Rail Options for Minimum Gauge

A discussion of the variety of steel profiles I have used or considered in the construction of track for my 15 inch gauge railway.
Links to other videos related to this project:
• Test Run (Unfinished)
• Locomotive Inaugural Run
• Frame Riveting
Links to railway resources:
www.rmirailworks.com/SSP-Trac...
discoverlivesteam.com/
gsriley.com/railroad-track/
ibls.org/mediawiki/index.php/G...

[@ronbach6453]

The 12 lb rail You mentioned is mine rail, this is the rail miners use. It comes in 8, 12 & 16 lb sizes with 12 being the most common.

[@gregpartridge1142]

Thanks for your video, it was very informative and answered a lot of questions that I've been pondering myself. Cheers Greg

[@amberyooper]

I'm using the steel T-posts for rail right now. Instead of cutting grooves in the ties (sleepers), I've been cutting the nubs off the back of the T-posts with an angle grinder and a cutoff disk. I don't cut them all off, I just cut off the ones where they'll be sitting on the ties, based on my average tie spacing. My track is 7.5 inch gauge.

[@alexmodern6667]

Excellent Rail Orientation and metal strengths

[@Kineth1]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@sachideshmane5088]

Strap rail might be worth considering if you have a comical amount of free wood. You could probably fix the snakehead issue by welding a piece at the end to hook under the wooden rail.

[@davearmstrong2296]

Excellent info. Many thanks.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video...👍

[@toolsteel8482]

Thanks for the comparison and contrast. I recently bought 8 foot tee posts at Menard’s for less than six dollars each and I think they would make affordable but light rails. I think with a hole drilled in the horizontal part of angle ,a heavy lag screw would hold pretty well. I think the smallest I beam I’ve seen is around 2” x 4”. It’d be nice if they made a mini I beam say 3/4” x 1 1/2”. Thanks again and looking forward to more of your projects.

[@PhxVigo]

Thank you for the comparison. I saw you pulling up old rail in a previous video and was surprised to see the fence post. I was happy to hear you elaborate on that more here. You very briefly mentioned flat bar, but did not mention the “groovy rail” system. It uses a 1 1/4 x 3/8 flat bar with preformed ties. It “feels” like a good choice for 7.25 and 7.5 gauge. Unfortunately I have no idea how it holds up in practice… Thanks again!

[@Redundant_Communication]

I linked an article on Groovy Track in the description, I didn't choose it as I had issues with the durability of slots I cut in the ties for the T post bumps, the wood tended to split because of it, so wanted to avoid tie slots for the new track. Though if the slots were tighter as they are in the Groovy Track system I'd imagine they'd hold up better.

[@stanlanning3704]

I experimented with groovy many years ago for a small bit of track and was not satisfied with the stability despite close tolerance routed slots in the ties (sleepers). Groovy tends to work better with plastic / composite material because the groove does not expand/contract or deteriorate as fast as most woods. Also, the outside part of wood where the groove is cut can splitter and break off losing holding power of the groove.

[@DJ_Bonebraker]

This is an interesting and informative video. However, I was wondering if you've seen any of the videos that Way Out West Workshop has done about the 15" gauge railway that they've been building for their farm? They basically use long sections of bar stock for their rails, with sections of pipe driven into the sleepers & the bar stock bolted to it for the rails, and it seems to work pretty well for their purposes.

[@Redundant_Communication]

Yes indeed, I've seen his videos and his method is superb, very easy to build and elegantly simple. The only improvement I'm trying to work out is a design that doesn't require drilling through the rail, so the tie spacing isn't fixed if the track routing needs to be changed later on.

[@generalsteam1120]

to me, the downside to way out west's rail is the bar steel is not very wide. I wonder how much grip that track would provide. I'm just some idiot with an idea to build some layout in the woods (I'm in the US Midwest and lots of hills). i would have to deal with a grade a lot, so whatever i come up with needs a lot of traction. I don't really know much of what I'm talking about though.

[@crazyfvck]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience :) Did you ever try applying heat to some of the ones that are difficult to bend? I assume that would help, at least a little.

[@Redundant_Communication]

Heat would certainly help but on such lengths it would be inconvenient to get them heated evenly. I have heated the rail to bend up parts of the switch but those were small tight bends where I could heat the area with a torch flame.

[@alec4672]

Have you looked into gantry crane rail at all? They use stuff pretty close to 1/4 scale rail. Like the big overhead cranes in big factories. I know people who live out west can find people that own abandoned mines and buy the mine cart track from them.

[@Redundant_Communication]

I've looked for crane rail quite a bit, but it seems most suppliers only sell in bulk or are prohibitively expensive. A few hundred bucks for a 30 foot piece of rail may be fine for an industrial plant, but not for me unfortunately. I also look around pertinent auction sites for people listing used mine rail, but that's a gamble as to where it is and what their price is.

[@Emersonac]

How do you bend the channel iron (for curves)?

[@ThomasG2-Chuklenuts]

Question: i'm currently starting off my minimum gauge railway (19in gauge) and was thinking about using T fence posts as the track, but instead of having it in this position _|_ , like you showed, i'll have it like this T , and weld a plate at the bottom for each tie like you showed at 6:57 . I'm using lightweight/medium sized rolling stock, being build on original minecarts chassis (thus the 19in gauge). What's your opinion on this method?

[@Redundant_Communication]

Should work well, orienting the bar with the flat up is a good idea as it will provide a better tread for the wheels. you may want to use pieces of angle rather than flat for the welded tie plates for a bit more of a robust bracket if you are using heavier rolling stock and a wider gauge. Also closer tie spacing may be needed to handle more weight.

[@doggoluvr133]

with the channel couldnt you drill holes in one of the channel walls and put spikes through one of the sides?

[@twkolejofil]

Additionally, I would recommend to treat ties/sleepers with some linseed oil with tar :-)

[@TheLayleaf1]

What do you think about using wider flat bar stock like 10x25mm (3/8 by 1 inch) with welded tabs on the bottom. That could yield better rolling behaviour right? No sharp corners at least like the angle or T profile.

[@Redundant_Communication]

Flat bar 1/4" or thicker would work well, but the thicker the bar the heavier and harder to bend it is. That's why I've chosen channel as its shape has a high strength to weight ratio with a wide head for the wheels.

[@lauraandedwardcannon8861]

I’m using 3/8” flat bar now. Seems to work ok but the road is new so no idea about lifespan. My cars are on the lightweight side however.

[@justjestin9749]

For the smaller (9lbs), rail would larger diameter wood screws be a viable option? What about the shorter concrete anchors? Some of those can be over 1/2" thick and several inches long but would also provide the short head.

[@Redundant_Communication]

Yes any manner of wood screw could work, the lag bolts were just one option I've gone with

[@RTek1986]

Where did you find the square washers you demonstrate at 7:06?

[@Redundant_Communication]

BoltDepot.com

[@Realohiorailroadproductions]

Where does one go to find the rail seen at 11:12 I have researched them for quite some time but I’m not able to find them for some reason.

[@Redundant_Communication]

Roll Models Industries (RMI Railworks) out of California is where I purchased this rail, there is a link in the description to their website. It's not cheap, but also not out of the question, especially if it's exactly what you're looking for.

[@DmitriSkif]

Steel bar of 25x50 is the best option not talking about 9Kg rails.

[@odonald6087]

The echo makes it hard to listen.

[@Kineth1]

It sounds like he might have accidentally overlapped two audio tracks that got out of sync.

[@archmcdonald6170]

you call it angle "IRON" it is not iron it is "STEEL"