Track clamps.....

That's a cracking price
 
Has anybody on here used this 4-screw style of clamp yet, as opposed to the Massoth style which has a profiled notch on one side to hold the rail foot, and just two screws on the other side?

Just wondering how they compare, both in use and in ease of installation?

Once you've paid the shipping from Germany, they're actually about the same price as buying a bulk pack of 50 Massoth-type ones from, say, GRS - so it will be interesting to see which style folks think are better/easier when they are pretty much the same cost-wise.

Jon.
 
Zerogee said:
Has anybody on here used this 4-screw style of clamp yet, as opposed to the Massoth style which has a profiled notch on one side to hold the rail foot, and just two screws on the other side?

Just wondering how they compare, both in use and in ease of installation?

Once you've paid the shipping from Germany, they're actually about the same price as buying a bulk pack of 50 Massoth-type ones from, say, GRS - so it will be interesting to see which style folks think are better/easier when they are pretty much the same cost-wise.

Jon.
Click to expand...

I have something similar on my railway, I used them as reinforcing for my slide on joiners when the join was in the middle of the curve.

They are called "The conductor" and are available from http://www.roll-ez.com/.

Their main purpose appears to be to improve conductivity but I used battery only hence the reinforcing use.

I will keep them in mind when construction starts on the next layout.
 
I've used that type, or more tried and rejected them... because they don't register positively, (because the space between the screws does not match the width of the foot)... when tightened, they tend to skew a bit and don't have equal bite on the rails.

Also, they do not align the rails like the ones with screws on one side and the other side "registers" the rails in alignment.

Greg
 
Greg Elmassian said:
I've used that type, or more tried and rejected them... because they don't register positively, (because the space between the screws does not match the width of the foot)... when tightened, they tend to skew a bit and don't have equal bite on the rails.

Also, they do not align the rails like the ones with screws on one side and the other side "registers" the rails in alignment.

Greg
Click to expand...
I wonder if a Brass Washer would improve the issue? I have had to do this with the Peco Rail Massoth ones that do not tighten up at all without the washers.
 
Greg Elmassian said:
I've used that type, or more tried and rejected them... because they don't register positively, (because the space between the screws does not match the width of the foot)... when tightened, they tend to skew a bit and don't have equal bite on the rails.

Also, they do not align the rails like the ones with screws on one side and the other side "registers" the rails in alignment.

Greg
Click to expand...

The new type under discussion here does appear to have a wide groove machined into the top surface into which the rail foot sits to ensure alignment - did the ones you tried have that, Greg, or were they simply flat plates with screws?

Jon.
 
I have used them and they are a good fit but you do need to get both ends in sync before the screws can go fully home. It does take a bit extra effort but is easily achievable
They are not good if you are trying to 'force' a less than straight rail to match up while in situ.
I wish that they also did 'over-joiner clamps
 
Jon you are absolutely correct, for some reason, the pictures I "thought" I saw had the notch narrower than the foot of the rail. Going back and looking carefully shows that the foot indeed sits in the milled slot.. that should completely solve the "skewing" issue, although you want to be sure your rail foot matches the slot.

I'd swear the first pictures I looked at did not have the groove machined with square sides, but more looking like a mild depression... I must not have looked carefully.


Ahhh... this picture below is what I saw, and it did not appear the milled area allowed the rail to sit down inside:
s-l500.jpg


The "far side" of the slot looks like a curved surface.. but other pictures show a nice square edged slot milled in and the rail sitting in their nicely.

All that said, trying to "pull in" the ends of rails on a curve would be a pain, you'd probably need to twist the end of the rail to go into the groove.

I'm more than happy with SplitJaws and I really do not want 4 screw heads staring up at me... these are the tradeoffs, clearly easier to get to the screws if they point up.

Greg
 
Many many years ago These were made by San-Val but with a large screw type head instead of the allen screws shown in the photo's. I had a local machine shop make me up a batch in stainless steel but they were not a success I'm afraid and finally they were consigned to the scrap pile. They were a bit obvious to the eye even with my ballasted track and the screws would always come loose but maybe that was a problem with the materials I used rather than the design.
 
The screws, being stainless, will be obtrusive for quite some time.. The brass should tone-down reasonably quickly..

?Can you get a solder tag under these, like you can with the Massoth offering?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom