[Christine Brooks]

Does anyone know how to remove the rail joiners from Piko track? I am in the early stages of constructing my garden railroad/railway and it will be track powered so I need to insert isolating joiners to make track sections. The joiners supplied on Piko track seem to be very firmly attached. I am reluctant to use too much force in case I damage expensive track /points but I will need an isolation break between two points making a crossover. I am using a mixture of Piko and Tenmille track and have some Tenmille adapter joiners on order. I think these will work as insulated joiners if the metal strip is not used. I would be very grateful for any advice.
Christine

 

[dwb]

Although I have Piko G Scale track, this is not something I have had to do yet. I had a look the G Scale track section on Piko's website and notice that you can get spare rail joiners, insulating rail joiners and clamps for connecting the rails together in one way or another.

Here's a link to the rail joiners where you can see what they look like and from that get some clues as to how they remain attached.
https://www.piko-shop.de/en/artikel/g-sv-me...ieces-9258.html

It looks like there is a tab bent down at one to prevent the jointer coming off when you take track pieces apart. Easing that tab away from whatever blocks it is probably the secret to getting the things off.

Should something terrible happen to the joiner, Gaugemaster has the 20 pack listed here - https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/piko-pk35290.html

So long as you have a pack of those, I would sacrifice the rail joiner to get the insulation you need.

David

 

[Pantograf]

While I don't have any Piko track (I only use LGB and some Aristo), the joiners look the same as LGB. To get them off, you need to pry a flat screwdriver from the top between the joiner and the rail and twist to open (loosen) the joiner. The rail will then slide out of the joiner far enough to remove the joiner from the sleeper. You can also use needle nose pliers from the open end to accomplish the same result.

 

[Babz]

Christine Good Afternoon I have LGB Track and i am just starting my Garden railway. The G Scale connectors are a pain to get off, But when you do manage it Invest in the other Track joiners will make life much much easier in the Long run. I am using Massoth Joiners and you can buy them in the UK I bought bags of 100 much cheaper. They also do insulated in a similar fashion. Here is a pic to help Babs

 

[Christine Brooks]

Thank you all for your help. I had already tried bendiing the tab on the joiner but didn't want to force the joiner off as it looked like it was fixed to the bottom of the rail somehow. There is a "dimple" near the tab which seems to be there to keep the joiner in the correct place. I had another look this morning and gently pulled the rail with the joiner upwards so that the tab came out of the slot in the sleeper. I prized the edges of the joiner outwards just a bit and it then came off the rail. The only downside I can see is that you can't get the tab back in the hole in the sleeper when you try to put the rail back. I had to bend the tab flat and slide the rail back into the sleeper base. the tab seems to be there to keep the rail in place but as it will have another track section connected to it I can't see that that is necessary. Anyway, on a garden railroad you need some room for expansion and contraction so the fact that some rails will slide a bit should be an advantage.

I have some lengths of track on order from Tenmille and some of their rail joiners, their adapter joiners work with Piko and Bachmann track and I think they will act as insulators if you leave out the metal strip. I will experiment when they arrive.

A bit of background; I have been modelling in 00 and 0 indoors ( well in the shed ) for a few years now and always wanted an outdoor railway. An impulse buy on ebay 5 years ago of a Durango and Silverton 4-6-0 in bumblebee colours set it all off. I have been gathering stock, mostly second hand and also making freelance British narrow gauge coaches and wagons from IP Engineering kits. So the line will be an American Railroad some days and British on others. I have about 20 feet of track laid so far and have started landscaping with rocks to make a gorge for the line to run through and have completed some planting so it is starting to look good.

I can't remember how to put pictures in, I just tried but it asked for the URL?

Many thanks, Chris

 

[dwb]

For inserting pictures in posts, there's a link in my signature to a topic which explains how to do it.

David

 

[Christine Brooks]

I have taken out a subsciption to Model RAil Forum again and puit a few images of progress do far in my gallery. This one is of a test run early last week, I have levelled up the point since then!

Perhaps I should start a new topic about my new line, I have a provisional name for the station and line of Honeysuckle Creek RR. The only Honeysuckle Creek I know of is in Australia but I expect there may be one in teh USA.

Christine

 

[dwb]

Looks good

David

 

[Pantograf]

That's a great looking layout. Many years ago, I was tempted to build my own outdoor layout but due to our short summers, long and frigid winters and massive temperature changes I ended up building my G-gauge layout in the basement but I still visit outdoor layouts (mostly in Europe) any chance I get.

 

[Christine Brooks]

Thanks for all the positive feedback from everyone. I sympahise with you in Canada, I am nearly as far north here but we have the sea all round us and the Gulf Stream to keep the British Isles warm in winter. We think it's cold when it gets a bit below freezing!
I am going to start a new topic showing the development of my line, I hope it will be of interest.

This is Emily a railcar built from an IP Engineering kit and named after one of my Westies.