This is for all those who still hand lay your track. I model HO scale and use code 70 rail for the mains and code 55 for industrial sidings. About 10 months ago I ran out of the Rail-Craft spikes I was useing just as I finished laying my last siding and never gave a thought as to where I was going to find more spikes, that is till I started looking for them. I just started a new siding when I realized I have no spikes. I started looking and got a little concerned when I couldn’t find any Rail-Craft spikes( I guess they’ve been out of business for a while),then my concern turned to panic because I couldn’t find anything close to the size I was using. The only spikes I could find (and there are few choices) were way to big. Anyway after 3 months of searching and panic I found the perfect spikes at Micro-Mark. I’m not connected to Mirco-Mark in any way but just want to save anyone out there in the same spot that I was the panic I went through. The spikes are only 25 thousands thick and have an almost scale head. Hope this helps!
Rail Craft became Micro Engineering, IIRC. they still produce spikes:
In addition to Micro-Engineering which I have seen stocked at several LHS, Proto87 Stores (http://www.proto87.com/) sells some very nice scale and near-scale size spikes. Steve Hatch tells how to make your own at http://www.railwayeng.com/rrhints.htm#q12.
hope this helps
Fred W
yes, you have two option.
Option 1: Buy the Micro Engineering Micro-Spikes. I use the same rail sizes as you do, and thats what I use. For the code 70, though, if you find it too annoying to use the Micro-Spikes, their Small Spikes are generally okay. If Anything, I would use them on the outside of the railhead, so that they can’t interfere with any of your wheel flanges. This shouldn’t be a problem anyway since you’re already using scale rail which requires nearer-to-scale flanges. You can get these at Walthers and/or Fast Tracks (http://www.handlaidtrack.com/)
Option 2: Andy Reichert’s Proto87 store (http://www.proto87.com/). He sells scale spikes, as well as anything else you could possibly want to make your handlaid track look like Wayne Szalinski took a section of track from the local right-of-way and zapped it with his machine.
Thanks for the info, the only problem is you can’t find the small Micro-Eng spikes anywhere. Their listed in Walthers but out of stock. I’ve talked to two differant hobby shops and they told me Micro Eng isn’t going to make them anymore, I don’t know if this is true or not. I’ve bought one bag of spikes online at E-bay but they were $13. The Micro Mark spikes are better anyway. Thanks again for the help!
Hey, DeadheadGreg, I’ve tried using the ME micro spikes but didn’t have much luck with them, they wouldn’t hold the code 55 rail to the ties. I’m useing Central Valley plastic tie strips. Maybe with solid wood ties they would work better. The Micro Eng small spikes are a little to big. Andy’s (Proto 87) great for a parts source, I love his frogs, I’m going to start useing his switch kits for the rest of the layout. I think his spikes are scale, but a little to small for me. Thanks for the help!
thats strange, because I used the Micro Spikes to hold Code 70 rail to the CV tie strips.
My hobby shop has them in stock now; is there anywhere I can go to get the skinny on the Micro Spike discontinuation?
ME is not discontinuing any of their products. There are shortages of particular items, especially as their product line has become more popular, and has now been expanded to include On30. ME is a small shop (no web site) that batch produces. Sometimes you have to wait for the next batch to be produced. Shinohara (and Walters, since Shinohara is the OEM for Walters) track products have similar periodic shortages. The easiest way to assure yourself of a supply is to patronize an LHS/Internet store that is willing to stock ME heavily.
hope this helps
Fred W
the thing I really don’t get is why they haven’t put out any Code 55 HO turnouts when they have them in codes 70 and 83, even when they make 2 different kinds of Code 55 flextrack. I mean, you would think that they would realize that there’s a market for them if people are already buying the flextrack…
Greg
It’s a small operation. HO users of code 55 are a very small minority, code 70 sees little use as it is with the preponderance going to code 83. I’m willing to bet there is more code 100 being used in HO than code 70 and code 55 combined. ME HOn3 turnouts are in code 55 which shares the HOn3 market with code 70.
ME has been focusing a lot of energy recently on their On30 line; the others lines are just starting to catch up with demand, according to my LHS. Rail is typically produced only in very large bulk lots (measured in many actual miles). And I suspect the tie strips likewise have to be produced in large quantities to get a reasonable price and use of the tooling. Shinohara only produces batches of each of their track items once a year at best.
Finally, model railroaders who are picky enough to use correct and various size rail are often not satisfied with any commercial turnout, and prefer to produce their own. Aren’t you pretty much in this category?
yours in trackwork
Fred W