Discovered via one of the G-Scale Facebook groups that Splitjaw is going to close its doors in October unless someone buys the business. According to the comments of the post there was also an ad in the latest Garden Railways magazine.
over 90% of my track support provided by them and their clamps were used for all my turnouts. It will be a shame they may no longer be an option.
Stock up now.
Trainli sells clamps that have vertical screws which are easier to get to than the Hillman or Split Jaw esp. at switches and crossovers. available in brass and nickel plated.
I have converted to Train-li clamps as well …
(https://www.largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/79/b2/01/1afc8_9925.jpg?c=6006)
As seen above …^^^^
Split jaws were and are still are a pain to put on or take off or adjust.
Train-Li 's are used on my RR.
Gonna need a new supplier of code 250 SS clamps.
Yep, going to stock up. The SJ is my preferred one, since I don’t have the screw heads pointing up and visible. A bit more work to install but I prefer the allen cap screws as opposed to a screwdriver blade that can slip or tear open.
I’ll look for alternatives at some point in the future, more similar to the SJ, as opposed to an extrusion.
Greg
Looks good Mark, profile of clamping area is extremely similar to the now-gone hillmans. One of the reasons I went to SJ instead of Hillman is that hillman used a smaller, less strong screw and their brass clamps did have some failures, due to the stress risers caused by the notch, where the rail foot tends to pry the slot open when tightened. That said they seem to have better electrical contact due to the better “bite” on the foot.
I’ll have to get some SS ones and torture them (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
All of my track (aluminium and indoors) is from SVRR and the owner, Pete Comley, has been very helpful. Two thumbs for their products and service.
I’m not really surprised that they are closing shop. The last time I wanted to buy some items from them (A 48" deck bridge and two piers) they said they didn’t have stock on hand to fill the order. They literally recommended I order from a hobby outlet in Georgia. I did and when my order was received here in Burbank, CA, the bill was from Split Jaw (not the outlet in Georgia) and it had been “drop-shipped” from the place in Georgia. AND there was an extra fee tacked on for the drop shipment. Way too shady for me and I never purchased anything more from either vendor! That was 2010. In the meantime, I purchased all my bridges from Scott Lindsay at J&S Railcar in Tennessee and those were all custom-made (for less than Split Jaw). I still have the Split Jaw deck bridge and piers to remind me of that fiasco. Anybody want a deck bridge? You can have it…just haul it away :).
Gary is the track embedded in the deck bridge?
I’m about to order a number of bridges from Scott, hope he is still in business.
Greg
I bagged a hundred and fifty or so of the stainless split jaw clamps in auctions over the past couple of years. I think I should be set to replace all of the non split jaws that are lurking on the railroad, but I probably should order some more just in case.
Scott is still in business, but takes forever. He’s working on a 10’ curved trestle for me right now.
Greg Elmassian said:
Gary is the track embedded in the deck bridge?
I’m about to order a number of bridges from Scott, hope he is still in business.
Greg
Hi Greg,
I guess it was my fault that the thread was a “little” hijacked :). Yes, Scott is definitely still in business. Scott lindsay and Split Jaw are two different conversations. I only mentioned Scott because of the issue I had with Split Jaw.
Scott is very, very busy. I had been discussing a ABS tank end for my Arrowhead Water car. That was about 15 months or so ago. I finally rethought my approach to this car and I’m going to get 6 large aluminum tank end castings (14-1/2 inches in diameter!) custom-made to the exact size I need from Fair Weather Foundry in Kent, Ohio.
Lindsay was recommended to me by Paul Burch over 10-11 years ago. At that time, he was mainly doing “G” stuff (bridges and buildings). Now he is mainly building locomotives, rolling stock and structures for 1/8th scale, 1-1/2 stuff. He still does “G” as far as I know.
AND Greg…the track is not embedded in the deck of the bridge. When I had quite a few deck bridges made, I used the Garden Metal Models “catwalks” and used ABS glue to fasten in place. I think Paul Burch and I bought everything GMM had left when he was selling the last of his stock.
Sorry for the hijack…now back to the regular scheduled "programming and Split Jaw :).
Nicolas Teeuwen said:
Discovered via one of the G-Scale Facebook groups that Splitjaw is going to close its doors in October unless someone buys the business. According to the comments of the post there was also an ad in the latest Garden Railways magazine.
over 90% of my track support provided by them and their clamps were used for all my turnouts. It will be a shame they may no longer be an option.
According to the ad in GR they are retiring and good for them ! I personally feel they had an excellent product with the rail clamps especially as a track powered guy myself. I wish them the best and hopefully someone will be smart enough to pick-up their business and run with it instead of bitching about it saying other products are better as there is always a fox lurking in the hen house!
Best of luck to them and hoping they enjoy their retirement!!
Dan Pierce said:
Trainli sells clamps that have vertical screws which are easier to get to than the Hillman or Split Jaw esp. at switches and crossovers. available in brass and nickel plated.
Not to pile on, but I use the Train-Li clamps exclusively. Simpler design, and the cone of the flat head screw makes a slight dimple that mechanically indexes the components together (vs. only friction).
Always sad to hear of another manufacturer’s demise, but Split Jaw has been offering their business for sale for a number of years, so it’s not a big surprise that they’re finally going through with it, one way or the other.
My entire railroad is supported by their PVC roadbed. Thankfully i have finished all my track plans.
I do like their rail clamps and have ordered some more for a few small track changes and spares.
I like their girder bridges and have 3 of them. I plan to order more, especially curved as there are very few curve bridge options that aren’t trestles, especially for 10 foot diameter curve.
I also have their transition clamps. I have one piece of code 250 custom track on my layout and needed conversion clamps. Does anyone else make conversion clamps?
Sunset Valley, as mentioned by Mr. Hadler,
https://elmassian.com/index.php/large-scale-train-main-page/track-aamp-switches/track-powerwiring
Listing of most clamps available and some history.
Greg
Looking at some of these comments, I wonder if the Split Jaw product is still viable? With all the poo-pooing here, no wonder no one wants to buy and continue the business.
