# I have the rail... now I need ties!



## jgallaway81 (Jan 5, 2009)

Alright. Its time to get serious and graduate from being an armchair garden railroader to being an actual garden railroader.

I have in my possession thirty-six sticks of eight feet of code 332 rail, giving me 144feet of track. BUT, I have no ties!


Any suggestions? I want quality but am also looking for the most track for my bucks.


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

why not cut some from wood? You could buy a bag of spikes or use wire nails from the big box. Would look better than plastic


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## jgallaway81 (Jan 5, 2009)

I had thought about hand-laying... but after doing 1:1 track work for a few years before trading in a spike maul for my engineer's license, I am not willing to do track work unless I can call in a Tie & Surface gang and have them lay down 140+lbs continuous welded rail.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

JD you can use Aristo ties or other brands that are out there. One thing about the AC ones the are warranted for life form failure due to ultra violet rays.


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## coyote97 (Apr 5, 2009)

ummm...i dont know what code 332 is...is it like LGB??? then i would know a solution for you. 

Frank


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

332 is 0.332" high.... measure your rail... where did you buy your rail from? 

Regards, Greg


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## jgallaway81 (Jan 5, 2009)

Greg, are you asking me where i got my rail from?

I think 2years ago @ ECLSTS, I picked up three boxes of 12 sticks each of nickel silver rail


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I was more thinking the company, but since it's nickel silver, that narrows the field considerably.. 

My guess is that it is code 250 (0.25")... only a few makers of this rail... 

Regards, Greg


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## jgallaway81 (Jan 5, 2009)

I'm pretty sure its code 332... I was told by the seller that it was Aristo rail.


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## fsfazekas (Feb 19, 2008)

Here's a quick test, stand a ruler next to the rail measuring from base to the head.. if it stands taller than 1/4" then you can be 99.99% sure you have code 332. As for the composition - as far as I know Aristo never dabbled in NS rail they have produced rail in...brass, aluminum and stainless steel...any possibility you have stainless steel? Is there any simple test to differentiate between NS and SS? Are the both magnetic? I'm thinkin'......I'm thinkin'......I'm thinkin'..... 


My other thought is that "a couple years ago" would have been a peak time for vendors to be pushing the new stainless track...so the timing kind of points me in that direction as well. However, this is just all an educated guess...


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Well, if it's Aristo, it's either NS or aluminum (I'm sure JD can tell the color of brass, ha ha). 

Let's get the measurement... that will narrow it down a lot. 

There's another thread almost exactly like this one... take a small file and try to "nick" the bottom of the rail, if it's easy, it's aluminum, if you made almost no headway, then it's stainless. 

Regards, Greg


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Nickel silver (NS) rail is not all that common in large scale. Only a few manufacture it, and I'm pretty sure Aristo never did. 


If your rail is Aristo, then it is likely stainless steel (SS) or aluminum.


If your rail really is NS, then perhaps it is not code 332. It is possible you have Llagas Creek rail. That's what we use and it is NS. Plus you can buy just the rail. They offer it in two sizes, code 250 and 215. Both smaller then code 332. They also have three styles of ties you can choose from. 


But we have to figure out what your rail is before we can be certain what ties will work for you.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

One thing you can be sure of. Aristo did not make any NS rail. So now figure out what it is. Later RJD


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## coyote97 (Apr 5, 2009)

when your rails are compatible with LGB, i would suggest the THIEL-GLEIS ties.

I have them on my layout (see pictures in www.g-scale-structures.de) and must say, that both the rails and ties work great. They also have nickeled rails.
The ties the use are in 3-in-a-row line and are very easy to bend in a curve..but hold the straight line as well. As far as i know they sell the ties seperatly.
The switches are of undescribalbe quality, but not what you would call "cheap"...







.

take a look at www.thiel-gleis.de 

very good quality and nearly 100% weather-restiable. My layout is out for 5 years now and they are just dirty. When removing a track, the tie-rows are still flexible.



Greetings and have a nice Christmas

Frank


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

If jgallaway says he has code 332 track, he has only to measure the width at the bottom of the rail, to find suitable sleepers / ties. 
Of course, different scales or / and prototypes need a suitable trackbed to look convincing. 

Code 332 is a bit on the overseized side for rail in the 1 : 20 - 1 : 32 range. Expect rising prices in the near future again. 
Today I ´d recommend Code 250 Llagas Creek or Sunset Valley. Yu can even buy European type sleepers for Llagase Creek rails now. 
Code 250 Peco track looks very good with British and some German Narrow Gauge prototype rolling stock. 

Have Fun 

Fritz / Juergen


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Train-Li has ties in many flavors. 
European in brown. 
American in different colors (black, brown, grey, and even Christmas colors!!


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