Track height

Discuss the prototype and how to model it.
David M
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Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:28 pm

Track height

Postby David M » Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:34 am

Does anyone have a data bank of the vertical height dimensions from the sleeper's underside to the rail's head for various construction methods? It would be helpful to know the variations (if any) between ply & rivet, plastic chair with ply or plastic sleepers and the commercial track bases before attempting to mix & match. Also for consideration will be soldering to copper-clad! How does the flat-bottom feature in all this?
Cheers, David M

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Julian Roberts
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Joined: Sat Jan 09, 2010 11:33 pm

Re: Track height

Postby Julian Roberts » Wed Mar 17, 2021 6:37 am

My bullhead rail currently in use is 1.9mm high. Bought some 20 years ago as EM track from SMP. Masokits etched chairs raise the rail bottom 0.5mm (maybe a tiny bit more) above sleeper. I've got two kinds of pre-cut copperclad sleeper on the go, more recent glass fibre(?) stuff from Wizard is thicker than 20yr old stuff from EMGS. I'll edit later with thicknesses. I bought a load of FB rail at that time too but I think I read somewhere it's not obtainable now in the same dimension.

Philip Hall
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Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:49 pm

Re: Track height

Postby Philip Hall » Wed Mar 17, 2021 9:07 am

Another consideration is the thickness of copper clad sleepers. I have cut all my storage siding sleepers from 0.9mm sheet, with which is a fair bit thinner than the pre-cut strip usually supplied, but is perfectly rigid. Rail is EMGS bullhead. Visible running lines are Exactoscale FastTrack, using very old EMGS rail (which has a slightly different section, thinner web thickness) with ply and rivet visible pointwork.

I am trying not to intermix sleeper thicknesses, hence building all the hidden trackwork, but can’t avoid this with the visible thin sleepered pointwork, so here I will be using thin card packing to bring the rails up to the same level as the full depth sleepered FastTrack.

Trying to measure these height variations is a nice idea and would give an idea of where to start, but in the end checking levels as the track is laid, packing or sanding to ensure good levelling is the best way I think.

Philip

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Julian Roberts
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Re: Track height

Postby Julian Roberts » Wed Mar 17, 2021 12:04 pm

Quite agree Philip. Just to answer the question

Wizard copperclad sleepers 1.6

Rail height with Masokits etched chairs 4.2 on Wizard sleepers

(Possibly over liberal tinning may add around 0.1 to rail height.)

So etched chairs give rail to sleeper gap 0.6

Old copperclad 1.1

Old FB rail 2.1

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Winander
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Re: Track height

Postby Winander » Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:50 pm

Both steel and nickel silver rail from the stores 1.9mm

Ply sleeper strip from the stores 1mm.

Track using the above and Exactoscale plastic chairs, combined height 3.5mm.

I rounded the second decimal place up/down as appropriate. As others have said, best to fettle when fixed - cork underlay sands well. I believe ply and rivet construction will give the same height as functional chairs as the same chairs are used cosmetically on ply and rivet trackwork and the same sleeper strip is used for both.

In Tony Wilkins thread on flat bottomed turnouts https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5707&start=500#p82502there is some information and also dimensions in a discussion in the Guest Book https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7393#p82568.

HTH
Richard Hodgson
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