Transition curves in C track

Transition curves in C track

If you're lucky enough to have sufficient space on your layout to be using the R4 & R5 C track curves, one might consider use of the R9 curves 24912 (reverse curve for the wide radius points) as transition curves to ease the way into corners. This improves the look of the curve immensely, improves the appearance of rolling stock with a lot of "end overhang", and makes a nice smooth ride for your Preiserlings instead of them ending up in hospital suffering from excessive G forces and head injuries caused by being thrown from their seats. I tried this on my layout using a 24912 followed by 2 x 30degree R5 curves (24530) then another 24912 to ease out of the curve again. The A & E department at the Preiserling hospital was virtually bereft of patients as a result.
 
Unfortunately the 24912 curves are only 12 degrees, so if the desired curve is a full 90 degrees, one is left a total of 6 degrees short.  This dilemma is easily solve-able with a hacksaw or dremel, and chopping a 6 degree piece off another R5 section to make up the difference is relatively simple. Count the total number of sleepers in your 30 degree piece and divide by 5 to find the 6 degree point.   The chopped off piece can be joined normally at the "good" end and it's pretty simple to run a couple of wires off the lugs to carry the power and ground through to the track section past the "chopped" end.   Providing the track is secured down firmly, a straight butt joint is perfectly satisfactory, and if you made your cut accurately, your Preiserlings will never notice the bump as being any worse than the rest of the rail joins, even in their un-sprung coaches.

So what to do with the 80% piece of R5 track leftover? One can shorten it more by chopping the other end off to use elsewhere, but be warned that once you do this, the centre piece (with no connector on either end) isn't so easily usable.  i.e. the underside of the rail itself doesn't seem to take solder readily, so the difficulty of making a decent electrical connection to it remains.  One could try just "jamming' a piece of wire between rail and track base to make a connection, but the desirability of doing this and then committing that track section to a fixed, ballasted, and "scenicked" piece of the layout remains in doubt (in my mind anyway). Maybe someone else has a good answer to this?