From Al Kramer July 19th:
THIS PRODUCTION RUN IS FROM A NEW SUPPLIER AND WE HAVE THOROUGHLY TESTED THE RUN AND THEY ARE ALL PERFECT. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE PRIOR RUN NEEDING SOME RE-TAPPING AND ALIGNMENT ISSUES BUT THIS RUN IS PERFECT !! I HAVE LISTED THEM ON EBAY IN LOTS OF 10, 20, 50, AND 100 OR YOU CAN ORDER DIRECT AND PAY WITH PAYPAL
This is fantastic news and thanks for the update Wendell.
How many are you personally going to buy?
I’ll order 10 sets and hopefully end the problem area where sprinklers regularly soak part of the layout.
So $140 for 100 of them. $17.50 for 10.
SJ Stainless $114 for 50, so about twice the price.
Hmm… tough decision. So for half the price, you may have to fiddle with them to align the rails, or are you going over the joiner.
Greg
Greg-
Good question whether to use the rail joiner or to use a stainless washer under each screw to compress the sidewall of the track against the bottom plate. For those not visualizing this, check the ROLL EZ website and see the photos, or on the companion posting thread, showing the bottom plate and how the LGB/Aristo brass track connector is used. I find if I tightened early Kramer connector bolts evenly – that’s after I cleaned the threads with a tap – I didn’t have the twisting that has been reported.
My experience? I have some track that is still with soldered jumpers, some with Hillman and Split Jaw (SJ) connectors, and also the early production “Connector” (Kramer) connectors. In short, once the rail ends are completely clean, either the Split Jaw or Hillmans work well – and hold up right along with the Kramer product. The one distinguishing feature with my use of stainless rail and the Kramer product is the strength in holding the rail ends. I have stripped the threads tightening the SJ and Hillmans trying to get the same holding power I get with the combined LGB/Aristo brass connectors and Kramer connectors. Those four bolts can be very strongly tightened. There are areas whereby the track is walked on and this added strength is an asset.