I am looking for railroad ties and rails for a display case for a large scale model with the distance between rails of 2 inches. I want to make a display case for a Southern locomotive that my uncle built in the 1940s. I have found someone who will make the wood base and plastic cover. Now I need to find the ties and rails. Does anyone know someone who would supply ties and rails? (Or perhaps supply the whole display case?) I will install the ties and rails on the wood base. I am open to suggestions on the best way to install the ties and rails.
Case,
My guess is the model is built to what was called 'Standard Gauge' many moons ago. Scale would be 1:29 according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_modelling_scales.
If memory serves, standard gauge modern ties are something along the order of 9" wide x 7" deep x 96" long. That would scale out to .310" wide x .241" deep x 3.310" long. Anyone with a table saw can cut those readily. I might opt to do 3/8" wide x 1/4" deep x 3-3/8 long for convenience, and at that scale, no one will notice.
Finding just rail might be a bit more difficult. You may need to purchase assembled track in 45mm (1.77) gauge and disassemble it for your needs. I was not able to find rail easily. There are several listings in Google for spikes.
Good luck with your project.
Armorsmith,
Thank you for your suggestions and scale calculations. Yes, I can make the ties on a tablesaw. I thought I should check if they were commercially available.
Fortunately, I inherited brass rails with the locomotive, so they are not a problem.
Case
Case,
If you want to represent older era ties you can use a razor saw and drag it over the ties you cut to distress them. There are some good paints at the craft store that are close to a creosote color or you can paint them a lighter grey to represent older tie.
Check this out for premade display cases:
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=g+scale+model+train+display+case
And this for premade RR ties:
https://www.google.com/search?q=g+scale+wooden+rr+ties+for+sale&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=APwXEdfVMPud7vn89ReQCn8fVIL8gDp4sA%3A1686259769366&ei=OUiCZPbvFbyvqtsP8vuQ2Ao&oq=G+scale+Wooden+RR+ties&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQARgAMgUIIRCgATIFCCEQqwIyBQghEKsCMggIIRAWEB4QHToKCAAQRxDWBBCwAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BggAEB4QDzoICAAQCBAeEA86CAgAEIoFEIYDOggIABAWEB4QDzoGCAAQFhAeOgoIIRAWEB4QDxAdSgQIQRgAUNseWPSEAWDhoAFoAXABeACAAYABiAHOCJIBAzEuOZgBAKABAcABAcgBBg&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
Maybe when you get done you could post a picture.
Cheers & Beers
Bill