Lionel O Gauge Track Clips

@tncentrr posted:

I hope to build a temporary Christmas layout this year using O gauge tubular track. I will be using track clips to hold it together since I cannot screw down to our brand new hardwood floor. My wife would object. The  O gauge track clips can be difficult to slide on. Is there some sort of trick to getting them, on other than to get a bigger hammer? 

GRJ showed track clips in another post.

They are spring loaded and they hold the FASTRACK sections really secure.

I believe they were shown on Hennings Trains site.  They look like 3/4 inch clips for paper.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

GRJ showed track clips in another post.

They are spring loaded and they hold the FASTRACK sections really secure.

I believe they were shown on Hennings Trains site.  They look like 3/4 inch clips for paper.

He's not talking about FasTrack though, so those will sadly not work.  They work on FasTrack since the plastic of the roadbed is right up next to the roadbed from the adjacent piece of track.

The O Gauge Tubular has the metal track ties, and there isn't a way to use those standard spring clips to attach.  Even if they could be somehow safely attached to the ties (the ties are not close enough together), the clips would most likely also be too large, they would probably raise the ties up off the floor significantly.

-Dave

My bad..........😶

.............any ideas for the tubular track. ? 🤔

Not exactly track clips (they can be a pain if the track isn't perfect), I ended up recycling a household door that a neighbor set out for the garbage men, painted it white, and screwed a loop of tubular track to it. Been using it for years.

@tncentrr I use O gauge tubular track and track clips for my temporary Christmas loop every year.  I might have adjusted a few with needle-nose pliers the first year, but I don't find them particularly difficult to install or remove.  In fact, I wish some of them fit a little more snugly.  My parents redid their hardwood floor a couple of years ago, so since then I put some tight weave indoor-outdoor carpet under the track to keep the floor from getting scratched.

I bought the track AND clips at the same time, brand new from a local hobby shop (remember those?) in the late 1990s.  The track is name-brand Lionel O with 3 metal ties per section.  The curves are Lionel O42 (O gauge rail height.)  I insert the clips from the outside of the track, which tends to keep the sections snugly connected on the curves.  NOTE: when I assemble the track, I push the sections together snugly so there is almost no gap at the joint.  If your track is brand-new you might have to work each pin in and out a few times to make it easier.

O27 track clips will not work on O gauge track.  If you're trying to use Lionel O gauge clips with another brand of O-gauge tubular track, due to subtle differences in tie shape, etc., they may or may not work.  I don't know how well modern-era track clips would work on postwar vintage track, or how much the stampings changed over the years.  My general advice would be to use clips with track of the same vintage.  You should be able to make any needed adjustments with slip-joint and/or needle-nose pliers.  Make small adjustments and test; a lot of bending shouldn't be required.  Hope this helps!

And on either the O27 or O31 track clips, the name Ives is stamped.  One way Lionel can keep the Ives name and other Ives properties in the Lionel family.

Lionel quit making the track clips and lost the trademark to the Ives name. MTH swooped in and licensed it so they now own the Ives name.

Zip ties

I use Lionel O gauge tubular and their O gauge track clips. 

They work very well to hold temporary layouts together.

As KD mentioned above, NEW tubular track can be very difficult to assemble as the pins won't want to insert fully into the mating section of track. This issue resolves itself with a few rounds of assembly and disassembly. 

A good pair of work gloves - really a must for working with tubular track. They will save your hands.

As for the clips, the easiest way to slip them on is with the two pieces of track, assembled and laying flat on the table or floor. I gently tweak the two pieces like I'm trying to transform them from a straight line into an inverted "V". This brings the inside corners of the two mating ties nearer to each other on the rails closest to you. That allows you to slide the clip on. Once it's started, they can usually be forced over the rest of the tie pretty easily.