Fast Tracks

I must say that without purchasing anything yet, I am really enjoying the prospect of making turnouts etc. in the rail code I want and frog angle I want. I have never even thought about it until I saw how easy the jigs and instructions made it look. And of course with the possibility of custom jigs...what else need be said?

Enough of the ramble.

What I have noticed, is that these jigs are designed for Micro Engineering rail. Whilst looking through the various threads, it came to my attention that not all rails by various brands are made to the same dimensions. Which means due to the width of the rail base that some wouldn't fit in the jigs. And due to the width of the rail head, this could cause the product to potentially be out of gauge.

If you go to http://www.nmra.com/standards/sandrp/rp-15_1.html you will see the NMRA standards for rail dimensions. So for the sakes of having as much info in the one place, I thought I'd post the "A", "B" & "C" dimensions for Peco and Atlas rail.

A = Rail height
B = Rail base width
C = Rail head width

Atlas

Code 55

A = 0.055"
B = 0.050"
C = 0.025"

Code 80

A = 0.080"
B = 0.050"
C = 0.025"

Code 83

A = 0.083"
B = 0.080"
C = 0.040"

Code 100

A = 0.100"
B = 0.080"
C = 0.040"

Apparently Atlas also make a Code 65 rail, but I have no info on that as yet.

Peco

Code 60

A = 0.062"
B = 0.049"
C = 0.030"

Code 75

A = 0.075"
B = 0.068"
C = 0.031"

Code 80

A = 0.080"
B = 0.055"
C = 0.025"

Code 82 ( NOT Code 83 )

A = 0.082"
B = 0.070"
C = 0.035"

Code 100

A = 0.100"
B = 0.090"
C = 0.041"

As can be seen, there are some differences between peco and atlas rail.

Peco are yet to respond to my email for Code 55 and Code 83 dimensions.

If anybody has dimensions for other brand rail ( especially Micro Engineering ) I would gretly appreciate the info posted in this thread. Hopefuly it will also be of value to other members.

Cheers,

John.

John,

This has been posted many times before - I just couldn't find the reference thread - so here's my list of rail sizes again.

_________________
-ed mccamey-
COSLAR RR - http://www.coslar.us/
NMRA Standards and Conformance Department
PROTO & FINE Scale Coordinator
I estimate I have about 5 pounds of coupler springs somewhere in the vicinity of my workbench.

No problem. I couldn't find it either, which is why I posted it. Otherwise I would not have bothered. Thanks for the other rail sizes.

One question I must ask. I got my dimensions straight from the manufacturer. As some of your figures are slightly different to mine, is it fair to assume that some of the figures are ones that you or somebody else measured? I understand about manufacturing tolerances, so I'm just trying to verify the reason for the variations.

Cheers,

John.

John,

All those posted are based on actual measurements - several measurements from differing batches of rails. Some were measured by others - most were actually measured by me. I did not include the code 80 rails (typically old N scale track) as they are a very rough kind of profile. There are several code 81 and code 82 that are marketed as code 83 - though the LaVancil code 81 listed is not marketed as code 83 - it's actually used as light O scale rail. Railcraft (now ME) had a code 82 that actually was a code 83 NMRA sized but 1 mil shorter. Lima-Rivarossi had a "code 83" that was actually about a code 90-91.

Manufacturing tolerances are very diverse. There have been two different profiles from Micro Engineering for code 83. The one listed is the current 'modern' run. The older ME code 83 was larger in both the base and the railhead, and apparently came from the older Railcraft dies.

Note the C&L leadalloy code 75 is no longer avialable, stocks ran out about a year ago and there's been no commitment to refounder a production run.

_________________
-ed mccamey-
COSLAR RR - http://www.coslar.us/
NMRA Standards and Conformance Department
PROTO & FINE Scale Coordinator
I estimate I have about 5 pounds of coupler springs somewhere in the vicinity of my workbench.

Thanks for the reply, it's all very helpfull information.

I am considering the HO #4 code 83 turnout tooling, but am concerned about apparent need to use ME rail. I had planned to build my layout using Walthers-Shinohara (W-S) rail, and according to the chart in the 4/9/08 note, ME rail is 0.006” narrower in head width than W-S rail. This doesn’t sound like much in the absolute sense, but it is nearly a 20% difference, and I’m a bit concerned about the appearance where W-S rail mates with ME rail at a turnout. While I’m not opposed to using ME rail throughout, ME turnouts do not seem to be available in other frog angles I will need, but do not have enough of to justify buying your tooling. So, the question is, will your tooling accept W-S rail?
Thanks,
Tom Reilley

Tom,

The fixtures when ordered are to be specified as to the rail you choose to use. Some instances will allow for a multi-choice, but the dimensional accuracy is corect for the rail choice design. Standards have an allowance that gives some leeway - but the base width is critical, and using a moderately wider base than designed for the fixture may be impossible.

-ed-

_________________
-ed mccamey-
COSLAR RR - http://www.coslar.us/
NMRA Standards and Conformance Department
PROTO & FINE Scale Coordinator
I estimate I have about 5 pounds of coupler springs somewhere in the vicinity of my workbench.

Ed:
Thank you for the quick reply. Custom machining fixtures for the specific rail to be used will certainly help maintain precision. But I see that all the choices for assembly fixtures specify for ME rail. How does one go about specifying a different rail manufacturer?
Also, it appears that the point forming jig, which is said to be for codes 70, 83, and 100 rail, will also work regardless of rail manufacturer. Please confirm.
Tom

Tom,

I see the new fixture pages are indeed only ME code xx specified. You used to have to do a pull down menu to select your rail for use. You'll need to contact Ron or Tim directly for a custom fixture for a differing rail if actually required. Note that many rail profiles are, while slightly different, still allow for enough allowance of dimensional interchange. Perhaps, they have adjusted their fixtureCAD cutting for greater interchange. Never the less, using ME rail is far supperior to several other brands. You can still match up the turnout rails to a differing flex track (of the same nominal code) with only a modest swipe of a file at the connection.

Yes - the point form and rail form tools are constructed to be rather forgiving in ranges of rails and getting one for the code range you chose will work well with any specific profile.

-ed-

_________________
-ed mccamey-
COSLAR RR - http://www.coslar.us/
NMRA Standards and Conformance Department
PROTO & FINE Scale Coordinator
I estimate I have about 5 pounds of coupler springs somewhere in the vicinity of my workbench.

We can cut the fixtures to work with pretty much any manufacturers rail. There is no extra charge for this. When you order a fixture, simply select the fixture with the closest equivalent Micro Engineering sized rail and during checkout just note in the comments box what rail you would like the fixture cut for.

We have quite a collection of rail that we can use to confirm sizing, but if we don't have a sample of the rail you want to use on hand we may ask you to mail us a couple of short pieces. If that is necessary we will let you know.

_________________
Cheers!

Ron Warris
Fast Tracks