Rusty spikes question

[FJ and G]

I'm going to mail order some rails today and was just wondering if it's OK to use steel spikes made for indoor layouts.

Reason I ask is b/c a garden railroader uses them and they are visibly rusty. He said the rust locks the spikes in better.

Any comments or opinions welcome!

[RhB_HJ]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FJ and G

I'm going to mail order some rails today and was just wondering if it's OK to use steel spikes made for indoor layouts.

Reason I ask is b/c a garden railroader uses them and they are visibly rusty. He said the rust locks the spikes in better.

Any comments or opinions welcome!

David,

I use the black spikes from Micro-Engineering, they rust but don't work loose.

How much they rust will depend on your climate. BTW I also use Red Cedar ties and I don't predrill the holes. Some people are convinced that holes need to be pre-drilled since the ends of the spikes are tapered and act like a wedge.

In my long term test (4 years) not one spike lifted! Perhaps it's just my dumb luck, but I don't think so. [;)][:)][;)]

[kstrong]

The steel spikes will work very well, but one word of caution: Make sure they have a substantial head to them. While they will rust and hold themselves in place, some spike heads are so fine that they rust completely off. I can't remember if the spikes I have in my parts drawer are Micro-Engineering or Llagas Creek (or both), but I've used both with good results outdoors, and that's in very wet environments.

Later,

K

[vsmith]

Well I guess this would look alot better than the brass screws I saw being used once.

[RhB_HJ]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Well I guess this would look alot better than the brass screws I saw being used once.

Hey Vic, [;)][:)]

It's all a matter of how you use the brass screws.

Flushmounted in the ties under the rail, they make terrifc fix-points on turnouts. But that's only for anal people like myself who hate readjusting the track gauge after the "BIG BOY" or whatever has run throught the turnout a few times.

[FJ and G]

I ordered about 3000 spikes from micro but just calculated that they won't last that long since 1 tie will receive 6 spikes (recall I'm using 3-rail track.

I had dismantled my indoor handlayed track system and this morning as I went to walk the dog I found an old tie in the yard with the spike still attached. It was a quarter inch staple I cut into 2 parts (2 spikes per staple). The staple, despite being outside in the weather, still had a solid bite into the tie.

When I run out of spikes I may resort to the staples. I'd always thought staples get rusty quick but this staple still had a shine. I'm unsure of what it's made out of.

BTW, I found a photo of my old handmade track I'll put up. You can see the staples holding the rail.

Has anyone tried using staples?