" matchstick insulators"

[steve24944]

I used the stick from a Q-tip, and sniped a piece of insulation from 18 gauge wire for the rib.

[survivor]

see thats what i mean...american ingenuity at its best!!!

[Penny Trains]

Bamboo barbecue skewers work on Standard Gauge and standard O gauge track and they don't bend under the weight of the engines.  On MTH RealTrax I make insulated sections by grinding down the rail a few hairs and then I superglue styrene to the railhead and trim it to match the rail profile after the glue dries.  Of course, you also have to remove the brass connectors under the roadbed to isolate it.

Becky

[survivor]

and the ideas just keep popping up....have a good day

[wyomingscout]

survivor,

never thought about matchsticks; my layout is in the  garage now & I found that 'weedeater' string works well, too.

wyomingscout

[kgstones]

Speaking of track pins - and maybe this has been discussed before - but 12 gauge copper wire cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces with about 1/2 inch on the ends hammer and flattened just a bit and then pushed in so the flattened ends are horizontal or push up against the sides of the rail inside opening works great.  I strung a bunch of older track together using these pins in the center rail and regular pins in the outside rails and the sections held together nice and tight.  It's not rocket science but it worked for me.

Mickey

[lionelsoni]

Just as matchsticks can be recycled as track pins, I once recycled a track pin to replace a sheared-off shaft on an e-unit drum.  And the springs inside Lionel bayonet-lamp sockets can be used to rejuvenate the horn rings of Volvo Amazons. 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Note that the real pins have a shoulder that keeps them from being pressed together and shorting, so they're only a temporary replacement.

[Seayakbill]

Yep, done that also with small plastic rods from the hobby shop that I had sitting around.

[sir james I]

Yes once in place they will do the job. Keeps the track aligned and insulated.

[survivor]

hello all, just wanted to share something simple..iam sure some of you have already thought of this....,,...this morning while i was adding a siding to my layout, i discovered to my dismay that i ran out of fibre pins. so,spotting a box of Kitchen matches...i wondered..... i cut one off about the length of a pin and whittled off the square edges and lo and behold...wooden insulators! works for me................