regards
Antonio Martínez
marklin, IB, era 3, Train controller
www.raildigital.es/davidruso
thanks 6 users liked this useful post by amartinezv
Offline JohnjeanB  
#2 Posted : 13 March 2021 11:14:40(UTC)
JohnjeanB

France   
Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC)
Posts: 3,084
Location: Paris, France
Hi Antonio
Great idea. This is brilliant. There are even transparent heat shrink ​tubes

Cheers
Jean
thanks 2 users liked this useful post by JohnjeanB
Offline DaleSchultz  
#3 Posted : 13 March 2021 14:46:12(UTC)
DaleSchultz

United States   
Joined: 10/02/2006(UTC)
Posts: 3,997
great job!
Dale
Intellibox + own software, K-Track
My current layout: https://cabin-layout.mixmox.com
Arrival and Departure signs: https://remotesign.mixmox.com
thanks 1 user liked this useful post by DaleSchultz
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