What gauge Bronze wire for HO handrails ?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Working on bashed athearn transfer caboose and in need of finishing up handrails. So what size wire would be correct ?

Also need stantions for the sides. Don’t want to use athearn stantions for this project. Need better stantion but for the life of me can’t remember the manufacturer name of the better qaulity ones.

2

Not sure what the experts use, but I use Tichy .015 phosphor bronze. I also use Tichy grabirons, and they are made from .0126 PB wire. IIRC 26ga. wire, or .016 is 1" in HO scale.

Smokey Valley stanchions look good.

Mike.

3

Tichy sells .0125 PB wire which is 1.09" in HO scale. (.0125 x 87 = 1.0875).

Personally I prefer to use the .015" PB wire like Mike does.

Dave

4

As Mike mentioned, i recently got Tichy’s 0.015" phosphor bronze wire for making locomotive railings, coupler cut levers etc… I opted for the 0.010" wire for grab irons though. I haven’t used it yet, but will do soon (most probably will need your input on jig-making for locomotive railings). I used steel wire in the past for very simple shapes.

5

Thank you Mike,Dave and Yannis. 0.015 fits the bill. Can finally finish this project that was started ten years ago.

Thanks Mike for Smokey Valley stanchions. That’s the one I couldn’t remember .