Ribbonrail makes both 5" and 10" curved track alignment gauges.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Thanks.
Rich
assuming the radius is the same and only the length of the tool is the difference…the longer alignment gauges would give you a more consistant radius over a LONG curvature. it will save you time as well working in 10" sections compared to 5" sections.
IIRC, most curved Ribbonrail track gauges(HO) only come in 5" sections. From 18" radius through 36" radius, they have some 10" ones. The straight ones are available in at least 5" & 10" lengths. I have a selection of several guages and use then all the time to make sure that my trackage is aligned correctly. I have 3 of the 5" long 30" radius ones, so have never bought the 10" ones. The LHS does not even carry the longer curved ones. I find that they are one of the best ‘tools’ in my track laying tool box.
Jim
Depends on what you are doing. If you have a short curved section that is less than 10" long, you can’t use the longer one. Same witht he straights, if you are trying to align a short straight section, the longer ones won’t fit. FOr a longer section, the longer ones do a better job of keepign things aligned - sliding the 5" curved one around a 90 degree curve doesn’t always result in a perfectly smooth curve, but the longer one keeps more of the track in place at a given time.
I really wish they sold direct - the company that makes them is not far from me. None of the shops near me carry them so I had to order through Walthers and the shipping was insane for what it really cost - if it had been eBay it would have been a seller I would have avoided. But I really wanted to have some straight and curved ones particularly since I was using a smalelr minimum radius on this layout and didn’t want to drift below it and have a problem later on.
–Randy
Actually, as I read these responses, and as I check the Walthers web site, two 5" gauges are cheaper than a single 10" gauge, so maybe the smartest thing to do is buy two 5" gauges for each radius.
What I would like to do is to have curved track alignment gauges on hand for 28", 30", and 32" radius (my current layout) and 34" and 36" for wider curves for planned enhancements.
Keep those comments coming. I appreciate all of them.
Rich
If you regualrly have curves that need the longer size - get the longer one. Joining two smaller ones together can result in kinds as the two do not fit tightly together.
–Randy
Randy,
For future reference, you might do better on shipping costs (and possibly on basic prices) if you order from M. B. Klein (ModelTrainStuff) in Hunt Valley, MD., or Tommy Gibert’s in Gettysburg (I live in York).
Dante
I normally ALWAYS order from Klein. They were out of stock as well, and I really wanted to start laying track rather than wait. Once and done - and they were actually out of the shortest straight one - even though at the time I added it to my cart they sait it was in stock - and 8 mopnths later they STILL did not get it in, so I canceled - which is good because when it DOES come in guess what, they charge MORE shipping!
–Randy
Thanks, everyone.
Randy, your point of view prevailed. I ordered the 10" track alignment gauges.
Rich