Does anyone know of a source for fishplates in HO or HOn3 for code 55 track? Grantline makes them for code 70 in On3 that work good for HO but I can’t find them for code 55 rail, maybe N scalers would know. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You. P/S for those who don’t know what a fishplate is, they’re the plates railroads used to use to connect one lenth of rail to another.
Fish plates are the metal squares that rails sit on. Spikes are driven through them.
Incorrect. I thought that too. So In went and looked it up. They are metal plates that join two rails or beams together. Walther’s even has a pic of one.
Yes, an oops! on me. I was thinking of tie plates. Nothing fishy about them!
Yep, fish plates are used as rail joiners, so to speak and the plates that the rail sets on are the “tie plates”. When I deliver rail to a place in Fort Wayne that makes switches and other track components, the first thing they do before unloading it is use a fish gauge to check the web contour. As far as model ones go I don’t know unless you manufacture them yourself. I’d be careful to use them on the inside of the rail so wheel flanges won’t catch them. Ken
For me, the rail joiners are good enough. Even they are nearly invisible the way my track is soldered and weathered.
er… why do you want them? there was a thread on them recently…
If you want them for looks… the short version is “don’t bother”.
Thanks for your comments, the reason I’m looking for them is I used them on my main line which is code 70 and they look great. I want to do my industrial trackage in code 55 and would like them to look as good as the main. I don’t have a large layout so I want to detail what little I’m going to have.
I’ve gotten some great ones at Arthur Treachers!! Seriously, check the details section of the Walthers catalog or web site.
Arthur Treacher?? ?? He died in 1975, don’t tell me there are still some of his fish and chip shops still around???
Beleive it or not Arthur Treacher’s is now part of Nathan’s Hot Dogs!!
If you have a speeder set off track, they look good there also.
More years ago then I care to count, we went to a derailment, F7 split the main yard switch. An ol timer MOW track Forman by the name of “Smookie” , asked my Boss why everone was standing around and the train aint gone.
Dident hear the conversation except that Smookie stated, while your waiting Im going to rail her now with a bunch of fish plates, he was a short stocky man with a grumpy voice.
He stacked the plates in a taper, the other three units pulled the wheel up and it rerailed, was very impressive to watch as a young lad.
So much for boring storys…Huh…[:I].John
ok this is going off topic but sry, I heard them called fish plates but how did they get this odd name?>
Proto:87 Stores sells photo-etched fishplates/joint bars. The TP55-1 and TP55-6 sets contain tieplates and joint bars for Code 55 rail. I don’t believe that he sells the joint bars separately from the tie plates.
These parts kits are listed about 3/4 the way down the page at http://www.proto87.com/p87stores/frtrck.htm . His is not the easiest site to navigate (to say the least), but he has great products.
Fritz, thanks alot, I was just about to give up and make them one by one.What a task that was looking to be. The best part is in looking at these I found the Proto 87 site, with all sorts of goodies. Been a while since I’ve seen you, been out of the PMHS for a couple years now, miss it, great bunch of guys. Thanks again and hope to see ya at the Ann Arbor show tommorrow.
Fritz, thanks alot, I was just about to give up and make them one by one.What a task that was looking to be. The best part is in looking at these I found the Proto 87 site, with all sorts of goodies. Been a while since I’ve seen you, been out of the PMHS for a couple years now, miss it, great bunch of guys. Thanks again and hope to see ya at the Ann Arbor show Sunday.
Jwar.
I’ve seen that done here too. Didn’t take a lot of plaes as the rail was surrounded by hard stuff not much below the rail head IIRC.
Best bit was we told them not to back up too far… which they then did and stuck the leading axle at the other end off. Some reason they weren’t very happy.[(-D] Nevermind they got it done quicker the second time. Loco was a Class 33.
You can also do the same with a whole string of ballast wagons (about 24 Grampus). The big job once they’re all back on is doing a soft-shoe-shuffle all over everything to cover up the marks in the ballast and on the ties.[:-^]
Talking of which… when PCB ties were first in use one comment that was often made if the cut in the copper hadn’t been well hidden was “Oh look. you can see where they’ve modelled a train falling off”.
Some people are just horrible[:P]
Fishplate is the common name in the UK and here’s a bit of history off the net,
The device was invented by William Bridges Adams in May 1842, because of his dissatisfaction with the scarf joints then in use. it was first deployed on the Eastern Counties Railway in 1844. He patented his invention in , and
Probably from French fiche, peg (from Old French) + plate
The word “fish” goes back to a naval term, I think. In the sailing ships, a broken spar or mast would be “fished” together – probably a couple of splints and a lot of rope.
There is also a term “joint bar”.