Pin Brazing On railway lines the signal current is led through the rails and this requires special contact connections at the rail joints. Copper straps are used which become brittle after welding and brazing. Attaching these was a major headache for engineers for a long time. AGA's pin brazing equipment solved the problem. This method involves brazing the cable shoes to the rail ends using an electric pistol for such a short time, about a second, and at such a low temperature, that neither the copper nor the rail steel is damaged. Pin brazing is still used by railways both within and outside Europe and is now marketed by the company Bright-Bond.