Over the years I’ve read about the different suggestions to get outdoor track to last, specifically the ties. My experience has only been with Aristo. After being out just a few years, a very high percentage of the ties were pretty much garbage. When I packed up the track for our eventual move to CO, I would have a bunch of it literally fall apart in my hands. Mostly in the small area of the lip that actually holds the brass to the plastic. So my question is, before I do this again, is there a brand that is really substantially better? Can I replace the existing Aristo ties with another brand of ties?

Mickey,

LGB has worked really well for me. I have sections of the railroad that have been down for over 15 years and are still in very good condition. I have also heard of the preference of LGB ties over others from some club tracks in Ohio. I live in southwest PA where to say the least the sun doesn’t shine all the time. LGB ties are very difficult to find though. I’m not sure that they are manufactured any more. AML (Accucraft) runs a close second for me. Since I had trouble locating the LGB I used some AML about 8 years ago. So far so good. Others on this site have had good luck increasing their protection from UV by treating the ties with Armorall. I believe that Greg E has info on his website addressing it’s use. Mark

I’ve read that but it doesn’t last or becomes a pain to re-apply all the time. How are the Train Li ones? And I can assume even if you wood stake your own, being outdoors, it’s a lot more issues with heat expansion.

I painted my 2006 Aristo ties about 5 years ago and they are doing ok, except the #6 wye switch has tie rot, plastic thinned and holidays appeared.

Trainli carries European ties which are very much like LGB wood simulated ties. They also have American type ties and are cement versions.

Outdoors I only have LGB and USA train ties and both are over 15 years on the ground here in Massachusetts, never painted or UV protected these and they are AOK to date.

I got some AML tiles in a lot of stuff that I purchased. they have stronger tie to rail connections points then the Aristo ties do. I put down my Aristo Stainless track in 02 or 03 (I forget) Anyway, I painted the ties with some Krylon spray paint when I installed the track. Some ties were smashed by deer, some have deteriorated in place, and some are still good and doing their job. I can’t explain why some are still good and some aren’t. If I were to do a wholesale tie replacement, I would go for the AML ties if I could get them.

I am southwestern PA, and my yard is partial sun, partial shade. Some of my track is covered with moss, well, the ties are.

I have Micro Engineering ties that have now been outside for 20 years. mine started out with used material and I added new ties strip as I went. mine is all code 250 but they do make code 332. most of the damage done over the years has been self inflicted by me.

Buy American.

Al P.

Over the years I have had a lot of problems with Aristo Tie strips that were in the sun. LGB ties are much better.

Some time back I helped Bachmann test their tie strips. They had tested most of the major brands and had developed a tie strip that they believed was superior in its UV protection and ability to withstand cold weather without becoming brittle. I installed a large number of them and then sent a tie strip back to them every other year. In addition they had some on the roof of their building in Hong Kong to compare as well.

I found these strips to be very good and far superior to what I had on the railroad. They also held the track in gauge without having to resort to screws.

I now use these tie strips exclusively both for new construction and for any tie replacement projects.

Stan

I have heard the horror stories about Aristo ties and I remember them admitting to a formultion error and giving away (well almost) replacements for a time. I have a lot of Aristo track that has been out well over 15 years. Some of it is nearly buried in ballast, but there is also a lot that is fully exposed to full sun for a good portion of the day. I have had no tie failures from UV, Lucky , I guess.

@Stan - That’s very interesting about Bachmann ties. I wonder why they stayed with the pressed steel rail that won’t survive outdoors while making their ties bullet proof :o

(pic of Bachmann Brass track ) they changed the profile of the rails , a little diff than say LGB or Aristo/usa …

You should remember that Jon … Brass

I guess I’ve been under a rock someplace. I knew that the Bachmann sets came with the pressed steel rail. I didn’t realize they cam out with a line of brass track. Thanks!

LGB track and switches. Been down for 20 years+. No treatment or anything. I knew of the Aristo self destruction personally beforehand (friends layouts).

Jon Radder said:

I guess I’ve been under a rock someplace. I knew that the Bachmann sets came with the pressed steel rail. I didn’t realize they cam out with a line of brass track. Thanks!

The ties on the steel track are not UV protected (and the rail rusts quickly)

The ties on the brass track are excellent and are also sold in boxes of 50. The street price is around $50 a box.

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=255_467_645&products_id=6587&zenid=41o0n7s78c3crssfppubudcn16

Stan

In my expierence,

AccuCraft ties on code .250 brass were prone to very early failure, 2-5 years in full sun and they fell off the rail like ripe fruit.

I got replacement ties from AccuCraft, after some conversation, they have only been in the sun 4 years and are starting to show signs of failure.

All ties were fully painted prior to installation. A lot of my track has full exposure to the sun, no ballast protection so that my be a factor but on

the other hand I know of other failures of their product where it was installed in a fully ballasted bed.

Would be interesting to try some if Bachmann produced a code .250.

If your rails are still in good condition, it will be far less expensive to just replace the tie strips. Any of the above sources will suffice.

To further protect the plastic, you can either paint the tie strips before installing, or spray them annually or more often depending on your circumstances, with Armor All. The Armor All keeps the ties soft(er), so they don’t dry out and degrade. Other methods don’t do that but I’ve had painted tie strips outdoors in full sun for twenty (20) years, and they still do what I ask of them.

Just curious how does Sunset Valley, LLages creek code 250 hold up. Anyone with experience with proline or thiel track?

I’ve had a couple iterations of the AMS code 250 track down since it came out. Most of the plastic for the initial two or three orders I got have bleached in the sun and failed. Its garbage (my opinion). I am replacing it all with Sunset Valley track and switches. I have some Sunset Valley track and switches that I bought from Chile John more than 15 years ago, and he had it down in New Mexico for a number of years, so its at LEAST 20 years old. I have had none of that fail.

My AristoCraft track has been down since 1997 in So Cal. Some of the ties, starting less than 10 years ago, have turned into Oreo cookies while others show age, but very little deterioration. Several years ago I bought a big box of AristoCraft replacement ties, intended for curves, but it is no big deal to cut the webs to let them lie straight or at a lessor curvature.

I even developed a tool that allows me to put the ties on without pulling up the track. This is especially important to me because all of my track has soldered jumpers, so even if removed from the ground, you can’t slide the new ties over the ends without cleaning off the solder. (I still do this for larger sections though.) I can even put ties over the rail joiners. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Todd I attempted something similar to your O ring tool, but the ties I used would not go back to a good fit on the rail. Maybe it was a combination of the ties and the tool, just wondering how well the “tie plate” holds the rail after being streatched so much to fit the rail

Pete Lassen said:

Todd I attempted something similar to your O ring tool, but the ties I used would not go back to a good fit on the rail. Maybe it was a combination of the ties and the tool, just wondering how well the “tie plate” holds the rail after being streatched so much to fit the rail

Did you try to pre-soak your ties in hot water to soften them up prior to install? Did you try a bit of WD-40 prior to install? Does your tool readily grip then slip off the tie cleanly or hang a bit?