Hi all. I’ve been lurking here for months trying to find ideas for “my” ultimate layout. I want to build a semi-permanent track on a 4x12 table. I would like to use the miles of old Aurora lock and joiner track I have from when I was a kid. This is partly for nostalgia (I still like the old trick tracks) and partly because I am cheap. I have tried several 50+ foot layouts and after several warm-up laps I can usually get the track to run OK. The problem is that no matter what I do there are always some dead spots and they are always moving. I wanted to know if anyone still uses lock and joiner without problems, and if soldering all the rails and mounting the track will fix the problem. Logic tells me that if have clean rails, good physical connections and multiple power taps, old plastic track should work as well as the continuous rail tracks. I appreciate any and all advice.

Well, you've answered your own questions. Yes there are still people using lock and joiner. :) As far as the problems you can encounter, clean rails, tight contacts, and jumpers are definitely required for a good running track. As smooth as continuos rail is a big demand for sectional track. Especially if you have elevations and the old style Aurora Model Motoring track. When I had my last MM track, which was "flat", after assembly and all the power tap work was finished, I took one of the 3" wooden rollers my wife had (think it came from a wallpaper store) and rolled the track. Still clicked but not as loud as it used to. Guess it was a little smoother, but it wasn't continuos rail smooth. However, it was still fun to run.


:thumbsup: :thumbsup: rr

To followup on roadrunner's post, I'd like to add a few points.

Lock and Joiner must be made to cooperate and bend to your will. LOL

A lot of plastic lock and joiner track is shrunk or warped in some way. Some of it in more than one direction. So choose carefully. Inspect for potholes, bumps, nicks, gouges, cracks or breaks.

All electrical contacts (tabs) should be buffed clean and "no oxed" prior to assembly. Discard any pieces where the rail floats in the roadbed or the tab looks questionable! Ensure that all tabs are sprung/bent correctly. If you're using original feeders, scrutinize the shunts between the binding post and rails and repair or discard anything that looks dubious.

All rails should be thouroughly cleaned with a hardblock rail cleaner/eraser.

L&J track should be screwed down, however pay close attention that you dont bury the screws to the point that it distorts the road bed. Use a light touch. Some will need to be tight and others you have to sneak up on gently.
You may even have to shim one side of the joint or the other. I use strips of plastic milk or bleach jugs-whatever!

Mismatched rail joints should be carefully drawfiled once the track is secured. Ya gotta find the right file and be patient so you dont mar the plastic roadbed by getting overzealous. Use the eraser to polish up the filed areas and vacuum up the metal shavings and eraser fuzzies!

For areas where the bottom of the slot is mismatched, use a taller style coping saw blade that extends above the slot when inserted. Attach small vise grips as a handle and carefully drag the blade in the direction of the highspot until your guide pins dont catch. Just enough to level the bottom of the slot. Vacuum up the debris!

Keep working at it til your cars stop dieing, bouncing and hopping down the track.

These where lessons I learned the hardway.

Hope it helps, good luck!

Good info! L & J is a lot of fun because of all the specialty pieces that were available! You can spot and sort the warped pieces and reuse them in that same capacity that warped them in the first place: bowed straights for bridge approaches or crests, torqued ones that have been used on the brackets for Monza turns. As Bill says, it does make a difference to have them screwed down and anchored, and AFX repair clips may be helpful if you have a piece that wants to bow up a little in between the joiner pins.

Also, the early AFX/T-jet adaptor tracks aren't hard to come by when included in (primarily AFX) lots, that's a way to use AFX 15" straights, which are much more available/affordable than L&J 15" straights (fewer track joints per distance). In my experience the old AFX track is more susceptible to broken tabs when putting curves and elevation changes together, but the straights go together and hold up pretty well.

Nice catch Jeff! ;)

I forgot all about the clips. :rolleyes:

Indeed, they are very helpful! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the input. I think I need to inspect the pieces I use a bit closer. I've also read past posts on soldering, but what's the consensus on whether it will make much of a difference? I've cleaned and inspected every tab, but I also wanted to know if there is some type of conductive anti-oxident I could use to keep off the oxidation. I've posted my current track in my gallery. I know, way too much track, but when it works, it is fun. My true plan is to put back in my loops and have a roadway go through the middle. Thanks again.

Wiping the track with WD40 every month or so will protect against oxidation. Rail-zip at the joints helps, too.

DLW is right about periodic maintenence! Gotta wipe it down. I use an automotive product called "black back". Everybody has thier own preferance for the wipe down!

"No OX" is the brand name stuff to use on unsoldered joints. Available readily at electrical supply shops or sometimes home supply outlets. You could use dielectric grease with good results too.

I'm not a big fan of soldering lock and joiner. As the heat wicks down the rail it can easily distort the plastic and allow the rails to float which is what we dont want. I've got a simple four lane lock and joiner track in a dogleg configuration 11ft on the long leg and 7ft on the short leg. All track screwed down, eight feeders, all joints no oxed and smoothed. No problemo!

Nice track you have there...
My only input is to rehash what others have said.
Clean all the connections.
And jumper wires. If you have extra terminal tracks these are easy to wire in...
Scott

When I look at the old Aurora MM track (and my only current layout, until I get my Tyco up and running, is made from my childhood MM track), I have always hated the way they designed the electrical connection. (Lifelike also uses the same design). One simple modification to that design I think could have made the MM track 100% better. Instead of the tabs being bent and then needing to push against each other in order to make contact (and thereby trying to sperate), the design should have allowed for the rail to simply slide into the adjacent piece of track; in other words, the tabs should be straight and the rail slot widened slightly at the ends of each track piece.
This would solve a couple problems:

1. The tabs would no longer be trying to push themselves apart.
2. The rail connections would be visible from the top of the track.
3. A lot more surface area of adjacent rail would be in contact.

Both Tyco and Tomy slide the rail into adjacent pieces. If MM track did that, it would be much better. Because of it's squared edge, MM track is ideal for mating up with pieces that you could rout in wood.

Joe

Hey Scott,
It's not very fancy, but it works pretty good. Of course I went through a mountain of track to get enough decent pieces. I vetoed any specialty track pieces as they carve off speed and really create more havoc/damage than they are worth. Originally had drawn up something more elaborate, but felt it would have been forcing the issue, let alone marshalling considerations

Due to my limited space it's 6&9'' radius which is OK by me in that I run mostly short geared stock and modified t-jets anyway. Non Mag AFX cars do present a predicament, you gotta shut down early, or tumble off into the weeds. I've got some light benders that rip around quite well cuz of the added traction. They are used as high speed Oscars to buff the rails and blow the dust off. LOL

Power supply is an old golf cart charger with a ford headlight switch to crunch the power down from 24v to 18v. Some of the rocket scientist dudes will say I need to add a capacitor to clean up the sign wave. I'll get around to it, inspite of the "dirty DC" it works great!

Benchwork is light, solid and was completed for under a hundred bucks legs and all. Every thing else was nitpicked through E-bay junk lots. The battery charger was free. I've yet to complete driver stations and track borders.

Far from perfect but way better than your standard lock and joiner logging road! I'll get some pics of "plain jane" up one of these days, when I get off my lazy behind.