Hillman Ratchet Set
- Thread starter mike
- Start date
Great report, I totally agree, very useful piece of kit, you can get into tighter areas too, where there is no room for the length of the normal Allen key. Simple turn knob reverses the direction of the rachet in a second. I have had Hilman railclamps outside on my layout for 10 years and can recommend these too. Only failure was overtightening and snapping the bolt on rare occasions and overtightening the over the fishplate types fracturing the fishplate beneath.
Thank you for that review! i have taken off most of my LGB track joiners and put rail clamps on them. I am now a "rail clamp purist" as this has been the BEST investment in no-stalls, no-derailment track work. I have a indoor layout and now I know that the tops of the rails with dirty track has very little to do with power distribution to my engines.
What I have found is that new track will run for only so long without your trains "burping" and stopping on dead sections. But the problem is not the top dirty track...the problem is that dust and grime has got into the rail joiners between the track pieces, if you can prevent that from happening or lessening its occurrence you will experience much better running.
Forget the "spider wiring" that is recommended for good power distribution; its true i only have a indoor layout, but i currently use a 1.6 amp trafo that puts out 19 volts max...i have one main feeder on each block (i currently have four blocks). The thing that keeps my trains going fast or slow, without an unwanted "halt!" is rail clamps. Also you never have to worry about a derailment from track coming apart.
Always remove the factory joiner before you install rail clamps. This tool you purchased will help me and especially my brother who has an outdoor layout and for whom I will be buying this and many packs of rail clamps. He uses LGB MTS digital and this is the ticket to constant fun and minimal hassle.
I do not use Hillman clamps, I have found a gent on Ebay that offers very high quality clamps. I will post the company when I get the details.
Regards,
Tom M.
What I have found is that new track will run for only so long without your trains "burping" and stopping on dead sections. But the problem is not the top dirty track...the problem is that dust and grime has got into the rail joiners between the track pieces, if you can prevent that from happening or lessening its occurrence you will experience much better running.
Forget the "spider wiring" that is recommended for good power distribution; its true i only have a indoor layout, but i currently use a 1.6 amp trafo that puts out 19 volts max...i have one main feeder on each block (i currently have four blocks). The thing that keeps my trains going fast or slow, without an unwanted "halt!" is rail clamps. Also you never have to worry about a derailment from track coming apart.
Always remove the factory joiner before you install rail clamps. This tool you purchased will help me and especially my brother who has an outdoor layout and for whom I will be buying this and many packs of rail clamps. He uses LGB MTS digital and this is the ticket to constant fun and minimal hassle.
I do not use Hillman clamps, I have found a gent on Ebay that offers very high quality clamps. I will post the company when I get the details.
Regards,
Tom M.
Well as you may have read in other posts I have recently discovered Hillman railclamps and am slowly replacing joiners around my layout, starting with the obviously bad joins. Because most of my track is Peco I use the code 250 clamps. So far I have had absolutely no difficulty in using just a 0.35p Allen key to insert the clamps. It doesn't matter what side of the rail the bolts go, does it. (OK I know I am going to have a bit of a problem inside the short tunnel). I have also been surprised at the amount of dirt that has collected inside the rail joiners over a period of time, and am beginning to experience an improvement in current flow. I also see a secondary advantage in using the clamps for power connections.