Good morning.
After a life at sea I am ready to start with model railroads.
Over the years I have been given, or purchased, a large selection of O27 locomotives, rolling stock, and accessories.
I have built a large room for my first layout since the figure 8 in 1952.
The problem, and question, is...where can I find O27 Lionel track pins in bulk?
I have over 900 pieces of track and can not afford all the pins at current retail pricing. Or, as a second opition, is there another soloution to attaching the track.
Thanking you in advance
captjack
I doubt you will find much answer here vs. posting on the MR or Classic Toy Trains forums.
If you are reasonably handy with a lathe, or are willing to risk holding abrasives against pieces of wire chucked in an electric drill, you could make these out of appropriate gauge wire (I don't know the size or best material)
Thank you so much. I did not know about a different forum.
I think the idea with wire would work, a 10 or 8 gauge copper wire would have excellent conductivity. I was looking for a short cut.
Thank you so much and I shall seek out the other forum you mentioned.
Have a great day.
Look here and you will find 4 "Model Railroader" forums and one "Classic TOY trains" forum.
http://cs.trains.com/
Lots'a good stuff on Kalmbach's websites!
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
12 AWG is too small and 10 AWG is too big.
It can be very difficult to remove trackwork for modifications or repairs when the track pins force you to rip up much more than you wanted to change. I use O27 track with the pins removed. I solder the rail ends together, usually with a little piece of 14 AWG alongside the rail. That way, I don't have to pull up any track but the pieces I'm dealing with.
Bob Nelson
While I don't have a direct answer to your cheap bulk pin question, I gotta ask - since I'm up around the 800+ total piece count as well - how are you missing so many pins? Pins have been the least of my problems. I picked up a few packets of new pins to have on hand just in case, but there's always been enough trashed/rusted sections floating around to salvage pins from.
You can use finishing nails as track pins. I don't remember the size. Take a piece of track to a hardware store and find a size that fits snugly. You will have to cut the heads off. Use a pair of diagonal cutters, inserted between the web and the round part of the rails to nip the round part from underneath to crimp it.
Thank you.
I tried the 10 gauge wire and, as you found, it is a bit big.
Sooldering is an option I have never tried yet will use some on a test basis.
Thank you
Thank you and good morning:
Most, or rather much, of the track was sent to me by people whose family members had either quit the hobby or had just wanted to get rid of boxes of track.
I doubt that 20% of all the track has pins and usually only one pin.
I have, of course, salvaged all the pins I can.
There was a suggestion about finishing nails and that might be a way to overcome the lack of pin.
There are 1248 pieces of track, not including the switches, special unloader track and the uncoulping track.
Thank you again
uscgjack ...I doubt that 20% of all the track has pins and usually only one pin. I have, of course, salvaged all the pins I can. There was a suggestion about finishing nails and that might be a way to overcome the lack of pin. There are 1248 pieces of track, not including the switches, special unloader track and the uncoulping track...
...I doubt that 20% of all the track has pins and usually only one pin.
There are 1248 pieces of track, not including the switches, special unloader track and the uncoulping track...
Well that certainly sheds some light on the subject, does sound like nails are your best (cheapest) answer.
Below is a link to an article CTT did on recycling old tubular track several years ago, in the event you haven't seen it:
http://ctt.trains.com/how-to/restoration-repair/2011/03/recycle-old-lionel-track
About the only part I disagree slightly with from the article is their pad choice - don't bother with the green pads, go directly to the maroon ones I mentioned earlier. I also give the sorted track a quick crud wash/scrub before any adjustment, repair, or final rail top cleaning - I don't like having any oily crud or excessive rust gumming up the scotchbrite -it'll last longer and clean faster, and the pad residue wipes/falls off off easily from dry track. It's still a consumable though - don't expect a single piece of a pad to last a hundred sections.
Good luck with it, I, hope to one day have a railroad empire that uses that much track too.
uscgjackThe problem, and question, is...where can I find O27 Lionel track pins in bulk?
When in doubt check eBay. Typed in 'Lionel O27 pins' and got back plenty of hits. Here is a bulk bag of 100 for $25.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solid-Steel-O27-Gauge-Track-Pins-for-Lionel-Trains-Tubular-Track-100-Pieces-/111094532712?hash=item19ddc00a68:g:CHYAAMXQ0pNQ-wB3
Ahoy and thank you.
I looked and looked and did not find any yet I have the link and will go back again.
Thank you so much for the reply and the link.
I just checked. Town and Country Hobbies has 027 track pins in lots of 50 pieces for $6.00 each. That's 12 cents each. Here is a link:
http://stores.towncountryhobbies.com/lionel-parts/?sort=featured&page=3
Train Tender gets 15 cents per pin when a minimum purchase of 25 pieces is made.
Ahoy and thanks. I just ordered 4 packs.
Wonderful link and, again, thank you
I ordered a few to compair them to the ones that were on the reply just before yours.
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