A huge thanks for the overwhelmingly positive reponce, I can't thank you all enough. (Follow up video in the works) Some of you will be pleased to know we have now put US Code 83 and HOm rail aligners into production and they should be avilable in the next couple of weeks.
Yes, there are patent thieves everywhere, especially now that there is CZcams, where stupid people post potential inventions that could be worth millions for nothing. 😏
I've bought and used the OO/HO size and very impressed! Much better than using individual copper sleepers. Recommend these to anyone. Just what the market needed. Well done!
Fantastic idea. Patent it if you haven’t already. I’m just beginning to consider a shelf layout which will go around the house and therefore need several module sections in the guise of bridges and I think these will be just the ticket.
Been out of model railways for a while now sadly but I’m eager to get a layout sorted with my first house next year. It’s great to see innovation coming from real people who are passionate about the hobby! All the best mate!
Best of luck, looks like a great product, well packaged, What would be a killer version of that is if there was a way of not only aligning the track but making electrical contact cutting out the wires between baseboards. Don't get overwhelmed by the odd requests for unusual scales and track, You need to get what you've already done out to as many retailers and fast and build up a network that is big enough to take you forward.
I've been looking at ways to show the power polarity on a Fleischmann turntable - I think the ProTrack Power Indicators will be perfect for this. By installing one at each end of the turntable and under the approach track/s it will make sure the track polarity is correct. Am looking forward to the order arriving and installing on my layout. Big thumbs up for this.
Hi Gwion, Great additions for Model Railroaders. The Rail Aligner is a fantastic help to build 'modular' & 'lift out' section layouts. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Gwion, I saw these in a recent edition of Model Railway mag - had to try them, so I've ordered a set from a supplier in UK who ships to Australia. I reckon these are literally a game changer for so many of us who have to life/separate track on our layouts. Finally, someone has come up with an idea to make re-joining track easier. I can't wait to get my set installed. Good luck with your business, I hope you get an Australian retailer on board. Best wishes, Angus.
Great product Gwion, a simple solution and FR4 is very strong being a glass-fibre laminate so should handle knocks well. I guess also a nice fast (permanent) way of making an electrical connection would be to panel pin through the plated holes and then solder at both ends, or bend the bottom end and slide a terminal block onto them.
This is such a good idea! There are more and more modular layouts these days, running over multiple boards and on my own boards these will be incredibly useful!
If you enter the US markey, I hope you would investigate having them made here. Still plenty of companies that can etch glass epoxy or phenolic boards.
nice products Gwion, I am starting a new project in N scale and the pro track rail Aligner may be the thing im looking for so I will order two packs and try them out. Tim
I’m sure I’ve seen on one of your previous videos that you are a member of Swansea Modellers Group. I was a member there once. It’s great to see someone close to home getting reward out of their passion
You are a few years behind the game, there is a company in North America that manufactures these joints already, out of fiberglass with silver traces on them for easy soldering for buss wires. They are available in O, S, HO, N, HOn3 scales
AWESOME just waiting for someone to make a PLUG and play electrical system with points like connecting with a CAT 5.6.7 cable where you just plug in and away you go points signals etc I mean i know we are there but surprised HORNBY did not jump into something that is even more EASY PEASY but this it the best thing i have seen for the dreaded joining base boards its slick clean and at distance I would not even know there was a join.
I think the US market would be good for you.Contact Walthers or another supplier to see if they are interested. Code 83 is now the major size rail now in use here. You have some neat ideas.
Your products look excellent. You have addressed the UK market very well but may I suggest you get cracking on the US and Euro markets before someone else beats you. Besides, their markets are many times the size of the UK’s.
I saw the rail alighners advertised in one of the model rail mags thought they looked just what I wanted so going to order from1 of the shops. The power indicators look really useful as well again just what I need in my storage yard. Great products atb Andy
Gwion, I've been installing the HO aligners onto my layout. As the layout is modular and multi level and the room has two access doors, I have a challenge. The first things I have learnt are, don't install a joint on a curve in flexi track.!!!! Unless you Solder and secure the curve before cutting the rails. Far better is to place a section of set track at the postion of the joint. Then cut and postion the Modeltech aligner. There is none of the spring and tension that comes with flexitrack. Great product, thanks.
That's actually a great thing, especially this, I believe would fit to the up-lift parts of bridges or swing bridges. The only sad thing for me is that there's nothing for the 3-rail system (Marklin)...
Diolch yn fawr matey. Just stumbled across this video in my recommended section and I'm literally making a start on my track laying this weekend which includes a hinged board to allow access to the workbench. I'd not really put much thought to aligning the rails, but this ticks all the boxes and I shall certainly get a pack. I'll share the work 👌🏻
Welcome back, hope you're doing well. So you now you run Simnation & modeltech, you're going to be very busy I suspect. Good luck with the model railway business!
Great idea for the rail joiners GRD and they look like a good starter point for your business venture as Model-Tech. I am about to build a 00 scale end to end layout using 3x BRM small board modules (2 per pack). As yet a track plan isn't fully fleshed out to how many I would need. Though I'm aiming for three lines and four long sidings across the 5x joins, with further modules that could be added later. These rail joiners seem to be the ideal solution for this project, as you have shown here for crossing the gap from baseboard to baseboard. They seem to make a superb alternative way to do it other than using the copper clad sleeper or brass screws under the track to solder too. Any way good luck in these uncertain times with Model-Tech and thank heavens we have our modelling hobbies etc to stop us from going off the rails.
nice work.. good luck. Defintely be good to see the rail aligner things for HO code 83 (Peco US track) .. quite a few people in UK/Europe use it too :-)
The grab tool looks really good for lots of annoying jobs on my motorbike etc where you can't hold a small screw that you then drop and lose in the black hole. Not sure about the alignment as just putting first track together so will watch again. Well done.
Hi Gwion. I remember the great innovations you developed for The Great Model Railway Challenge. These products look excellent and of high quality, so will be ordering some today. I hope your new business is very successful, and look forward to more products in the future. Best wishes, Chris
Excellent idea. I hope you patented them or are there similar on the market. Best of luck and I'm sure you will come up with ideas for other rail material.
I would really like to import some of these into the US as I think I could use some of the Code 83 track you mentioned (by some I mean a lot), however, college is quite stressful right now so my wall mounted railroad is on hold. speaking about that I need to 3d print some stuff for an Ahearn band drive my neighbor gave me a while back.
Actually, the rail aligner will work with code 83 track. The code has nothing to do with the sleeper spacing, it only tells you about the height of the rail. The majority of continental European track is either code 83 or code 100. The sleeper spacing is the same though. In the US, correct, the sleeper spacing is different from Europe, but it has nothing to do with the code. The rail aligner will work with what ever H0/00 track you throw at it. A more proper description could be "European sleeper spacing" or something similar instead of the code.
Would be interested in seeing a how to video on how to install the pro track aligners. Any plans to do such a video? Great product idea and will definitely try them out
You put Hornby, Bachmann, and other model railroad companies and their track ranges to shame. Nicely Done. How much does it cost, ship, and where do we order?
Well done on starting your own business with your own products. Not easy to do that, this is very impressive. I will keep an eye out, as I have my own 00 layout.
I can imagine that I would buy a number of them I use Code 83 and code 70 rail, the market in North America would be a quick sell on these, as there are a lot of free-mo groups, definitely look into making the code 83 HO/OO please!
Amazing stuff, and just in time for me as I've designed my first module but haven't laid the track yet! Out of interest, what were the boxes you're using for your baseboard? They look like they could be very handy, especially as I'm modelling in N!
What a great idea! Exactly what I’d need for my new Layout. I was looking into your shop and it says they work for both code 100 and code 75. I‘m using Peco code 100 track with selfmade third rails with older Märklin AC rolling stock which has higher wheel flanks than the DC stuff, so it works with code 100 track but not with code 75. To figure out if these connectors work with my rolling stock, I’d need to know the height of the rails above the sleepers / the clearance for the wheel flanges, that would be very helpful.
Hi Paul, to clarify we don't supply the rail with our rail aligners to allow the end user the choice of rail they wish to use. If you use your code 100 rail with our rail aligners, you shouldn't have any issues running your stock over them.
At 1.30ish, you chat about how you, and other people, would choose to solder the item. I think you should have gone into more detail over your choice, and explained why you would choose to solder the rail in this particular way. Cheers. Rich UK 🥰🥰🥰
Looks like an awesome product! So if I'm not mistaken, the USA Code 83 (RAU16001) version really is what I should use for any and all US track modeling due to the sleeper (tie) spacing, right? Even code 100 US track? I ask because from what I can tell, Atlas for example, makes flex track in both code 100 and code 83 which both have the same tie spacing. The height of the rail is the only difference caused by the code, sleepers (ties) remain the same distance apart regardless of code, which seems to be closer together than all OO sleeper spacing... If this is the case, it might make sense to give the RAU16001 a slightly different name than "USA Code 83" just to prevent US code 100 from modelers from buying the "standard" RAS16001 by mistake, thinking the rail code is the driver, rather than the tie/sleeper spacing which is based mostly on each country's actual railway building standards
Hey I live in the US and I got to say this is some really nice invention you have here, except for the grabber we can get those they're like a dime dozen. but the pro tracks I think will do well in the US because some of us have modular and left out bridges.
@@jeremyjohnson457 for the rail aligners? We do sell internationally on our online store starting from £8 (~$10.50) with rail aligners cosing apox $13.20 per pack.
I'd Love to bring these to the club I'm with and advertise them. Really cool. I just finished creating a modular setup with my long N scale layout. Had to cut it in half and use copper board segments on the rails where the edges are. This product would have come in handy! Very nice. Let me know !
A huge thanks for the overwhelmingly positive reponce, I can't thank you all enough. (Follow up video in the works)
Some of you will be pleased to know we have now put US Code 83 and HOm rail aligners into production and they should be avilable in the next couple of weeks.
Any chance of doing Z Gauge Code 60?
Hello, this product looks really interesting and just what I need to expand my N gauge railroad, do you ship it to Mexico ?
You should get those patented, because the larger companies may jump on them
And they will !
He’s not the first. In Germany they sell them for years.
Cool ...nice items
Yes, there are patent thieves everywhere, especially now that there is CZcams, where stupid people post potential inventions that could be worth millions for nothing. 😏
I've bought and used the OO/HO size and very impressed! Much better than using individual copper sleepers. Recommend these to anyone. Just what the market needed. Well done!
these joiners are SO SO clever! They will sell really well.
Fantastic idea. Patent it if you haven’t already.
I’m just beginning to consider a shelf layout which will go around the house and therefore need several module sections in the guise of bridges and I think these will be just the ticket.
I like the products, Gwion. I wish you luck.
Been out of model railways for a while now sadly but I’m eager to get a layout sorted with my first house next year. It’s great to see innovation coming from real people who are passionate about the hobby! All the best mate!
Best of luck, looks like a great product, well packaged, What would be a killer version of that is if there was a way of not only aligning the track but making electrical contact cutting out the wires between baseboards. Don't get overwhelmed by the odd requests for unusual scales and track, You need to get what you've already done out to as many retailers and fast and build up a network that is big enough to take you forward.
I've been looking at ways to show the power polarity on a Fleischmann turntable - I think the ProTrack Power Indicators will be perfect for this. By installing one at each end of the turntable and under the approach track/s it will make sure the track polarity is correct. Am looking forward to the order arriving and installing on my layout. Big thumbs up for this.
Hi Gwion, Great additions for Model Railroaders. The Rail Aligner is a fantastic help to build 'modular' & 'lift out' section layouts. Thanks for sharing!
Looks like a good product to have especially for the leftout section. I model in HO code 83 and i hope yall make one soon. Good luck out there
I think you could go on the different radious curves, must be a market for that !! Not all joining is straight..
Brilliant product 👏
Great ideas, all the best with your new business.
Well done. Makes me want to dust off my old train set from childhood and get to work on it. Great products indeed.
Hi Gwion, I saw these in a recent edition of Model Railway mag - had to try them, so I've ordered a set from a supplier in UK who ships to Australia. I reckon these are literally a game changer for so many of us who have to life/separate track on our layouts. Finally, someone has come up with an idea to make re-joining track easier. I can't wait to get my set installed. Good luck with your business, I hope you get an Australian retailer on board. Best wishes, Angus.
Great product Gwion, a simple solution and FR4 is very strong being a glass-fibre laminate so should handle knocks well. I guess also a nice fast (permanent) way of making an electrical connection would be to panel pin through the plated holes and then solder at both ends, or bend the bottom end and slide a terminal block onto them.
This is such a good idea! There are more and more modular layouts these days, running over multiple boards and on my own boards these will be incredibly useful!
Those rail alignment sections are wonderful. You've really thought it all through. I'm just planning some modules and I think they will be included.
If you enter the US markey, I hope you would investigate having them made here. Still plenty of companies that can etch glass epoxy or phenolic boards.
Congrats on the new business. Looks like a good product!
nice products Gwion, I am starting a new project in N scale and the pro track rail Aligner may be the thing im looking for so I will order two packs and try them out. Tim
Gwion great products! Good luck with your company. Greetz from Holland, Onno.
Going to keep my eye on this. I have a drop down section on my layout. Granted, it wont be raised or lowered on a regular bases, but it still moves.
The track aligners look a great idea, better and less fiddly than using copper clad sleepers
I’m sure I’ve seen on one of your previous videos that you are a member of Swansea Modellers Group. I was a member there once. It’s great to see someone close to home getting reward out of their passion
Yes, been a member since 2013. Starting to miss having weekly meeting quite a bit now...
Hi Gwion, some great products there buddy. Good luck with the new venture. Catch you soon (with a bit of luck), regards Bobby 'T'.
Those joiners and power indicators are very smart and amazing.
You are a few years behind the game, there is a company in North America that manufactures these joints already, out of fiberglass with silver traces on them for easy soldering for buss wires. They are available in O, S, HO, N, HOn3 scales
Yea, been buying these for years
What is the manufacturer of the other brand
As someone who makes portable layouts: I'LL TAKE YOUR ENTIRE STOCK
Great product I've used these on my lift up section.
i wish you the best with your business! God speed brother.
Looks very interessting. I will definetly try these for internal joints at my NTRAK modules.
AWESOME just waiting for someone to make a PLUG and play electrical system with points like connecting with a CAT 5.6.7 cable where you just plug in and away you go points signals etc I mean i know we are there but surprised HORNBY did not jump into something that is even more EASY PEASY but this it the best thing i have seen for the dreaded joining base boards its slick clean and at distance I would not even know there was a join.
That’s absolutely brilliant! A really neat solution.
Brilliant ideas, can’t wait for more.
You have got good ideas,suitable for every railway modeller ! Cobgratutlations ! Greetings from Germany !
Great Products! - I hope to see people using them on their layouts and I shall keep them in mind once I start my layout project
Brilliant idea! Well done.
A great idea. I do plan to build a modular layout in OO sometime soon and the Rail Aligners would be very helpful. Martin (Thailand)
Pretty crafty idea, I hope some day they are available in the US.
I think the US market would be good for you.Contact Walthers or another supplier to see if they are interested. Code 83 is now the major size rail now in use here. You have some neat ideas.
Thanks for the kind comment. We definitly want to try and get into the US market and produce for Code 83 track.
Your products look excellent. You have addressed the UK market very well but may I suggest you get cracking on the US and Euro markets before someone else beats you. Besides, their markets are many times the size of the UK’s.
Gwion they look fantastic, I really hope they take off for you and you do well out of them.
I saw the rail alighners advertised in one of the model rail mags thought they looked just what I wanted so going to order from1 of the shops. The power indicators look really useful as well again just what I need in my storage yard. Great products atb Andy
Gwion, I've been installing the HO aligners onto my layout. As the layout is modular and multi level and the room has two access doors, I have a challenge.
The first things I have learnt are, don't install a joint on a curve in flexi track.!!!!
Unless you Solder and secure the curve before cutting the rails.
Far better is to place a section of set track at the postion of the joint. Then cut and postion the Modeltech aligner.
There is none of the spring and tension that comes with flexitrack.
Great product, thanks.
That's actually a great thing, especially this, I believe would fit to the up-lift parts of bridges or swing bridges.
The only sad thing for me is that there's nothing for the 3-rail system (Marklin)...
I've bought some of the rail aligners from GLR and they look very good.
Diolch yn fawr matey. Just stumbled across this video in my recommended section and I'm literally making a start on my track laying this weekend which includes a hinged board to allow access to the workbench.
I'd not really put much thought to aligning the rails, but this ticks all the boxes and I shall certainly get a pack.
I'll share the work 👌🏻
Thank you Gwion for coming up with your clever product. I have ordered a 00 bullhead pack to try out on my base boards Regards TONY
Welcome back, hope you're doing well. So you now you run Simnation & modeltech, you're going to be very busy I suspect.
Good luck with the model railway business!
Saw these online today. Glad I saw your video. I am going to order some now 👍🏻💪🏻
Fantastic idea. These are perfect for my layout plan.
Great idea for the rail joiners GRD and they look like a good starter point for your business venture as Model-Tech. I am about to build a 00 scale end to end layout using 3x BRM small board modules (2 per pack). As yet a track plan isn't fully fleshed out to how many I would need. Though I'm aiming for three lines and four long sidings across the 5x joins, with further modules that could be added later. These rail joiners seem to be the ideal solution for this project, as you have shown here for crossing the gap from baseboard to baseboard. They seem to make a superb alternative way to do it other than using the copper clad sleeper or brass screws under the track to solder too. Any way good luck in these uncertain times with Model-Tech and thank heavens we have our modelling hobbies etc to stop us from going off the rails.
Rails over baseboard joins are a pain - especially if the wood framing warps. These are a really brilliant idea!!
This is exactly why I made them.
What a brilliant idea, I could have used this when I built my layout, good luck with it.
What a brilliant idea !
I wish you much success....
I needed those rail aligners about 12 months ago. Been having a nightmare with an n gauge lift out section. Expect an order coming soon.
nice work.. good luck. Defintely be good to see the rail aligner things for HO code 83 (Peco US track) .. quite a few people in UK/Europe use it too :-)
Thanks, it is deffintly up for consideration.
The grab tool looks really good for lots of annoying jobs on my motorbike etc where you can't hold a small screw that you then drop and lose in the black hole. Not sure about the alignment as just putting first track together so will watch again. Well done.
Thanks :)
I feel like the Rail Aligner is perfectly fitted for moving show model parts for trade fairs ect.
Excellent products! Stay well and keep on chooching! 😊
Hi Gwion. I remember the great innovations you developed for The Great Model Railway Challenge. These products look excellent and of high quality, so will be ordering some today. I hope your new business is very successful, and look forward to more products in the future.
Best wishes, Chris
Please tell me you are NOT using Chinese manufacturing for your products? Eastern Europe have some great cosy effective options for manufacturing.
I wish you the best of luck with your new business :D
This is an awesome idea, especially for my apartment layout which I might have to split when I move
My family is from Wales, our name was Davies but changed to Davis when they came to the U.S. about 1806
Excellent idea. I hope you patented them or are there similar on the market. Best of luck and I'm sure you will come up with ideas for other rail material.
Why on this earth are people giving a thumbs down !!!!!!! Great Idea
Thanks, yeah some people simply hate those who manage to have any sort of success.
I would really like to import some of these into the US as I think I could use some of the Code 83 track you mentioned (by some I mean a lot), however, college is quite stressful right now so my wall mounted railroad is on hold. speaking about that I need to 3d print some stuff for an Ahearn band drive my neighbor gave me a while back.
Love your track idea! Incredible work! I wish you the best of luck in your new business!
great approach to the problem.
Actually, the rail aligner will work with code 83 track. The code has nothing to do with the sleeper spacing, it only tells you about the height of the rail. The majority of continental European track is either code 83 or code 100. The sleeper spacing is the same though. In the US, correct, the sleeper spacing is different from Europe, but it has nothing to do with the code. The rail aligner will work with what ever H0/00 track you throw at it. A more proper description could be "European sleeper spacing" or something similar instead of the code.
Fabulous cant wait till you get into the US these are amazing.
To late for my current moduler layout as track laid and balasted. But definitely will keep these in mind for my next layout.
So glad i've seen this, so confined by space i'm going to build a modular set up designed to be stacked in storage, this product will be perfect!
What a great idea. I do hope the business does well. Thank you.
Aces. As a modular guy this is the ticket.
Would be interested in seeing a how to video on how to install the pro track aligners. Any plans to do such a video? Great product idea and will definitely try them out
Great video. Really interesting products
Great product. All the very best with the business.
You put Hornby, Bachmann, and other model railroad companies and their track ranges to shame. Nicely Done. How much does it cost, ship, and where do we order?
Thanks. You can find product prices and order here > www.modeltech.uk/shop
Well done on starting your own business with your own products. Not easy to do that, this is very impressive. I will keep an eye out, as I have my own 00 layout.
I can imagine that I would buy a number of them I use Code 83 and code 70 rail, the market in North America would be a quick sell on these, as there are a lot of free-mo groups, definitely look into making the code 83 HO/OO please!
You'll be pleased to know that we now produced Code 83 Rail Aligners. They should be available to purchase from our website later today.
Will you create those rail-aligners for Z gauge too, that would be very awesome!
Wish I had know about these 6 weeks ago lol. What a great product
Very Clever mate good luck with the business Best Regards Andrew
Amazing stuff, and just in time for me as I've designed my first module but haven't laid the track yet!
Out of interest, what were the boxes you're using for your baseboard? They look like they could be very handy, especially as I'm modelling in N!
What a great idea! Exactly what I’d need for my new Layout.
I was looking into your shop and it says they work for both code 100 and code 75.
I‘m using Peco code 100 track with selfmade third rails with older Märklin AC rolling stock which has higher wheel flanks than the DC stuff, so it works with code 100 track but not with code 75.
To figure out if these connectors work with my rolling stock, I’d need to know the height of the rails above the sleepers / the clearance for the wheel flanges, that would be very helpful.
Hi Paul, to clarify we don't supply the rail with our rail aligners to allow the end user the choice of rail they wish to use. If you use your code 100 rail with our rail aligners, you shouldn't have any issues running your stock over them.
Congratulations on a great startup with ingenious products. You have made great use of your Covid-19 time.
Just a note I use them on code 83 track and the new layout I am using on code 83 Walthers track
Great idea. Wish you well.
Code 83 is common amongst most model railroaders. In ho. Especially on the bigger layouts.
for the new modelers, code 83 does not work well with older models from the 50's up to early 90's, code 100 is the best for all type of trains
Anyone seeing this at Febuary 2023. There is a TT:120 version.
Nice products.
Only one scale you missed.
H0m metre gauge track. Like Swiss narrow Gauge in 1:87 scale.
We're currently looking into making these so watch this space!
@@GwionRhysDavies verry nice.
At 1.30ish, you chat about how you, and other people, would choose to solder the item. I think you should have gone into more detail over your choice, and explained why you would choose to solder the rail in this particular way.
Cheers.
Rich UK 🥰🥰🥰
@
Fair enough, I plan to do a follow up video so will keep this in mind.
Looks like an awesome product! So if I'm not mistaken, the USA Code 83 (RAU16001) version really is what I should use for any and all US track modeling due to the sleeper (tie) spacing, right? Even code 100 US track? I ask because from what I can tell, Atlas for example, makes flex track in both code 100 and code 83 which both have the same tie spacing. The height of the rail is the only difference caused by the code, sleepers (ties) remain the same distance apart regardless of code, which seems to be closer together than all OO sleeper spacing... If this is the case, it might make sense to give the RAU16001 a slightly different name than "USA Code 83" just to prevent US code 100 from modelers from buying the "standard" RAS16001 by mistake, thinking the rail code is the driver, rather than the tie/sleeper spacing which is based mostly on each country's actual railway building standards
Excellent. Very/well done
going to need HOn3, and Z scale, Z scale is the same as HOf. the other option is to create a multi gauge version in HO, for multi gauge track.
Hey I live in the US and I got to say this is some really nice invention you have here, except for the grabber we can get those they're like a dime dozen. but the pro tracks I think will do well in the US because some of us have modular and left out bridges.
Yeah for some reason hardly anyone sells grabbers in the UK...
@@GwionRhysDavies do you have any idea how much they would sell for USD? Cuz I think I have a friend who might want a set or two
@@jeremyjohnson457 for the rail aligners? We do sell internationally on our online store starting from £8 (~$10.50) with rail aligners cosing apox $13.20 per pack.
@@GwionRhysDavies My next question do you have a website?
@@jeremyjohnson457 Indeed we have, ModelTech Online Shop: www.modeltech.uk/shop
I'd Love to bring these to the club I'm with and advertise them. Really cool. I just finished creating a modular setup with my long N scale layout. Had to cut it in half and use copper board segments on the rails where the edges are. This product would have come in handy! Very nice. Let me know !