Q re tie size

[GuyP]

At planning and accumulating stage. Have bought a bunch of rail plates and spikes and code 332 brass to make at least some track look very smart. The rest will have plastic ties. Question is, what size to cut ties for 1:20.3 scale? That is, what size were/are ties for US narrow gauge? Any standards or did they vary between x and y inches for width and thickness also what length and spacing of course? Ten inches wide and eight inches thick seems to be a common size found but is that true for all ties? I have piles of western red cedar or can get plenty of Australian (really hard) hardwoods to experiment with for outside longevity. Any comments on types of wood and how long they may last? Aussie help may be needed here as Oz sunlight causes havoc with most things. Thanks and regards.......... Guy

[cabbage]

Some of the question I can answer the other parts I cannot for lack of information. Coming from slightly north of you (Tropic of Capricorn) The sleepers we used on the high veldt were oak, cedar and mahogany. These were treated with creosote and anti termite compound. I cannot specify your sleeper size as you haven't given me the gauge of track that you are using -but Rhodesia Rail used an over lap of 12inches from the rail head to the end of the sleeper. The normal scale spacing is around 27 sleepers to the metre or 24 sleepers to the yard. The Rhodesia Rail standard sleeper width was 9 inches and 7 inches thick -although 9 inches square sleepers made from meranti were common on the Midlands and Masavingo routes. regards ralph

[kstrong]

For US narrow gauge, figure on ties between 8" and 10" wide, and between 6' 6" and 7' long. Depth would be between 6" and 7". There was no real standard for narrow gauge ties, in fact many railroads used different sizes on different parts of the line, or changed sizes over the years. There was an article on narrow gauge tie sizes years ago in the Narrow Gauge Gazette. The only consistent thing in all the data they presented was that there was no consistency. Recall that narrow gauge railroads were built "on the cheap," so uniformity took a back seat to whatever the local sawyers felt like supplying at a good price. Quite frankly, you could probably go with what looks good to your eyes, and find a prototype narrow gauge RR tie to match. (Some even used standard-gauge ties!)

Tie spacing was much more uniform, though, usually between 20 - 24" on center, the same as the standard gauge (though standard gauge seldom exceeds 22" on center).

Later,

K

[GuyP]

Thanks to kstrong and cabbage for replies. The tie/sleeper situation was a bit more random than I thought so maybe anything goes. It makes it easier that I needn't be so careful about exact sizes when setting the saw. Even on a photography forum that I inhabit there was a real standard gauge US track shot and the wooden ties were definitely all random lengths. I can get various Aussie hardwoods that are really hard and should weather and age crack nicely. For scaling I'll work 1:20.3 for track and trackside details on gauge 1 code 332 track for conductivity and robustness, and probably build structures to 1:24 scale if set back a little from the track. Must admit that I'm not trying to do many hundreds of feet this way, just the more exposed and photogenic areas, the rest can be plastic with plenty of ballast to hide it. Next job is to work out how to get my stock of W R Cedar into house building sizes at 1:24. Say a 1:24 scale 2"x1" trim is rather small for most woodworking machines....... Thanks again and regards............ Guy

[Mt Beenak]

Guy,

 I take it you are from the land down under, as I am.  I have experimented with jarrah lawn edging for sleepers (ties) and found they are long living if you first pre drill them to take brass screws or brass brads.  Anything else rusts really quick outside and pulls out.  I cut the long lengths into strips lengthwise, along the grain.  The thickness is good enough for sleeper thickness, and I cut them about half inch, (12mm) wide and about four inches (100 mm) long.  One four metre length will easily give you enough sleepers for about 100 feet (30 metres) of track, if you are modelling narrow guage.

 For indoors (my layout is part in the garage and part outside) I use old, weathered hardwood fence palings.  I cut them the same way and they look great, being already weathered.  They do not last outdoors, as they are prerotted and will fall apart quickly.

 To set the guage, I nailed a piece of LGB track to a board and slip the hardwood sleepers under the gaps and predrill either side of each rail with a dremel or similar using the appropriate size drill, (for your brads or screws)  When I go to assemble the track the guage is already set.  When setting the track I fix the inside nail or screw first, then the outside, so the guage is never too tight.  This is most important on curves.

Good luck.  P.S. LGB sleeper bases look just as good when they are properly ballasted and the camera is moving.  Here is a video of my layout.  You will notice that it is hard to pick the hand laid track from the LGB based stuff.

Mick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHdB_Lgv9yg