Track for a mine

[Anonymous]

I was wanting to build an HO scale mine.
i can't find any 18" track in HO scale.
i have found the mining cars in the walthers catalog(2004) page 209 down in the bottom right.

PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN

Shmitty

[Anonymous]

I assume that you mean a 18" radius track? You could either use flextrack and curve it to the desired radius, or buy track sections. I'm pretty sure every manufacturers offer them, I have never browsed much of them but I do know that Atlas makes 18" radius tracks in different lenghts.

[Anonymous]

No Neerie, he's meaning HOn18 track, as in 18" between rails, as that's what mine cars work on. Unfortunatly, i don't think anyone manufacturers HOn18 track, best bet would be to get some scale lumber, code 55 track and handlay the track you need.

Jay

[Anonymous]

Neerie
I meant 18" gauge track not raidus
but thank you for your contribution anyway

Shmitty

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much Jay

That really help a lot. i will try this and make a note on this very page how it turns out.

Shmitty

[Anonymous]

NTDN what size lumber would you reccomend for my mine

Shmitty

[Anonymous]

Shmitty, check out http://www.northeasternscalelumber.com/ they make all sorts of scaled lumber, since you want 18" rails, you'll probably want 24" ties, which is roughly a 1/4" in HO scale. And since this is for mine track, you won't need as many ties as a Railroads, probably just the ties that the spikes go into, so every 4 scale feet, maybe with a non-spiked at the 2' mark. NESL's 2x6's should do for mine ties.

I think i forgot to mention you'll need spikes as well, since this is a handlaying track operation, might want to pick up a book on how to properly handlay track, although since mine tracks are usually pretty static, you can get away with some of the normal problems like making sure the track stays in gauge and so forth.

Jay

[Anonymous]

THANK YOU JAY.

your like a god send. I wish i could i could help you in such a way.

Shmitty

[DSchmitt]

Z gauge track would be approximately 21". Is that close enough?

[jrbarney]

Shmitty,
You didn't state if this is going to be operating track work. You may not need spikes if this is going to be in the background. You could solder the rails to PC board ties from Clover House:
http://www.cloverhouse.com
and other vendors. (If it's operating track, you'll have to make a shallow saw cut across the metal.) Or, you could glue them to the NESL wood ties.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[Anonymous]

JRBARNEY
this might be an operating track but i would need to find a small train to pull the cars. Do you know of any trains that might work? But also, why would i need to make notches in the rails if this is operating track?

Shmitty

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by shmittyjohnson

JRBARNEY
But also, why would i need to make notches in the rails if this is operating track?

he's meaning on the PCB card, not the rails. the PCB cards have rows of metal that can easily be soldered to, thus to make an electrically isolated system, you'd have to gap the rows of metal on the pcb board.

Jay

[Anonymous]

thanks Jay

Shmitty

[jrbarney]

NTDN,
Many thanks for clarifying my response. I didn't mean for it to be ambiguous.

Shmittyjohnson,
I may be wrong, but I believe the Durango Press kit you referenced was pushed, one at a time, by the miners and did not have an electric, compressed air, propane or steam locomotive. The Scale Stuctures Limited kits on page 812 do include a static model of an electric mine loco, but I don't believe it is offered powered. That said, a Z scale loco might be a starting point, but Marklin is not traditional 2 rail DC so I don't think you want to go that route. Grandt Line and NorthWest Short Line do offer some small power trucks, but I think even those units are too large to modify for an 18" gauge track.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jrbarney

That said, a Z scale loco might be a starting point, but Marklin is not traditional 2 rail DC so I don't think you want to go that route. Grandt Line and NorthWest Short Line do offer some small power trucks, but I think even those units are too large to modify for an 18" gauge track.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

Marklin Z is two rail DC, but uses 8 volt motors instead of 12 volt motors. If you are careful not to turn up the power too much it can be run with a transformer made for N or even HO scale.

[jrbarney]

DSchmitt,
Good input, many thanks for the correction. I don't follow Z scale, since it's too small for my senior eyes.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[Jetrock]

HOn18 (well, HOn21 if we want to get picky) using Z scale would be a fairly amazing undertaking--I've seen examples of Gn15 using HO scale track, and I suppose one could do On15 or thereabouts using N scale track.

Do a search for Nn3 materials (N scale models using Z scale track, like HOn30 modelers use N scale track) online--if they make Nn3 ore cars, you might be able to cobble them into HOn15 equivalents--or just scratchbuild the cars on top of Z scale trucks. As to the engine, that could be tricky--I don't think anyone makes a two-axle Z scale locomotive, and you'd need one to turn into a 15" scale "critter" for your motive power.

It could be an amazing little kit done right, though...good luck!!

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jetrock

HOn18 (well, HOn21 if we want to get picky) using Z scale would be a fairly amazing undertaking--I've seen examples of Gn15 using HO scale track, and I suppose one could do On15 or thereabouts using N scale track.

Do a search for Nn3 materials (N scale models using Z scale track, like HOn30 modelers use N scale track) online--if they make Nn3 ore cars, you might be able to cobble them into HOn15 equivalents--or just scratchbuild the cars on top of Z scale trucks. As to the engine, that could be tricky--I don't think anyone makes a two-axle Z scale locomotive, and you'd need one to turn into a 15" scale "critter" for your motive power.

It could be an amazing little kit done right, though...good luck!!

Its all being done. see this link
http://carendt.com/

Note: The link has been down the last couple of days[:(] I hope the site isn't gone. It features some beautiful modeling from around the world.