EZ Track Rail Joiners

[jwbr50]

I need a way to remove these without breaking the plastic spikes near the joint.  Just pulling with pliers doesn't work.  Has anyone developed a procedure that works?

[Ed Kunkel]

jwbr - I know the grief you have experienced.  Ialmost gave up myself but the power of encouragement through this discussion board is great.  Now you will need to go beyond the level of effort used with more hand power on your needlenosed pliers.   A slight twisting on the joiner may be necessary but care needs to be taken obviously - as you see often on these matters such as with filing.
I just removed 24 joiners this week to replace them with Atlas terminal joiners.  It can be done.
However, Oldtimer, D,  Jeff or someone else may have something else to suggest rather than "more hand grip and pull power".  I'll be listening as I have 24 more joiners to go.  Although I'm satisfied with my grip.
Ed

[Doneldon]

Ed-

I use a dull, short, narrow scalpel blade to loosen the rail joiner a bit and then a little twist and side-to-side wiggle to break the spot between the rail and joiner. A chisel point hobby blade would also work, I suppose. Don't pull on the joiner until the connection is broken. The trick is, I think, to hold the rail absolutely motionless while putting any pressure against the rail joiner. And don't try to salvage the joiner for later use. Life is too short to fool with getting them just right for further use when you can buy a package of new ones so cheaply.
                                                                            -- D

[Jim Banner]

I do basically what Doneldon does, except I use a small, flat bladed screw driver to open up the joint.  I have one the same width as the foot of the rail and push it straight in, then lift it a bit with one hand while holding the rail in the ties with the other.  This opens up the top of the rail joiner and makes it much easier to remove with noodle nose pliers.  And as Doneldon says, don't waste your time trying to save the old joiners.

If you have the bad luck of lifting the rail out of some of the ties, don't panic.  With a sharp knife, trim off the "spikes" that are now below the foot of the rail and glue the rail back in place with ACC.  Just be careful that the ACC does not run to the end of the rail or those new joiners may not make proper electrical contact.

Jim

Knowing how to fix mistakes is as important as knowing how to avoid them in the first place.

[Len]

Anyone who want to operate more than a basic loop of track eventually needs to be able to add insulated rail joiners to create blocks, or terminal rail joiners to power those blocks. So why does Bachmann essentially tack weld the rail joiner to the rail on EZ-Track, making them such a royal pain to remove anyway??

And yes, I know there is a straight 'gapped' section of EZ-Track that Bachmann looks at as the answer to creating blocks. But too often in the 4x8 world gaps have to be added to curve tracks, and it shouldn't take a Dremel with a cutoff disk to do it. Especially since normally, except with EZ-Track, it's a simple matter to pop off a rail joiner and add an insulated joiner where a gap is needed. Same goes for adding a power feeder to places a full terminal track doesn't work, e.g., on 22in radius curves.

Len

[Burto]

I read the above posts after discovering for myself how well the joiners are attached to the track.Plenty of muscle, after prying apart a little, removed one joiner.Having kept the track horizontal as I muscled the joiner off,I found I had pulled the track out about six millimetres.This tapped back into place with the side of my long nosed pliers and a tack hammer.I don,t think the EZ track will have a contact problem on the factory fitted end of the joiners.The joiner appeared to be pressed or welded to the rail on one side and was doomed on removal..

[jwbr50]

Thanks for all the help!  I didn't know about the Atlas Terminal joiners.  That will come in handy.

[jwbr50]

I stumbled on a solution today.  If the rail slides out enough to clear the joiner, the small screwdriver trick works great.  The joiner is easily removed and you can then push the rail slowly and carefully back until it is flush with the roadbed.