The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
Code 100 is HO, smallest I've seen in G thats been successfull is in the 225 range.
Maybe do a test section and see how well it works?
Also San Val still had a good supply of track when I was there, with their blow out closing prices, might be worth it to give them a call and see what they still have.
Have fun with your trains
<<quote user="S&G Rute of the Silver River"]I'm giving a finger to LGB and making my own track outa code 100 rail. I have boxes of the stuff and shuld have an interesting effect when the trains run on em.[/quote>>
Code 100? That's only a tenth of an inch. Will the wheel flanges clear that? Most seem deeper than that.
-Brian
Cabb & TJ:
Many, many thanks for the fascinating sites.
I spent so much time perusing them I had to get my firewood inside in the first dark. (I heat with a fireplace).
Whoa, did I learn some interesting stuff. Some, I'm gonna model, if it doesn't leak out of my head. But I took notes and copied pixes.
It's interesting how, of all the stuff I've been reading, pictures studied, sites surfed, that it's starting to make sense in a comprehensively technical way.
And, I don't have to grind a special bit.
Les W.
The Home of Articulated Ugliness
hoofe,
Bronzed? No, not I. I keep all my options open and I am more than ready to steal, um er, that is to say, be inspired by someone else's work. Forward progress is only obtained by change.
Here are a couple of links I found that are very good in describing wood rails. Enjoy.
http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/railway/amwood.htm
http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/tksa.Html
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
cabbage wrote:I do seem to remember an article in Garden Railways about some american who was building his track from sawn lengths of hardboard... He deep soaked them in preservative and varnished them. I d know that in Napier NZ there used to be a fairly extensive "pole way" railway using split tree trunks and lengths of saplings until the iron rails could be ferried to the site.regardsralph
Cabbage, I don't know much about 1:1 RRing, but I do know a good deal about split logs. How on earth did they do that? Almost must've had a wide-faced wheel. Edumacate me, please.
tangerine-jack wrote: hoofe116 wrote: ............ Since my layout will be ca 1880, and since I've had to move indoors for health reasons, I've been contemplating wooden rails. I reason thusly: as a retired tool & die maker, I see no insurmountable problem in regrinding a router bit or the like to something near a rail shape. I haven't researched early strap-iron track yet, so might not even have to do very much of it. But matching the contours of a rail isn't impossible. ............Les W. The strap iron/wood rails used by the predecessors of the Norfolk Southern can be seen in their museum at the corporate HQ in Norfolk. I suspect most other rails of the period were very similar. It is simply square wood laminate with a strap of iron along the top. It would be very simple indeed to duplicate this in G scale and no special tooling will be required. Pins (long nails) driven in at angles secured the track to the ties. This method was cheap, quick and quite strong enough for the teakettle engines and 4 wheel cars of the day.I expect that each railroad used their own unique rail system, as this was long before any standardization came along. So don't feel obliged to follow any conventions if you are using this method of track laying. Have fun and now you got me thinking......
hoofe116 wrote: ............ Since my layout will be ca 1880, and since I've had to move indoors for health reasons, I've been contemplating wooden rails. I reason thusly: as a retired tool & die maker, I see no insurmountable problem in regrinding a router bit or the like to something near a rail shape. I haven't researched early strap-iron track yet, so might not even have to do very much of it. But matching the contours of a rail isn't impossible. ............Les W.
............ Since my layout will be ca 1880, and since I've had to move indoors for health reasons, I've been contemplating wooden rails. I reason thusly: as a retired tool & die maker, I see no insurmountable problem in regrinding a router bit or the like to something near a rail shape. I haven't researched early strap-iron track yet, so might not even have to do very much of it. But matching the contours of a rail isn't impossible. ............Les W.
The strap iron/wood rails used by the predecessors of the Norfolk Southern can be seen in their museum at the corporate HQ in Norfolk. I suspect most other rails of the period were very similar. It is simply square wood laminate with a strap of iron along the top. It would be very simple indeed to duplicate this in G scale and no special tooling will be required. Pins (long nails) driven in at angles secured the track to the ties. This method was cheap, quick and quite strong enough for the teakettle engines and 4 wheel cars of the day.
I expect that each railroad used their own unique rail system, as this was long before any standardization came along. So don't feel obliged to follow any conventions if you are using this method of track laying. Have fun and now you got me thinking......
TJ, you flatter me. Got you thinking? I had you pegged for one of these hardened, bronzed modelers to whom nothing is new.
Howsumever, my kingdom for a website that shows what you're talking about. I suppose the 'pins' would have to go from the inside top toward the outside bottom, to compensate for the 'shove' of the rail wheel? What'd they do for radius over the edge of the wooden rail? Use a form of angle-iron? Or was the iron strap thick enough (vs wide) to take the coned wheel surface and keep it off the wood? Or did they just let the wood worry about itself until the rail was worn in?
My initial intention was, since I have some plastic track that came with the various sets I've found at auctions and garage sales, that I'd merely duplicate that shape by grinding a router bit down. Or perhaps a pair to account for the reverse radii. Might get away with a small ball-nosed mill bit, too. Haven't done any more than think about it, either. But, it happens that I now have some extra drivers from the stationary engine project, and it came to me. They're big enough to 'bash up a teakettle, a domed-boiler 4-2-0 or somesuch when I read your post.
At least I now know why the price of plastic track has shot up on EvilBay. I thought it was just the Season. I'd been ignoring the suddenly outlandish prices for brass. Shows you how good I keep up, yes it does.
grandpopswalt wrote: Snowshoe,If the price of track is really a big problem, and it could be for a young family man, "rolling your own" might be a good alternative. And, if you're not too fussy about scale appearance, you could fabricate track made with 3/16" x 1/2" steel or aluminum strip, gorilla glued into milled PTL ties. I've never done this but I remember reading about a guy in Austrialia, I think, who made many hundreds of feet of track for very little money. Matter-of-fact he scratch built almost everything and wound up with a good looking garden railroad for a couple hundred bucks. And I'll bet he enjoys his railroad just as much as some of us who have spent, or are about to spend, many, many thousands of dollars on ours. Just remember that this is a very diverse hobby, there's no "right way" to do it, it's all about what you find enjoyable. Don't get hung up on what you see in the magazines. Those are usually examples of the finest, and most expensive, layouts out there. That's something to shoot for eventually but right now get something running and start enjoying. Walt Edit: Just found the information I mentioned. The article is entitled "The Sandstone & Termite Railway" in the October 1999 issue of Garden Railways magazine.
Snowshoe,
If the price of track is really a big problem, and it could be for a young family man, "rolling your own" might be a good alternative. And, if you're not too fussy about scale appearance, you could fabricate track made with 3/16" x 1/2" steel or aluminum strip, gorilla glued into milled PTL ties. I've never done this but I remember reading about a guy in Austrialia, I think, who made many hundreds of feet of track for very little money. Matter-of-fact he scratch built almost everything and wound up with a good looking garden railroad for a couple hundred bucks. And I'll bet he enjoys his railroad just as much as some of us who have spent, or are about to spend, many, many thousands of dollars on ours.
Just remember that this is a very diverse hobby, there's no "right way" to do it, it's all about what you find enjoyable. Don't get hung up on what you see in the magazines. Those are usually examples of the finest, and most expensive, layouts out there. That's something to shoot for eventually but right now get something running and start enjoying.
Walt
Edit: Just found the information I mentioned. The article is entitled "The Sandstone & Termite Railway" in the October 1999 issue of Garden Railways magazine.
I bet he enjoys it more than most because he built it all up from scratch himself.
I am a battery guy, so I can buy old used dirty track for much less than new...works for me...good luck and don't get in a hurry, I had a few years logged in before I ever laid track, and still have a LONG way to go!
Good Luck!
cale
I guess I should have gotten into the hobby a year sooner. So far I layed what track I have for my layout and found that I am in better shape than I thought. It is amazing how it does not look like much when the track is in the box. Im doing just a simple layout so far. On either end is going to be a 6.5f ft curves. One side is going to be a long straight away going into a mountain with a tunnel. The other side is going to be an s curve. The front curve that connects the straightaway and the s curve is going to cross over a ravine with a water fall. Im not sure how long the straights are going to be yet but I want to have it as least 12-16ft long. I might add a 2or3 ft straight to the turns and a switch for now for later additions. wish I had a program for everyone to get a better idea of what I want to do and get some advise for other options I can do with this loop. Its something similar to the layout from the garden railways book, Garden Railroading:getting started in the hobby on page 112. The only big difference is I want it a little longer and im not using the loop that climbs around the mountain.
Also why is garden railroad magazine so expensive. Most mags you get 12 issues for like 15 bucks and Garden railroading is like 30 bucks for 6? I just cant figure out the reasoning for this stuff.
I feel your pain, Im using LGB track though.. bout the same price. I have 2 cases of R2 & 3 curves and 2 cases of 2' & 4' straight track... oh yeah and 1 case of R1 cures that came with my nephew's starter set... couple R3 switches and a few R1's... meh i cant wait till i can actually lay some track in the spring
Buying track sucks but you cant run trains without it so... yeah... track it is
Trust me it will be worth it
as far as affording it, I just buy 1 case or 1 switch at a time
hoofe116 wrote: But like the man ahead said, 'there's always a workaround' if you want to badly enough. The guy in Australia used lengths of aluminum angle if I remember correctly. Looked kinda odd, but he was happy. And his trains ran on it.Les W.
But like the man ahead said, 'there's always a workaround' if you want to badly enough. The guy in Australia used lengths of aluminum angle if I remember correctly. Looked kinda odd, but he was happy. And his trains ran on it.
Les, Yeah I seen that, was way cool! Think F J & G does some of it to (you know he is into every thing ).
Toad
Uh Oh, my bad.
Guess the prices have gone way up since I last bought track online earlier last summer! Well that stinks
Probably simply a good investment, two years ago with Aristos sales I was paying $2.38 per ft with shipping. buy 4 get one free. it adv out.
Now I could sale it used for $3.50 per ft and make $$.
But then I would not have any track.
Is it REAL? or Just 1:29 scale?
Long live Outdoor Model Railroading.
Sheesh, talk about a hot thread!
Let me, the most novice (I think) of the G gascalers on this board, weigh in, too. Since my layout will be ca 1880, and since I've had to move indoors for health reasons, I've been contemplating wooden rails. I reason thusly: as a retired tool & die maker, I see no insurmountable problem in regrinding a router bit or the like to something near a rail shape. I haven't researched early strap-iron track yet, so might not even have to do very much of it. But matching the contours of a rail isn't impossible. Soaking/steaming and bending wood isn't a great art, though some few make it out to be. Just a lot of hassle. But I have a whole bunch more 'hassle' than '$$'.
I don't know if it'd work outdoors. I suspect it would, with redwood or the like, though maintence would be a big consideration. Warpage, cracking, whatnot. This is a world full of tradeoffs.
I'm also doing battery with RC. Before I took the advice of the esteemed folk of this board, I was going to do wired rail. I hate wiring! This may not be what you'd considered, because the RC stuff is rudely expensive for what one gets. (I have past avionics experience. Long past).
I don't know if you have the power tools (router, grinder, tablesaw, skills, etc) but grinding the bit is no Dark Science. You just keep at it until you get it suitable. And sharp.
vsmith wrote: For one thing, why are you buying Aristo track? If your getting it at competitive prices its old stock, I've been warned to be ready for a real jolt when the new catalogs come out.USA sells the same track, from the same factory in China, for a hellova lot less! Aristo's price is artificially high IMHO, taking advantage of the shutdown of LGB, how else do you explain a 100% jump in price when all your competition only saw a 20-30% rise? They may come down a bit, but its still ridiculous. One dealer I know stopped stocking Aristo as he says the new catalog prices are insane. He's just going to wait and restock with new LGB. I wont buy from Aristo unless there are no alternatives, fortunatly there are, USA prices are the best I've found, LGB has resumed production and has a ship load of track, "on the water" I doubt they will be as high priced as Aristo. Even Piko track should be less.If RRS doesnt stock USA try www.wholesaletrains.com or www.san-val.com
For one thing, why are you buying Aristo track? If your getting it at competitive prices its old stock, I've been warned to be ready for a real jolt when the new catalogs come out.
USA sells the same track, from the same factory in China, for a hellova lot less! Aristo's price is artificially high IMHO, taking advantage of the shutdown of LGB, how else do you explain a 100% jump in price when all your competition only saw a 20-30% rise? They may come down a bit, but its still ridiculous. One dealer I know stopped stocking Aristo as he says the new catalog prices are insane. He's just going to wait and restock with new LGB. I wont buy from Aristo unless there are no alternatives, fortunatly there are, USA prices are the best I've found, LGB has resumed production and has a ship load of track, "on the water" I doubt they will be as high priced as Aristo. Even Piko track should be less.
If RRS doesnt stock USA try www.wholesaletrains.com or www.san-val.com
Of all the online stores I looked into, ridge road had the best price in aristo. USA and LGB are more expensive or about the same. It is actually not true that Aristo is the highest. I got 3 ft straight from Ridge for the same price that USA has for their 2 ft long straight.
rpc7271 wrote:I work during the day, deliver pizza for Pizza Hut in the evening, and paint houses on the weekends. Spend the money on trains ans stockpile it all wherever there is room. Eventually i will sell it back to you guys at tripple the price and retire to Jamaca!
Who would buy from you? Lots of ways to make track! Been to hardware store?
BTW, FMJ = Copper, they need new bullets? Naw......War going on son, we need copper!
Unless I'm missing something, didn't USA trains also raise there prices. Looking at Wholesale trains site, the price is up there. 8' Diameter curve
USA Trains $10.40 a peice.
Aristo $9.20 peice
Copper prices are at an all-time high due to the demands of China and other developing countries, and copper is the main component of brass rail.
Oil prices are at al all-time high, and plastic for the crossties is made from oil.
Transportation costs are at an all-time high due to the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel.
I don't know about other states, but in Arizona the minimum wage keeps going up in 15 or 20 cent per hour increments every six months as a result of an initiative campaign during the last elections, and every business increases its prices as the wages go up.
The bankruptcy and sale of LGB compounded all of the above by cutting off supplies of their track for a few months, which triggered some panic buying and hoarding.
I suppose I was fortunate in that I had bought my track, and had laid it, some months before the big price increase.
I bought track before locos or stock: that seemed to be the logical way and whilst I found, even at the pre increase price that it was quite costly, it was part and parcel of the railroading hobby.
Luckily my youngsters fledged the nest a while ago but I have to admit that I would not have been able to enter the hobby whilst rearing a family. It would have been a question of priorities.
Alan, Oliver & North Fork Railroad
https://www.buckfast.org.uk/
If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. Lewis Carroll English author & recreational mathematician (1832 - 1898)
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