It looks like you MIGHT be able to build one from “parts” but it would be very pricy to do that.
And yes, the spikes are still available.
IIRC, not all of the ‘parts’ are still available to ‘build’ one(the ‘body’ is not available from Kadee). Kadee stopped selling the ‘Twin Rail Spiker’ after lots of warranty issues. If you did not have the pressure adjusted perfect, it was possible to crush ties and bend the rail A friend had one and he destroyed a lot of track getting his technique perfected. It worked pretty good on straight track that was very accessible. You had to hold the Twin Rail Spiker square with the track and not not tilt it as you pulled the ‘trigger’. There was a code 100 and a code 70 version of the tool built, and code 83 conversion kits are available.
My friend got pretty good with his tool, but the silver spike heads sort of looked strange. Trying to spike in a turnout area was next to impossible and the tool spiked both sides at the same time, with a pre-set distance - sort of hard ‘adjusting’ spikes in turnout areas.
If I ever got the ‘itch’ to hand lay track again, I would use the Central Valley plastic ties with all of the nice tie plate detail.
Jim
As Jim mentions, they were “neat” and would work ( great for a large yard or straight track), Only used one for a short time, did get the hang of it, but maybe it was too worn/ beat ,really didn’t work that great most times.They were more of a nuisience and doesn’t offer any real control that you have w/ hand spikeing w/ spiking pliers. Tweaking the gauge by spike forcing the rail web. I use modified serrated jaw needle nose that I cut grooves/ slots to hold the spikes.
How about,Atlas,brass code100,99ft bundle,laid on Atlas,fiber ties in 25ft packages,on Tru-Scale,Plain-milled,roadbed and I did not use,200 spikes per foot either,like they say,the tacker uses…
Cheers,
Frank
They are thick on eBay. I picked up 2 last summer. One for code 70 and one for code 100. Some people try to get big bucks for them but just wait and be patient. I got both mine for a little over $100 each.
They are basically a staple gun. The staple is cut into two “spikes” as it goes over the rail.
Our club would have never gotten its main yard laid down without it. We did one track by single spike at a time and it took about a week. A fellow came in with his spiker and the rest of the yard 15 tracks(?) was done in a day,