I have a fair amount of G-scale stuff that I mostly use these days for my kids to play with-- it’s big and “kid-sized”-- but the track is always the big problem. Expensive and hard to keep trains running-- I suspect the (Bachmann’s) method of joining tracks is not the best, most conducive for conducting electrical power. The further away from the power pack, the more the trains lag. Also with joiners at every foot its easy around the kids for it to get separated and whatnot.
Its also not cheap-- no matter how you look at it.
One thing I did to try to combat the ‘electrical problems’ was to cut some ‘roadbed’ out of masonite in two and four-foot sections, and also quarter-round curve sections. And I have a number of one-footers in straight and curves for the odd ball stuff, and for turnouts. The point was to pre-wire / permanently wire as much as possible, which does help a lot with the connectivity / continuity issues.
I’ve recently found / purchased a large number of G-scale four-foot steel rail segments. I don’t think I’ll have any problems with ties, I’ll just whip them up on the table saw. But what I don’t have-- and don’t want to purchase from Micro-Engineering (I’m cheap, so sue me) are tie plates.
Does anybody have any suggestions for how to make G-scale tie plates? Or something really cheap I could re-purpose for the… uh, purpose? These need to actually hold the rails to the ties, not just look pretty.
Also-- does anybody know of any “spikes” (nails) that are suitable for a pneumatic nail gun (8 to 16 gauge, or smaller, I have all sizes) ?? If possible I’d like to set up an assembly line and just crank out prefab rail segments.
I know I’m gonna have some head-scratching to do for connecting the new segments to the bachmann stuff I already have, but that seems like an easier job than coming up with the tie plates.
It’s very difficult to fasten any type of rail to Bachmann G-scale track because the Bachmann stuff is hollow and so thin that you can’t solder to it without causing major damage.
IMHO, you’d be much better off not using Bachmann track if you’re going to try any other type. All Bachmann or all another brand, but not mixed.
I realized early on that electrical contact on outdoor G-scale track would be a major problem, so I have gone exclusively to on-board battery power.
This is all for indoor running. And I have a lot of the bachmann track already. Too much to simply discard. But I know what you’re saying about it being difficult to work with. Their turnouts seem to be pretty solid though. That’s a plus.
I have thought about converting them over to battery power though. How long can you run on a charge?
We don’t leave the G-scale stuff set up for more than a few weeks to a month at a time. Its so large my wife complains about it when its spread throughout the house. But the kids love it so she puts up with it for a little while-- which is why I have to assemble / disassemble it so often.
The nice thing about G-scale and kids is that its very easy for them to handle, fairly sturdy. And its in rough proportion to a lot of their other toys as well. So the train just becomes another part of their little villages and farms. They can put their little people and stuff on the trains. And they can haul around their cars and blocks and stuff. It fits together really well.
In another year or two they’ll be old enough that “operations” will start becoming fun for them-- I’m going to build some specialized buildings to dispense marbles, river rocks, etc. that they can play with and make things happen with.
But for right now I’m scratching my head trying to figure out what to use for tie plates without spending a fortune or giving Micro-Engineering all my money. What’s the point in sav
What about G-scale tie strips that might have tie-plates already molded on? Does anybody know where I can get tie strips that I could just insert the rail I have?