Steel Track & Nickel Silver Track

[Buz]

Hi split09

From your description  it is an isolation track it is used on a siding or other places either singly or in multiples to set up isolated track sections.

For places where trains or locomotives can be left and isolated so they can't move until you want them to.

The wiring for it goes from one connector through an on off switch to the other connector.

They can also be used as a pair in conjunction with signals to create a stop section that stops the train on a red signal

Can't remember off the top of my head the circuit that does that and it differs for color lights and semaphores.

There are a couple of other uses for them tied up with more electrically complex track arrangements as well.

regards John

[RB51]

Hi folks. Decided to clean up  two dozen 40 year old n/. 3020 straights and see if I can use them in the fiddling yard on my layout. All in good nick but not sure how they will play out with nickel silver. ..when I came across this! Came with one the trackbacks Lima did circa 76. No idea which one as they were all stored in a shoe box in the wardrobe of my childhood home.

Anyway, thereis a small piece of track with two holes on side of the track with connections running underneath to the rail on the same side. There is a split in the rail side, perfectly between the two connectors. Any idea?

[Rana Temporia]

I have quite a bit of Lima track that I got for a silly low price a long time ago (Probably way over 30 years). I only use it for setting up test circuits so could probably get rid of it now. The orignal Lima Track, as opposed to their copy of British geometry (read Hornby) track was of a slightly deeper rail section and difficult to fit UK fishplates to. Their fishplates were often brass, sometimes steel, and more like the Tri-ang Super 4 Ones. I used it for test circuits as I could run any of my old Tri-ang stock on it without any problems. For sidings it should be fine, but watch out for corrosion and if the track starts to rust just recycle it. It isn't recoverable. It also needs regular cleaning as it seems to attract dirt on the railhead very easily. 

 

I always found the points to be absolute rubbish as they seemed lightly and poorly built and tended to disintegrate in use. I also don't think they were self isolating. I don't have any of the points left, they just didn't last.

 

There were straight and curved rails with connections similar to the isolating rails but they were power connecting rails. You pushed the brass clip down, inserted the wire through the hole and then released the clip and it held the wire in place. They worked quite well and formed a better and stronger connection than pushing wires or plugs into UK type connecting rails. The Jouef ones were similar but used plastic plugs to push down and then release, trapping the wires.