Initial Review of Rail Clamps

Yesterday I received the first shipment of rail clamps for the new railroad.  These clamps are Aristo Craft clamps which have had mixed reviews.  However, being that the whole set of 10 was $10  and that I only have ten so far, if I don't like them it isn't the end of the world for me and I can go with Split Jaw clamps which I like too and work better so I'm told.  Also, this kind of clamp hasn't had much for reviews, so I'm hoping to fill a gap with this review today.  So let's take a look at the clamp from Aristo Craft:

Out of the box, these clamps look okay.  The clamp consists of two screws, and a brass square that has a lip to hold the track down.  To tighten the clamps you have to use a Philip's screw driver (either a #2 or a #4 sized head) and turn the screws clockwise.  From my knowledge of bolts, the thread needs to be very tight (say 20 rings per inch) in order for a screw to hold onto tow pieces of metal like the clamp and track.  The Aristo Craft clamps seem to be a bit light for threads so I wouldn't trust these clamps to hold the track by themselves, however I devised a method of securing the track that might work better.

Because the screws weren't up to par, I decided to reinforce the joint.  The best method that I could come up with for connecting the two pieces of track was to take a 2X4 block of wood and screw the track pieces to that block as demonstrated in the photo below:

 As you can see, the clamps now only serve the purpose of connecting two pieces of track together to provide electrical current.  The 2X4 piece of wood connects the track sections together and forms a flexible joint that is also strong.  For people living in moist climates where the wood would rot, I would suggest using HDPE pieces instead of wood.  The HDPE is half plastic, half plywood and holds up to moisture a lot better.

 The result also gives me a raised bed of track.  When ballasting I simply pour ballast between the ties until the ballast is up to the bottom of the track.  With this method, your railroad may also be more immune to washouts and erosion because the track is supported every few feet.

Railroaders I would recommend this clamp and track method to:

• Beginners who want to experiment with different track styles
• Railroaders on a limited budget (these clamps are almost half the price of Split Jaw)
• Railroaders who want a cheap, viable track solution who run track powered trains.

Railroaders I would not recommend this rail clamp and track method to:

• Railroaders who run battery powered or live steam engines (you would be wasting your time with this clamp in that case)
• Railroaders who cannot use wood or HDPE lumber under their track (this would be people with severe frost heave, a lot of moisture, or a ton of freeze thaw).
• Railroaders who are unable to support their track in any way but the "floating track" method.  This is because these clamps are not strong enough to hold a joint together on their own, therefore buying from split jaw might be best.
• Railroaders who want very real track.  This method has about six to eight screw heads showing through the track, plus lumber showing through the ballast.  I do not care about realism that much, but some people might turn away from this because of the bulky, "toy" like nature of this method.

I will have to further review these clamps later on when the track is installed in the garden, but don't let that alone stop you from testing these clamps yourself.  You might be surprised at how well they work, especially when you use these clamps with the method of connecting track that I just devised.  If you have any further information, comments, concerns please state them in the comment box below.  Thank you and I hope you enjoyed this review.