No they don't, they're brass and the bolts appear to be stainless steel because they don't rust either. Perhaps the 'rust' the Buddy L thread have found is their stock staining the track as said stock disintergrates. I think they are getting confused with Bachmann track.
Kim
Forgot to add that I live on the coast - a very stormy one - and the salt only weathers the track and joiners as salt does react with brass. I reckon it will take about 60 years for the salt to eat away the brass rail joiners, saying that the patina that forms on the brass from the salt reaction then keeps further salt away from the brass.
Have all Aristo brass track down for 8 years outside with Florida rains and acid soil.
No problem with the jointers, brass does not rust but will oxidize.
Bud
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
And all the answers thus far have been from users of brass. I am exclusively stainless. Yes, eventually, stainless will rust simply because it is steel; but the beauty of stainless is that it takes a long looooooong time for it to happen if the stainless is of any real quality.
My track has been out in the weather for some 5 years now, and during some recent repair (I hit a piece with a bucket loader and bent the heck out of it) it was very easy to remove and replace. I see no evidence as yet of any degradation in my stainless track, or the Aristo joiners. I have, in the interim, changed over to using stainless SJ rail clamps due to the ease of installing them compared to those pesky little screws in the Aristo system; and no rust there either!
I have seen a number of chemical tankships that were built with stainless tanks, and they have run for 40 and more years without replacement or patches of tank walls. They were withdrawn from service because they could no longer get parts to repair the main engines or the pumping systems. If stainless can withstand all those chemicals, acids, cleanings, and the like; a bit of rain, even acid rain, isn't going to tear it up very quickly!
I too live on the coast, actually quite near the Coral Sea, in the tropics and i can say that Aristo joiners do not rust!
However im am having trouble with them filling up with dirt and lsing conductivity, to this end when i have trouble with them i clean up the joint htoroughly and replace the joiner with an LGB one and solder same and voila no more trouble.
Rgds Ian
MYTH: ARISTO TRACK JOINERS RUST
CONCLUSION: TOTALY BUSTED !
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
We certainly have covered a lot of different geographic and climatic conditions so far--conditions that, in my opinion, would be conducive to a lot of rust. Soooo........being charitable here......what say we call this one an "urban legend," huh?
But, lets not let the thread die just yet. You Aristo users keep adding your observations. Maybe there is a rust gremlin out there.
Is it REAL? or Just 1:29 scale?
Long live Outdoor Model Railroading.
Okay, this has gone waaaay to far. There was a forum post in here a while back that tells of Aristo railjoiner screws were EITHER rusting or in someway becoming useless. That may have changed, but I am not sure as I do not use Aristo Track. From what you guys are saying, though, they have improved the screws in the railjoiners. I am glad for this, this is improving the Garden Railway hobby. Which is always a good thing.
Also, as a side note, when I went to the Aristo-Craft web site and looked at their on-line catalog. When you click on the track section the VERY first thing you see are Split-Jaw railjoiners. Can someone please explain why Aristo is selling Split-Jaws if they have there own railjoiners.
P.S. I have nothing against Aristo-Craft Trains or any other model train company.
Being a for profit company I suspect they think that if there's a market for them, why not make them. If they buy our track they will probably buy our clamps. Personally I can't see the need for rail clamps with Aristo track, my oldest sections have been down for 3 years now and the only real maintenance is done on the first nice day of spring when I go round with a shovel full of gravel, my track cleaner and an allum key to check the bolts, I usually nip up a dozen or so. I suspect even rail clamp bolts work loose.
Kim is right on target with that observation. Money drives manufacturing, if the public will buy it, then why not sell it? Look at Chrysler in the early 60's, they saw the kids were making hot rods out of their cars, so the next thing to hit the market was a monster hemi engine packed away in a small frame and the muscle car craze was on.
There are some instances where only split jaw clamps will work, so AC is only doing the smart thing by selling them along with the complete line of track, engines, rolling stock and power supplies. One stop shopping at Aristo-Craft, good marketing and forward thinking.
I am wondering exactly what data the claimers of rusty track joiners are using. Perhaps the first generation AC track was not up to the current standards? But when was that, maybe 1978? I really would like to know if for no other reason that if there is an inferior product lurking around swap meets or Ebay I don't want to buy it.
"Also, as a side note, when I went to the Aristo-Craft web site and looked at their on-line catalog. When you click on the track section the VERY first thing you see are Split-Jaw railjoiners. Can someone please explain why Aristo is selling Split-Jaws if they have there own railjoiners."
It seems to me in my foggy reccollection that Aristo at one time had a clamp type joiner (other than the current system), and it did tend to rust as it was plated, rather than solid material. Then they got completely out of the clamp market for a while.
A couple of years ago they began marketing SJ clamps.
Recently, the inventor/manufacturer of the new "Aristo" clamps passed away, and for various reasons Aristo purchased that product line.
I would suspect that due to contractural obligations involved in the deal with SJ a couple of years ago, they are still required to feature/sell the SJ product for a given period!
Time marches on!
I personally sectionalise my track, so that certain sections can be easily removed for maintenance and this is particularly true of points (switches); then i use these screw up type connectors, however i use Hillman rather than splitjaw. This is advised by Jack Verducci and he also advises that you should solder all your joints but have these screw connectors especially to do with points. So i think it would be quite reasonable for Aristo to market these types of accessories as a service to their customers and of course as Kim says, for propfit.
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