The Society Stores offers a "Mint Gauge". The list does not offer a photograph.
What is a mint gauge, and how does it work, please?
John Lewis
Mint Gauge
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John Donnelly
- Web Team
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Julian Roberts
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Re: Mint Gauge
Yes the gauge is discussed there, but mostly pertaining to its length.
Others better qualified than I may describe it better, even with a photo perhaps - I do not own one but was looking at it last weekend at Scalefour North. Like you, I did not know anything about it until a week ago.
It is in a nice chunky brass format, it sits on top of the rails, and has two straight raised lines along its length (the latest iteration is 40mm long) that fit along the gauge face (i.e. the insides) of the two rails if they are the correct gauge. These raised lines are narrow enough to fit into the flangeways of points on the straight road (but I am not sure if they are exactly the width of the official crossing flangeway dimension 0.65 - 0.68mm, or if they are narrower than that). Thus it is very good for checking that straight track has not gone narrow to gauge, especially through the crossing of a turnout, and the switch area, but has no way of telling you if it is wide to gauge, within reason a less serious fault, nor of holding the rails, so it is not intended for track laying.
It is supposed to be for straight track, and the discussion on the other topic is whether it erroneously can/should be/should not be/occasionally is used elsewhere, i.e. on curves, thus possibly revealing interesting things, or not, depending on your point of view...! However the other thread is not about the Mint Gauge, and its diversion into the subject was in a way a red herring, though it proved to be an interesting one, as diversions often are, so long as you are not in a hurry...
Others better qualified than I may describe it better, even with a photo perhaps - I do not own one but was looking at it last weekend at Scalefour North. Like you, I did not know anything about it until a week ago.
It is in a nice chunky brass format, it sits on top of the rails, and has two straight raised lines along its length (the latest iteration is 40mm long) that fit along the gauge face (i.e. the insides) of the two rails if they are the correct gauge. These raised lines are narrow enough to fit into the flangeways of points on the straight road (but I am not sure if they are exactly the width of the official crossing flangeway dimension 0.65 - 0.68mm, or if they are narrower than that). Thus it is very good for checking that straight track has not gone narrow to gauge, especially through the crossing of a turnout, and the switch area, but has no way of telling you if it is wide to gauge, within reason a less serious fault, nor of holding the rails, so it is not intended for track laying.
It is supposed to be for straight track, and the discussion on the other topic is whether it erroneously can/should be/should not be/occasionally is used elsewhere, i.e. on curves, thus possibly revealing interesting things, or not, depending on your point of view...! However the other thread is not about the Mint Gauge, and its diversion into the subject was in a way a red herring, though it proved to be an interesting one, as diversions often are, so long as you are not in a hurry...
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Tim V
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Re: Mint Gauge
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)
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David Bigcheeseplant
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Re: Mint Gauge
What is a mint gauge, and how does it work, please?
It is for checking the size of the hole in a polo!
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essdee
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Re: Mint Gauge
..and a brand new, unopened one is, of course -
(sorry 'bout that, hard to resist....)
(sorry 'bout that, hard to resist....)
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