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 Posted - May 28 2013 : 3:21:25 PM
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Has anyone ever encountered or even used these? Starting around the early 1990s,some HO railroad companies began offering little plastic clips you would place in between two track sections so they would stay in place without the need for nailing down the track on the board or surface being used (as long as it wasn't on carpet!) This was somewhat of a gimmick to make model railroading a bit easier for kids, and seemed based on how some slot car racing track would work.
IDK who the first company to offer something like this was, but Tyco first began employing these in 1991, during their waning years of model trains (and the company itself!). They called them "Quik-Clik" connectors (named after their slot car track), and packaged them with their train sets of the time.
/tyco/forum/uploaded/wiley209/001.jpg
These "Quik-Clik" connectors apparently are still available, and can be bought from here (though they aren't called "Quik-Clik" anymore, probably due to copyright reasons.)
http://www.ihc-hobby.com/product/2701
Life-Like also began offering their own version in the early/mid-1990s, as the "Trac-Loc" system. Their clips were noticeably shaped differently from Tyco's. Life-Like also included these will all their conventional-track train sets. They are also still manufactured, but are only included with their bare-bones "Rail Charger" train set, as it's the only set Life-Like currently offers with conventional track (as there isn't any need for it with Power-Loc track!)
While I do have to admit, it was a rather interesting idea, but nowadays it can be considered unnecessary due to how roadbed track is now popular (even rail companies like Athearn that don't make their own track ship their ready-to-run train sets with Bachmann's E-Z track!)
Any comments?
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Posted - May 29 2013 : 11:57:28 AM
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I have a number of these somewhere. They came in the President's Choice train sets sold here in Canadian supermarkets. Most of the sets were made by Mehano. I used them a lot when I was a kid, before I figured out how to tighten rail joiners with pliers!  They were useful if the track was set up and taken down repeatedly.
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Posted - May 29 2013 : 2:12:12 PM
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| I have a Pilsbury set that had these inside and they work AWESOME!! I did not know TYCO made them, I think they are a great idea.
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