Scalefour Forum

I'm contemplating scratchbuilding a few models of a Tasmanian government railway prototype which has a 3 ft 6inch track gauge in 4mm/ft.

Does anyone know of a source of track gauges and back to back gauges for P4 profile wheelsets to suit a 3'ft 6inch gauge system? It's a pretty common imperial narrow gauge standard certainly in Australia.

I haven't yet decided on the size of rail for display yet but the prototype ran approx 60lb/yd flat bottom. Any suggestions for a code size rail?

Thanks
Mark

I had to make my own gauges for a 3'4" system.

It isn't difficult to make your own gauges.

Finescale TT3 uses 14.2 mm gauge; slightly too big, but might solve several problems?

As to gauges, if you know someone with a lathe you could ask them to turn you up a set of roller gauges that would suit most needs.

Track would probably be easiest done with code 55 FB which is relatively easy to find. PCB sleepers inserted every fifth sleeper would suffice or you could use hot glue with wood sleepers. The hot glue method is very simple and surprisingly rugged. A bead of hot glue is run on the bottom of the rail and then reheated with a soldering iron to flatten it out. The rail is set in place and reheated once again when everything is lined up to your satisfaction.

Cheers,

David

Tim V wrote:I had to make my own gauges for a 3'4" system.

It isn't difficult to make your own gauges.

I have also made my own, for 3'6", just notched strip but does the job.
http://www.norgrove.me.uk/U20C-project/u20c.html
Rgds

Herewith pic of my DIY 14mm gauges, a BB gauge can be made similarly but I have used a vernier so far.
Rgds

I see that, in 4mm scale, 3ft 6in equates with 14mm (or roughly 14.2mm) gauge, so 3mm Society gauges should work for the trackwork, but I don't know what are the comparisons for flanges etc.

I have gone a different way for modelling French metre gauge trains; I am using P4 trackwork, but modelling in 1:55 or 5.5mm scale. This does mean that I have to build everything for myself, as there aren't any models or kits in that scale, but I can use my normal P4 gauges for the trackwork. This scale would actually give a track gauge of 18.2mm, but I can overlook the error in using P4 track. This is somewhat similar to what Gordon Gravett did for Pempoul (using 1:50 scale and EM track), though I am nowhere near as skilled a modeller as he is and hesitate to draw any comparison with the work he does. In case it is of interest, I am working on powering my models by radio control.

Mick

Thank you for the replies. I will make a simple gauge up along the lines of that suggested by Keith and see how that gauge goes on a bit of trackwork. I might also try to find a bit of steel angle for a back to back gauge although I will have to be careful with that one to get the sides parallel - otherwise I might unknowingly build in some wobbly wheels!!!

Thanks again.
Mark