# My Bright Idea for Today



## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

Greetings. 

Today I had a great idea. They happen so seldom, I felt I had to share 

I built 2 new 8' display shelves on my hobby room wall. I have always wanted to build some handmade 1:30 scale track, you know, pull out all the stops, make it nice. However, I could not afford to buy the code 250 rail I had my heart set on. BUT, I had a drawer full of 9" pieces of crappy LIONEL O27 tracks, which, although I look down my nose at LIONEL, are PERFECT code 250.

So there you go, recycle from O scale to get better scale rails. They are short, jointed and I think they're going to look pretty good when painted and spiked to my basswood ties.

Anyone seen this before?

TA DA


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

good idea, just weather it and the ties.(pull out all the stops)


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Another stop might be tie plates....


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

Going to do plates out of some thin card stock. I have to save up the patience beforehand though, because I need 288 plates per shelf. Paint will also happen. Considering ballast but not sure how it would look on a narrow shelf. 

Got plenty of HO track spikes.


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Good facebook page.


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

Hi bicyclexc,
Can you tell me where I can find some ties like the ones in your photo?


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

Hi coh2000. I'm using basswood for my ties in the photo. 3/8" x 3/16" x 24". I can get 7 ties cut from one 2ft piece of wood. I just bought some cedar to use for the next shelf because it was cheaper than basswood, or you can also use balsa as it is easy to cut and work with. Balsa sometimes breaks and can fall apart though so be careful. In the pic I have glued down about 4 1/2' of ties. 

Good luck!


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

Thanks bicyclexc for your reply. 
Did you glue the track to the basswood ties? 
I was thinking about trying some G scale 'spikes' for G scale on mine.


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

Rails are as yet unattached still. I plan on making tieplates from car stock and spiking them down with scale spikes I have that were used for track spikes in smaller scales. 

More pictures soon.


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## jjwtrainman (Mar 11, 2011)

I've done short sections with atlas code 148 O scale before, they look decent BUT in 1:20.3 that is some seriously light rail. Not too often you hear someone complaining about too large of rail  I like your idea using Lionel, it has a taller profile and looks pretty good. 

--James


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

Are codes 250 or 215 rail considered 'more prototype like'??? 
I want to build a one car 'static display' model for indoors and need about 1 yd (36") of individual rail that I can just cut into two pieces. 
Does anyone sell track by the piece?


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Some train shops have rail by the piece. If you had to order it by mail, I think the shipping would make it too expensive. 
Code 148 rail looks pretty good for 1/20 scale 2 foot gauge. You can get 32 mm gauge wheel sets for that with scale 20 inch wheels.


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

My boxcar is a USA G-scale product which I believe to be a 1/24 scale. Isn't code 148 track for 'O' scale?


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

Can anyone tell me what code the ARISTOCRAFT brand track is?


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By coh2000 on 12 Dec 2013 08:32 AM 
Can anyone tell me what code the ARISTOCRAFT brand track is? 



Aristo Craft Brass is 332. 

I don't know if the made anything else. 


JJ


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## Fred Mills (Nov 24, 2008)

None of the USTrains equipment was 1:24th scale.....the earlier stuff was 1:22.5, then they started producing the newer equipment in 1:29. 

The original 1:22.5 stuff resembled the US narrow gauge equipment produced by LGB. Their billboard reefer series is an example, along with the work cars, and crane. 

If you are just building a display, you can get away with using the rail from Atlas "O"scale track.....the flanges might hit the ties, although I think they will clear it. As a display track, the cars will not be moving, so who cares....that "O" scale rail will look great.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Funny on the USA site they say the work trains are 1:24. 

I thought the billboard refers were 1:24 also. 

John


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

I know that Sierra Valley wheel flanges will clear the ties and spikes, I'm using code 148 from O scale track for the display track for my couple of 1/20 scale 2 foot gauge cars. The one car started out as a 1/24th scale D&RG 6000 series flat car that I built with Ryan Equipment 3 ft gauge trucks. They're too narrow to fit on g gauge track, but you can make them fit on O gauge track easy enough. I have a pair of Bachmann short wheelbase trucks that I put Sierra Valley 32mm gauge wheelsets on, they run fine on the code 148 O gauge track, and it looks good too, once you put the rails on proper ties.  
I'll probably never lay more than a few feet of 32mm track with the code 148 rail and wood ties, I only have a couple of cars for it, no engine.


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

I have one SP boxcar (green wood reefer with a ‘very’ large SP logo on it) that I got on Ebay for a display. 
My mother and grandfather both worked for SP freight in Houston. 
It didn’t come in the box (it is used), so I don’t really know the true scale. 
Wikipedia says the Ultimate series is 1:29 and the American Series rolling stock is 1:24. 
Looking at their catalog, USA trains clearly says the Ultimate series is 1:29, but there is no information when I rolled down to the American series regarding the scale. 
I assume mine is an American series car. I haven’t been able to find any photos of the real car on the web, so I don’t know much about. 
R.E.A. Express Agent is lettered on the car (actually it’s R.E.X), and I think R.E.A came into being in 1917. 
So, I suppose it would have to be on or after 1917. 
The old ‘SP Lines’ logo on the side is a big one. 
I'm new to large scale, and this is the 1st piece for me. 
For the display, I want the best look I can get for up close viewing so it doesn’t matter about problems running it. It is for display only. 

I want to use about 18" of track and I want to use real wood ties and tiny spikes. 
Now, is it going to be possible for me to get the O rails off of the plastic ties for this without bending them?


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

I don't think SP had narrow gauge so your boxcar is probably 1:29. 1:24 and below represents narrow gauge rolling stock. G "scale" is complicated in this way, there are multiple scales running on identical track. Most out of the box track like USAT and Aristo have rails that are much too large, they scale up to be about a foot tall! For that reason I chose to use a smaller rail or my displays. An advantage to larger rail is that it may survive better outside (where things get stepped on from time to time. 

My indoor layout is scaled 1:18 with code 332 rail which would represent rail that is about 6" high. That same rail in 1:30 scale would be 10" high. Because even the heaviest rail ever used was only about 9" high, and most was 7-8" high I choose a smaller rail (and ties for the same reason) for displays. 

Sunset Valley and Llagas Creek manufacture different rail sizes. Its nice rail and I want some no doubt, but it is costly to aquire for me as I am across the country from them. So I found an alternative I can live with by using LIONEL rails.


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Actually, the Southern Pacific did have a narrow gauge line that ran into the 1950s at least. They bought the Carson and Colorado before WW2 and ran it for many years. 
Getting the rail off of O gauge track isn't very difficult. One easy way is to take a pair of thin jaw wire cutters and cut all the plastic spikes off on the outside of the rail. The rail comes right off that way. If you don't have a small wire cutter, you can use a fingernail clipper.


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

I stand corrected as I am not a westerner


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## Nevadablue (Nov 18, 2013)

Your a shelves are 'trestles', no ballast needed. This should look great.


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

bicyclexc,

I have located some Lionel 35 Straight Track Bulk O27.
Is this what you used in this photo for your G-scale?


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

I also see MTH 40-1019 RealTrax ... would that possibly be a good choice for my G-scale 1:24 'display' model?


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

I used 9" lionel O27 track. The kind with the 3 metal crimped-on ties. 

About the MTH track, that is a choice you have to make! 

If you're buying something anyway, you may as well buy real code 250 rail and not O scale rail.


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

Thanks bicyclexc, 
I agree... I'm been looking at Sun Valley and that looks like a good choice.


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## leikec (Jul 19, 2008)

Another option would be Micro Engineering code 205 nickel silver rail...Walthers has it in stock, eight 6' pieces for $99.95. I've considered using it for my G scale trolley line. 

Jeff C


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

Wish I could see these side by side. 205, 215, and 250. 
Which is the most prototypical?


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

To some degree, they probably all are prototypical in a sense because railroads use all weights depending on where the track is. Western Maryland Scenic Railroad has some 90lb in the yard, and out on the main its more like 133lb. That is quite a difference. 

Consider your flange depth on the equipment you're going to park on it.


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

I have some LLagas Creek code 215 aluminum rail flex track, it looks really good and all the wheels that I've tried run on it with no problems. I think it looks better than the larger size rail, especially for narrow gauge. I don't know if I would lay it on the ground outside as it would be a lot easier to damage if you stepped on it. I also have a few pieces of nickle silver code 215 rail that I've had for at least 15 years that I got from Llagas Creek when I bought the Flex track. It wasn't so expensive back then.


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## coh2000 (Dec 6, 2013)

Thanks to all for you input on my display project. 
I'm purchased a code 250 sample track from Sun Valley today so I can see how that looks before I proceed. 
Maybe I can check with a local hobby shop to see if I can find any code 215 or 205.


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