Insulated rail joiners

[Ian McAulay]

Hi folks

I'm getting close to track-laying time on my layout. I'm using Peco track and in the past have always used Peco code 80 joiners. I've always found it quite difficult to blend the transparent insulated joiners in when I've been weathering track.

So, two questions arising from the above:

1 Any cunning wheezes to paint the transparent plastic joiners successfully? I've often found that track cleaning flexes the joints just enough that paint will eventually flake off them.

2 Does anyone know of brown or black insulated joiners that will fit? DCC concepts make brown ones for their 'Legacy' range of code 75 FB track, but I have no idea if they would fit code 80 rail.
https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/ros-legacy-track-insulative-joiners-oo-pack-of-25/

Thanks

Ian

[Graeme Dunbar]

I've got some I've had so long they have turned brownish of their own accord (bought in the Beatties Aberdeen branch closing down sale which gives an idea of their age).  :)

I wonder if staining the joiners is a possibility? For some reason I think they might be nylon, in which case they should take up dye.

[B.Meldon]

I have not had this issue.
I paint the side of the rails the fishplates, sleepers and ballast a uniform 'rust' colour. (Humbrol enamel.)
The track is always securely pinned down to a 1/4 (6mm) plywood track bed and fully ballasted.
I also pre-bend the flexi track on curves.
So perhaps the key is to stop movement at the rail joints??

[Stephen Rainsbury]

2 Does anyone know of brown or black insulated joiners that will fit? DCC concepts make brown ones for their 'Legacy' range of code 75 FB track, but I have no idea if they would fit code 80 rail.

We could always print them with brown/black resin!!   :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:  (assuming that we can make that work!! )   :laugh:

[Ian McAulay]

We could always print them with brown/black resin!!   :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:  (assuming that we can make that work!! )   :laugh:

That did cross my mind as a serious option, but sadly I don't think you can get resin that's mechanically strong enough.  :-[

[Ian McAulay]

I wonder if staining the joiners is a possibility? For some reason I think they might be nylon, in which case they should take up dye.

I'm fairly sure that I've seen Peco list them as nylon, but that may have been decades ago and may no longer be true.

I didn't know you could dye nylon. May need to experiment...

[andy1878]

Do you need rail joiners?
If the rails are laid well enough, in line and no kinks or strains, would a slither of plastlticard or insulating araldite or similar -  to keep the rail ends apart surfice?

Ive seen it done on larger scales but don't recall a mention for 009.

Just a thought.

[Graeme Dunbar]

I wonder if staining the joiners is a possibility? For some reason I think they might be nylon, in which case they should take up dye.

I'm fairly sure that I've seen Peco list them as nylon, but that may have been decades ago and may no longer be true.

I didn't know you could dye nylon. May need to experiment...

Rit dyes appear to have a good reputation (my previous knowledge was limited to Dylon) and they have a separate range for synthetics. I'd considered dying as an option for making my own foam scatter material (even bought some green dye) but I've picked up so much at closing down sales in Aberdeen over the years (Beaties, Brian Sherriffs, A1 Models, North-East Models, Modelzone) and elsewhere it hardly seems worth it.

If the rail joiners are indeed moulded from nylon that is good as it absorbs water so should take up the dye well. I found it is used with 3D printed nylon.

https://markforged.com/resources/blog/dyeing-nylon-3d-printed-parts

I'm half temped to try it myself...

[Ian McAulay]

Andy: A good thought, but I really do need to use joiners as I can't guarantee the rails staying in line. With handbuilt track I've used (in other gauges) in the past, it wasn't an issue as the rails were soldered to the sleepers and the sleepers were glued to the trackbed. I always cut the gaps after laying the track, so alignment was pretty much guaranteed. Peco 009 track on cork won't be so cooperative.

Graeme: Definitely time for me to experiment! Thanks for the link.

Ian

[Alan Feldon]

If your track is nailed down why would it move ? I never use insulated joiners  , merely leaving a gap with no problems .
Alan

[andy1878]

If your track is nailed down why would it move ? I never use insulated joiners  , merely leaving a gap with no problems .
Alan

Expansion. Things can go horribly wrong when the temperature rises significantly.
My first attempt at a sliding fiddle yard worked perfectly at home. First exhibition that was hot the neatly laid straight tracks, fixed at both ends distorted significantly. Had to cut expansion gaps to continue running.
YMMV.
In a stable environment unlikely to be a problem.

[Ian McAulay]

Expansion and the general flexibility of Peco track. The moulded track base is fairly flexy in itself, I have cork under that, so even if the next layer down is something rigid, there's already about 6mm of possible flex in the pins. In my case, the next layer down is 25mm of expanded polystyrene followed by 5mm foam core board. There's a lot of scope there for a little gentle track cleaning to leave unlinked rail ends out of alignment. I'm pinning the track down rather than gluing it (32mm stainless steel dressmakers' pins) so I need all the help I can get from the rail joiners.

I concur with Andy's comment re expansion in hot exhibition halls. The first exhibition layout I built (in my teens) was an N gauge one using Farish rather than Peco track. The track plan led to fairly short lengths of track and I left fairly generous gaps at the joiners, mainly because I liked the diddly-dum sound of the wheels over them. I count myself lucky on that, as at one exhibition which was in a marquee on a sweltering hot day, I was astonished to see that almost all the gaps had closed up in the heat. When the track cooled down again, the gaps re-opened, but not evenly, so I had to sort out a mix of some joints with wide gaps and some with none at all.

Ian

[Ian McAulay]

OK, so here's the result of the experiment...

I read the page that Graeme linked to, which was very informative: https://markforged.com/resources/blog/dyeing-nylon-3d-printed-parts

I bought a bottle of liquid dye concentrate from Amazon, the same brand as shown on that link. (I've never used liquid dyes before; my only experience is the various fabric dyes in the Dylon range, which are all powders.) Photo below.

I poured about 5mm depth into the bottom of an empty jam jar then added water from a recently-boiled kettle to get an approximately 4:1 dilution. I don't have a thermometer suitable for this job, but as the jar was now slightly too hot to touch, I'm guessing that the contents was at or above about 60C.

I dropped a sprue of rail joiners in (actually some 00 ones that I also want to colour) and left them for 5 minutes. I fished them out with tweezers (not easy to find in a totally opaque liquid!), rinsed off under the tap and dried on a piece of paper towel. The result is in the photo below.

The colour in the picture is pretty accurate: the rail joiners have been dyed dark green! Using brown dye! The dye has definitely soaked into the plastic; it doesn't rinse off. The fact that the dye has soaked in (I think) confirms that the plastic is nylon or a similar polyamide.

I did a second test with the joiners left in the dye for 10 minutes. The result was a tiny fraction darker, but not significantly so. And still green.

However, I call this a success. Translucent dark green rail joiners are better than transparent in my view. I will paint over them when I weather the track and if the paint flakes, it still won't be all that obvious.

I hope this has been of interest.

Ian

[Tom Haythornthwaite]

What if we try green dye?

[Ian McAulay]

What if we try green dye?

It'll probably come out pink!