kray1971 Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Hi all. I'm obviously new to the forum, but I wanted to jump right in... So I’m hoping I can find a solution to my “problem†here… I’m looking to construct my garden railroad in the very near future and I’m looking for inexpensive ways to do it (the cost is not necessarily my immediate problem. I believe I’ve solved this issue, for the most part). Somewhere on the internet I found a posting of someone who fashioned his own G-scale track using aluminum flat bars. I found this fascinating and so I set out to do just the same. Turns out finding and purchasing aluminum bars isn’t all that cost effective. It is certainly cheaper than buying LGB and USA Trains track, but was still heavy on the wallet. I mentioned my situation to a co-worker and he offered this simple solution… At this point I should mention I work in the shipping dept of a printing company. The presses use blankets (large rubber mats) when printing. These blankets have aluminum bars on each end, about three feet long each. These bars are what my co-worker pointed out to me! So needless to say I have a large amount of these bars I’ve cut away from the discarded blankets. Now to my problem… I’ve already made a prototype section of track that works well. I’ve gone ahead and made another section of track, improving a bit on the prototype. The problem is connecting these track sections. I’ve tried a soldering iron however the rails being aluminum, the solder won’t take. Anyone out there have an idea on how I can connect the sections of track? I scoured Home Depot looking for any kind of bracket and came up empty. If anyone is curious, I can provide pictures of what I have so far. Thanks in advance for any ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Hi and welcome. Could be many approaches to this and I guess it depends on what look and how inexpensive you are trying to keep it. Perhaps one way to is to take a small section of the bar, drill holes in it and the side of the track bar and bolt them together. the issue will be keeping them aligned up and down and creating a lip. I wonder too if you could still use some sort of existing direct to rail railclamp like a splitjaw but given the cost of those that might undermine the whole point of building the track yourself on keeping it as inexenisve as possible. Also maybe too what you could do is use a small alumium right angle bar from a hardware store and use that with one side of the angle under the track. You may still have some cutting you may want to do. I bet a good approach can be figured out just need to keep brainstorming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B44 Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Like Ray said, just use a piece of the bar on the outside of the rail, drill some holes and bolt it on. Aluminum would be soft enough to easily thread for a 4/40 bolt, or whatever size you want. Just has to be below the flange of the wheel. Sure seems like a lot of work To keep the ties in place I'd attach a sleeper piece underneath to keep them in place, wood or aluminum. Have to use lots of shorter ones on the curves. I've read, over the years, about several guys that did this, latest was in New Zealand, but he finally went to regular track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 You know thinking on it more if you drill two holes on each side that would hold the end rails in place better and may prevent it from getting out of position. I just hope overall it doesnt become a headache to maintain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Robinson Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 A tip from my engineering days, Phosphoric acid is a good flux to use when soldering aluminium. Some thirty odd years ago here in the U.K. there was a Phosphoric acid based anti rust treatment sold under the trade name of Jenolite. I used it as flux when successfully soldering to aluminium rail. Maybe there is something similar in the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Sound like good advice so far. With this type of track it looks like you're going the Battery route! We want pics of your process! You not only learn how to make track ,but you also need to learn how to post pics!! Welcome Kray, I'm also from Mass! Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kray1971 Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Thanks for all the input!! I'll post some pics when I get a chance. I'm definitely planning on sticking with electric and not going battery. To the best of my knowledge I should still be successful (I hope) sticking with electric using the aluminum rails . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 To the best of my knowledge I should still be successful (I hope) sticking with electric using the aluminum rails . Should be interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B44 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Might try a section, some report good luck with aluminum track, others say it did not work well for track power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
du-bousquetaire Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 The problem with aluminum track and with aluminum wheels for that matter is that aluminum develops oxidation nearly instantly. A loco with aluminum tires needs wheel cleaning every day and even then doesn't work well if you are bringing the curent in from the rails. It can be worse near the marine air too. With brass one needs to clean the rails every ten days or so, liveable. But aluminum rails would be a daily chore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
du-bousquetaire Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 I have used, to renovate my handlaid track some of which was laid in 1979 and is still going, a new technique; as the club that produced the original rail to tie clips folded and I can't get them anymore. Besides this new technique is home brew and is much sturdier than the original one where the clip was pressed into a grove in the tie which tends to slip out after a while. This technique still uses oak 1cm X 1cm section which is drilled in four places along each side of the rail base with a drilling jig. then I make from electic wire (about 1.3 mm. diameter copper) which I strip and bend into two U shaped clips. you then insert the clip into the holes from the underside of the tie, and cut off whatever is 1.6 mm. proud of the tie top.At this point it is good to dip these in creosote for a few days and then let them dry out in a sunny period. A corner of my engine terminal is perfect to lay them out to dry. Just slip it under the rails and with a plier bend the copper wire around the rail base. This will makes for 30 years track, garanteed and tested. I also got from a wood merchant that doesn't exist any more unfortunatly what he called Asian Oak (never figured out the scientific name for the stuff, before he folded...) This is like new thirty three year after being installed! It splits a lot easier though and wasn't good for my earlier clips system of rail fixing but with the new one it should make very strong track. As I now model US prototypes as well as French I took advantage of this renovation to tighten the spacing of the ties to more reproduce american track with very close tie spacing. So I kept all the old ties thatt were still sound and slipped one new tie between every old one this gives me very sturdy track which really looks like the Broad way! The before and after photos show the diference. in the middle is a photo showing the drilling of the ties: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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