Den

I believe that Rick used them on his swing bridge. Richlawn Railroad in the search should get you to his site and Blog on here. I think he went into lots of detail regarding them.

"experience with Gap Masters?

I've never used the commercial ones but I get the same effect by gluing down a couple of PC board ties at the ends of removable sections. I'd either use the Gapmasters, PC board ties, brass screws set flush below the rails, or something similar to strengthen the end of section rails against accidental bumps and to help keep the alignment of the joint when it's re-assembled.....DaveB

Search Gapmasters

Type gapmasters into the search field at top right and click Search.  It will bring up four or five threads where Gapmasters are mentioned.  As mentioned, Rick Wade's blog about his swing gate is the most in-depth.

I have to agree with DaveB.  If one has PC ties on hand, just use those.  If not, perhaps Gapmasters make sense for you.

Regards,

As the guys had mentioned I

As the guys had mentioned I used Gap Masters for my swing gate and I'm very happy with them.  Everything is still in alignment and there's no problems with trains going over them.  Here's the link to my blog:

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/16081

Work great

I use some in N-scale and they work great and look good.  Well worth the price, and great service.

Dave

They work great for FreeMo-N module ends

A number of the newer FreeMoN modules for the Silicon Valley group are using them, and they have been much more reliable than PCB ties.  One big reason is there is no height difference between the track ties and the Gapmasters, vs the slight difference in the PC board thickness. Plus, easier to properly affix a single item at the end plate versus 4 or 5 individual ties.

Joints

Den - even though my tracks don't carry power I have used FastTracks PC ties at joints instead of rail joiners. A link my MC Fujiwara noted that he puts a solid backer at the ends of modules and then mounts the GapMaster ties. I should have followed this advice as the ends of my sections got some rough handling that resulted in having to shim under the roadbed where they met.

The fact that GapMasters makes ties for every conceivable scale and commercial as well as handlaid choices makes it an easy solution for your HOn3 joints. I say give it a try. Five times two and a half bucks would be worth the small expense.  

Neil

Gapmasters on module group

Our HOn3 Free-Mo group has standardized on GapMasters on module interfaces, using butt joints instead of fitter rails that standard Free-Mo uses.  We use Code 70 rail, and the GapMasters provide more surface area for soldering than PC ties (a full inch long instead of across the PC ties), making a much stronger rail/tie connection.  We also use epoxy, so the GapMasters give more surface area for that as well.

Mike Conder, Highlands Ranch Colorado

Look at this

Fixing a kink - Step by step

In constructing my HO standard gauge railroad, which uses DCC, I determined that double gaps were needed on a curve just ahead of a turnout. I had laid Micro Engineering code 83 flex track with a bead of latex adhesive caulk in this area, which is my standard mainline technique. After locating a position that would permit adding a feeder in a location clear of risers underneath, I cut the gaps with a motor tool. Unfortunately, the caulk had not adhered well in this spot, so cutting the gaps released tension in the curved rails and the track popped a kink at the gapped location:

Ugly! I decided to use Gap Masters for the fix. For those who haven't seen them, here's an image showing the obverse and reverse of the HO standard gauge product:

As you can see, the top surface is metallic and gapped down the middle, so when rails are soldered to it, there is no short across the unit. The modeler is left to cut a crosswise gap in the metal coating at the desired spot.

My project began by carefully undercutting four ties, two on either side of the existing gap, using a #11 blade, and de-soldering the existing feeder. I could then remove the ties by carefully twisting and pulling up; this left me with a 4-tie section of bare rail:

The misalignment of the rail is readily apparent, as is the absence of caulk. Not sure how I missed that, but lesson learned: when laying track on curves with the caulk method, don't leave empty spots.

Next I scraped off some of the old caulk and test fit the Gap Master; using finger pressure I aligned the track in order to see the right place for the Gap Master that would result in a smooth curve. I secured it with a blob of caulk spread flat, which shows as bright white in the next image. I didn't try to align the track at this point. I weighted the area and then spent an hour on another task while the caulk set up.

Next I pinned the kinked section (the one to the left) in exact position with two 1/2" brads. I applied a small amount of paste flux to the joint between the rail web and the Gap Master, then tinned and soldered that area. I positioned the soldering iron tip on the rail web, not the top of the rail, to get fast heat transfer. I groomed the solder a bit and observed carefully for a wet-looking, shiny joint at the joint of the rail web and the Gap Master. I also applied pressure with pliers to adjacent parts of the rail with one hand, and soldered with the other; this resulted in a tight joint.

This is a reverse angle with better focus:

The curve is smooth, the soldering tight, all good. I pulled the brads and observed no movement. I cleaned up the rail tops and inside faces with a small file. I used a razor saw positioned in the existing rail gap to gently cut through the metal of the Gap Master at the same location, then performed a continuity test with my multimeter to verify that the gap was open. It's not shown in the photos, but I will now go back and fill the rail gap with styrene, and paint the Gap Master and rails to disguise the solder. After painting,it should be difficult to spot.

Chris