Excuse me David, but I meant my whole track breathes (grows and ungrows), but my joints don’t split.
When I rusted my rail, the joiners disappeared, but the clamps stuck out visually, that bugs me…
Ah. I understand now. Yea the clamps do look odd, but once buried in ballast they are fine. Its keeping them buried that can be difficult. Each rain shower washes the ballast off of them.
I saw some mention of those LGB track clips. After a summer in the tropical heat, every clipped rail joint had a split tie. I have removed them since. My layout is pretty small, so a quick scrub of a troublesome joint is usually good enough, though I have throw in some clamps at some troublesome spots.
- Eric