We are shutting down all TinMan sales effective April 1st, not to reopen until Mid September, Lake Michigan is calling and we are planning to answer the call. The rest of our time will be spent purchasing more stock for next season. If you have some surplus O gauge track, switches etc. Please let us know, we would love to buy it.

New from TinMan 3 rail as promised. A new pliers designed to tighten  those pesky loose tabs that hold the rails to the ties. These pliers are a new design to work with O or O27 track. The px shown are for O gauge, but the principle is exactly the same for O27. These are really handy if you like us add insulators to the outside rail for purposes of making the track a switch. Oh by the way, here is a tip if you own a pair of track pliers. To loosen the ties to install insulators, use your track pliers over or near the ties and wiggle (another technical term) back and forth and they will loosen the tie tabs, then a quick lever action move with a small tipped flat screwdriver, and you can then remove the rail if you wish. We have been asked will this work on the center rails. NO they will not, nor would you want to use them for that. You will notice from the factory the outside rail tabs have indents on them from the pressing machines, the center rails have none, because of too much danger of damaging the insulators. With no real weight on the center rail, they do not need to be that tight.

These pliers are BIG! 8" actually. Why? because after 70 + years of constant use, the hands just don't have the oomph they used to. Even then I find it a little tough to get the ties really tight, So I then put the pliers on our track jig (or anything nice and solid a vice also works great) and give it a tap with a hammer, and that tie will be factory tight again!. The front of the pliers is great at pulling the tabs together to the point where the crimping action will then take over the final tightening process.

Additional comment: there seems to be some concern as to the origin of these pliers. We have received a couple of communications that we are behaving in a fraudulent or misleading manner. We do not in any way state that we are some kind of foundry, or machining company that can manufacture this item from scratch. Thru our normal track reconditioning process, we needed a way to tighten the ties efficiently. Necessity is the mother of invention. This was our solution. The only other solution was a $700 press that is very time consuming process.  We have the capability to share our experience with others for a reasonable price. We purchase this item that was originally intended to be used for another purpose. We then modify it to fit the function for what we are advertising it. It was originally sold as a welding pliers, and is marketed by many companies of different names. Why in the past 100 years of O gauge railroading a company has not come up with something like this on their own? I have no idea, nor do I really care. What I do care is that it answers an issue for a lot of hobbyists now.  I am not exactly sure what the concerns are, but if this is upsetting to you, I suggest you not buy it.

Like all TinMan tools, these also come with a lifetime warranty.

Just make sure you remember:

PEOPLE DON'T GROW OLD FROM PLAYING WITH TRAINS, THEY GROW OLD WHEN THEY STOP PLAYING WITH TRAINS!