Does anybody know if the rails made for Model Railroading use are considered “polished” by the mfgr? (The extrusions mfgr I mean)
That doesn’t seem to be listed anywhere as a consumer spec, but I’m wanting to know if it should be specified to a mfgr?
John
Good question. Once extruded, are the rails run through a ‘planer’ of sorts that shapes the head and flange a bit? I would guess not, but… The only time I see polished rails is when they they have endured some significant engine traffic. Or after gleaming.
-Crandell
I don’t believe there is any further treatment of the rails after they are pulled through the die. (I am assuming here) If the pull is consistent, and the die is in good shape and made from the right material, the rail should have a reasonably smooth surfaces as is.
Is there a reason rail needs to be “polished” at time of manufacture? Both real and model rail head gets polished by the act of wheels rolling over it. The harder the wheel and the heavier the load on the wheel, the greater the polishing action. The web and base don’t get polished in either prototype or model case, nor is there any need to. Polishing the rail bottom might even make gluing or soldering of rails to ties slightly more difficult.
The “gleaming” process used by some appears to retard oxidation and keep rail head cleaner longer. But it’s really just a polishing process applied separate from the natural polishing action of the wheels. in light of the thread about cost of track, do we really want to add the cost of polishing rail at manufacture?
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
Crandell & Fred,
Thank you both for your replies-- I wasn’t sure which way to call it. It seems pretty smooth to me whenI buy it, but I don’t know if that’s technically considered “polished” or not.
The reason I’m asking, and I really don’t care which way the answer went, is that I’m researching the costs to manufacture rails and several of the companies I contacted asked me if it needed to be polished as a finish, which of course would have been an extra cost.
John
That has to suggest the answer, John…they are not, but can be for additional cost. I know that the rails I lay and the ones I image a few weeks or months later (after hours of train fun) are not the same. The newly laid rails are not very shiny, whereas the used ones reflect headlamps quite well.
To wit:
-Crandell
If’n it were me, I’d manufacture rail “unpolished” and leave that operation to be decided by the purchaser. I have a suspicion that it’s wise to polish the rail tops. It would seem an ideal time to do that would be prior to laying the track–it’s a lot easier then than doing it after the rail’s down. That concept doesn’t help for any succeeding polishing, of course. I also choose to avoid using Brightboy, as it scratches the rail tops, kinda negating the whole polishing concept.
Ed
John
I realize I’m crossing threads, but:
LaVancil code 81 rail is/was stocked by Andy Reichert at Proto87 Stores (http://www.proto87.com/). Andy also sells ME rail at a discount. Etched tie plates, scale size spikes, CV tie strips, and some special ties of his own are all sold at Proto87 Stores.
Andy is also much more knowledgeable than I on the ins and outs and how-tos of manufacturing model track products, especially metal items. Most of what I know I learned from him in the various Yahoo Groups he frequents.
Andy may be a little slow to respond to inquiries at this time - his wife has had a various serious adverse reaction to a commonly prescribed antibiotic. Andy is spending a lot of his time being his wife’s caretaker.
Another very worthwhile resource on track is the MR Clinic on rail in the November 1962 Model Railroader. The article had charts of both prototype and model rail sizes, and useful info on what size rail was used when and where. Other than prototype histories where initial track rail size was specified, or an important upgrade spec’d the rail size, that article is good authoritative info on typical rail sizes by era and use. I refer to my copy frequently.
And if you ever feel the urge to make some HO close-to-scale 60 or 65 lb rail and 80 or 85 lb rail, I’m in as a small time buyer. I find the current spread of model rail sizes to be too gross to be realistic - in theory. But in practice, I’m not sure could see the difference if the size differential was smaller. From what I can ascertain, the prototype tends to step up or down about 20lbs at a time - which might be too small to be modeled in HO and smaller.
hope this helps
Fred W
Nice photo Crandell!
Yes, I agree but I wanted to make sure so as to be certain I’m doing an apples-to-apples comparison as much as possible.
John
Yes, that’s exactly the thing that gave me pause and why I wasn’t really sure.
I don’t have a problem with it if you don’t… 
Yes, I like the Proto87 store. I’ve purchased some small quantities of his stuff for inspection and trial purposes. He’s got some nice stuff. I’ve been seriously considering his track & turnout jigs. I really like them. I came within a button-press of ordering them right after Xmas but literally at that moment I got an unexpected opportunity to purchase some nice turnouts in quantity and jumped on it.
I’m really sorry to hear about his wife though, that’s awful. I hope she recovers okay.
Does anybody know the rest of the story about Gene LaVancil and the “LaVancil Rail”, I know what I’ve read online and in several forums. For instance I know he’s passed away, and that he had the rail mfgr’d 50+ years ago and apparently it didn’t sell as well as he hoped for some reason. Not really sure why it didn’t or wouldn’t have. Perhaps it wasn’t marketed well?
I think I might have read that, and if I did that means I have a copy of i