I was reading that fairly early on, the SP replaced the rail on its main on the Overland Route with a heavier 60 pound track. What would that translate to in terms of gauge. I was thinking code 70 for the main. Should I be thinking 83?
Isn’t 60lb. really, really lite for mains??? Didn’t Penssy run 120lb-ish on their mains?
To stay close to 60 pound rail. To keep the rail size colse to 60 pounds, you shoul duse code 40 rail. I’d suggest using code 55 rail on the main & then code 40 for sidings & yards. That would give a nice light rail appearnce as it would have been back then.
Check ou tthe NMRA link for weight versus hight: http://www.nmra.org/standards/sandrp/rp-15_1.html
Gene
60 lb would be somewhere in the code 40-code 55 range (code 46).
Chip,
For more than you ever wanted to know about rail sizes and weights:
Code 70 approximates 100# rail. Code 83 is good for modern 132# mainline/first track use. Both are way oversize for 60# in HO.
OTOH, by the turn of the (20th) century, SP’s Donner Pass route should have been upgraded to 100#. Maybe some SP expert can enlighten us.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - where rail weights were stated in kilograms/meter)