Code 55 in HO?

[Anonymous]

hi everyone,

im getting ready to handlay a backwater harbor, logging and possibly mining layout and i have heard that some modelers use code 55 rail for standard guage HO, but im not sure weather to use all code 55, or just on sidings or weather to use it at all! With new equiptment will the flanges hit the ties or not?
anyway being the eager young hobbiest i am i have already started gluing down ties and have some code 55 rail but am worried about weather to lay it or get some 70 and or 83 as well.

Any advice would be a great help thanks!
Chris

[wp8thsub]

I have used plenty of code 55 rail in HO. It should work with any equipment that has RP-25 wheels. Provided you use Micro Engineering "small" spikes or equivalent you shouldn't have any trouble with flanges hitting the spikes. Code 55 turnouts do require some extra care to ensure that flangeways meet NMRA standards (since you can't place rail bases against each other and hope to get the required flangeway width like you can with larger rail).

[Anonymous]

Chris:

Whether you should use code 55 depends on what era you are modeling. After 1920 the weight rail code 55 simulates was increasingly rare, particularly in main line use, though common enough on older spurs.

I model 1900-1915 and use code 70 on the main line and code 55 on the spurs and yards. I use proto 87 wheelsets and have had no trouble.

Be aware of three things. First, both your trackage and wheel sets have to be in gauge or you will have derailment problems. Second, so far as I know there are no commercially available HO switches in code 55 rail. Third, many older locomotives and some newer ones have flanges which are too deep to run on code 55 rail. You can cure this problem by filing down the flangeways to P87 profile. Be alert you don't get filings in bearings or motors.

Good Luck

Randy

[Anonymous]

thanks for the advice guys! i think ill be using code 70 and 55 for most of my layout. i was also wondering if using a wheel set to set flangeway distances on turnout would work ok or should i use a piece of styrene or brass of a curtain thickness. i have also noticed after reading an article in MR that almost all the companies who make tournouts commercially use different flangeway distances so im not to sure as to what to set them at if i were to use a styrene/brass spacer.

thanks again!
Chris

[nfmisso]

Hi Chris;

Read Iain Rice's current series on Model Railroader, esp Jan and Feb 2004 issues. Given that you are going with code 55 and code 70, I stongly recommend that you go with Proto:87 standards, rather than the loose RP25.

[Anonymous]

i have read Iain Rice's articles and am using them as a guide so i have considered switching to proto:87 but im using steam locomotives and i dont know where to get or how to change the wheels to proto:87. Is that even possible?

thanks all,
Chris

[Anonymous]

You can use code 55 track per all the previous comments. I might suggest you use one of the contact type glues to fix the rail to the ties, it really does minimize the wheel flange problem. And, yes, you will need to fabricate your own turnouts in code 55 (unless there is something in the marketplace I have totally missed).

Do it your way and have fun along the way.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Chris:

You can get P87 wheelsets from Northwest Short Line, among others ( www.NWSL.com ). You will also need a P87 gauge.

Best thing about scratch building turnouts is you can fit them to the specifics of your terrain, just as prototype roads do.

Good Luck

Randy

[wp8thsub]

If you don't want to go the Proto:87 route you can still easily get by with plain HO equipment on code 55. I use normal RP25 wheelsets and space the flangeways with the appropriate portion of an NMRA standards gauge.

As for keeping the frog wing rails and guardrails at the proper distance from the running rails, I first temporarily hold the rails in place with spikes then fill the flangeways with solder. I remove the temporary spikes and grind out the flangeways with a broken piece of hacksaw blade. The resulting assembly will stay in perfect alignment. Note that I build the turnouts in place on wood ties and don't use PC board ties. I also use a solid roadbed material (usually Homabed) that can withstand the pressure of me using the hacksaw blade for grinding solder from where it doesn't belong.

[IRONROOSTER]

The site http://www.troutcreekeng.com has HO code 55 turnouts.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

hey just wanted to thank everyone for thier help i have a much better understanding of what im doing now Thanks!

Chris

[Anonymous]

If you want finescale wheels for HO steam locos then go to sharmanwheels.com or scalefour.org/ag/index.htm

They both sell fine scale but not proto:87 wheelsets in every conceivable permutation. The wheels on Alan Gibsons wheels are 2.4mm thick with the flange 0.5mm thick and the tread 1.9mm. The flange is 0.7mm deep. Mike Sharmans whels (now sold by Chris Stapleton) are 2.2mm thick with the flange 0.5mm thick and the tread 1.7mm thick. The flange is 0.7mm deep.

This is finer that RP25 but not true scale size. The flange can be reduced to proto:87 dimensions with care (see journal number 8 on http://www.proto87.org/ )

The tires are steel so require brass pickups to reduce sparking as far as possible (not phosphour bronze as usually found on locos with nickel silver tires).

You must remeber that the minimum radius for proto:87 is rahter larger than what you can get away with in RP25 and there should be no problem on code 55 with RP25.

have fun!
Neil

By the way - the wheels are sold in OO, EM and P4 gauges. In HO we want the OO gauge but increase the back to back spacing to about 15.5mm[:D]