Length On30 ties?

[Jack28]

Actually, I am trying to find out popularity. My order of stock for ties will be shipped next week. I need some kind of idea what the preferences in length are?

Personally I prefer 6 footers, but customers may prefer something else.

[BoxcabE50]

I use Micro-Engineering track. Their flex seems to scale out at what would be 5 feet, 9 inches. Overall this gives the appearance which I want to see. Somewhere I have the dimensions of the actual Maine 2 Foot. I believe those were five footers, of five inch by five inch. As On30 is wider...

Boxcab E50

[Jack28]

Well you know, I used to be so into EXACT scale.

Not sure if I am getting lazy or practical, I find that 1/8 stock works just fine for me, which is 6x6 inch (in On30). So many different feelings about that topic. I still am pretty finicky, but when we are talking 1 scale inch of width on a tie..........and a price difference of almost double, plus I can buy stock locally if I am willing to take the bruising.

Of course I buck the whole system anyway, I use basswood. Never tried to use a sugar pine, so no idea of the difference. Working for me and more affordable.

[BoxcabE50]

By the time you get the ties all ballasted or buried in mud and weeds, noticing a mere scale inch must take eyesight I certainly don't possess...

Boxcab E50

[DSP&P fan]

I prefer a greater than 2:1 appearance. I tend to think that shorter ties cause the track to look more like SG track.

With my On3, I prefer 6'6"...but am inclined to switch to custom 7' ties for future layouts.

I selected 6' since it is On30. I may actually prefer 6'6" still with On30, but I think 7' would look ridiculous with 30" gauge track.

Michael

[bookemdanno]

I agree with BoxCab, the height and width are not important after one ballasts the ties. However, the D&RGW used (and still does on the C&TSRR) 6' long ties for their NG track. Aside from the aesthetics of appearance that Michael refers to I find it hard to believe that a profit motivated RR would spend extra $ on 6'-6" or 7' ties if the extra length wasn't required.

I have always used Kappler ties and have no experience with Basswood.

[Jack28]

I sure appreciate the replies/comments. There is such a variety of information out there. Makes it hard to make decisions.

[DSP&P fan]

I should state the reason for the tie length...

Ties aren't just there to hold the rail in gauge, for that could be done with iron bars or ties the length of the gauge. Ties spread the weight of the train over a greater surface area. They are more important with a new roadbed or one without ballast than they are on a well established line.

While shorter ties do save upfront costs (much like smaller rail), you can really pay for it in the long run. The modern D&RGW was operating its few trains over a roadbed that had been compacted over a period of 60 years (for the most modeled era, or 125 years for today). New narrow gauges were frequently unballasted. Successful narrow gauge routes (those most likely to get ballasted properly) were mostly SG by 1910 (e.g. SPC and D&RG mainline). The middle class, those profitable enough to survive but not good enough to SG, typically received light cinder ballast and never really made it past the technology of 1910 (D&RGW, C&Sng, ET&WNC).

I recommend choosing ties and ballast appropriate for a railroad's history. What is the current On30 trend...ballast or not? Old roadbeds or new? That's what I'd stock supplies for.

Michael

[BoxcabE50]

Originally Posted by DSP&P fan

I recommend choosing ties and ballast appropriate for a railroad's history. What is the current On30 trend...ballast or not? Old roadbeds or new? That's what I'd stock supplies for.

Michael

You are quite correct about the reason for prototypical tie length choices.

I don't know if there is a trend. Seems more like influence of era preference. For some folks modeling earlier years of two footers, they were a bit better kept, so leaning toward more ballasting. Post-WWI-ish, seems to be toward the dirt and weedy appearance. But then the freelance world weighs heavily, with a lot of just plain whimsical results. So, hard to say...

Boxcab E50

[KaiserWilhelm]

Originally Posted by DSP&P fan

I recommend choosing ties and ballast appropriate for a railroad's history. What is the current On30 trend...ballast or not? Old roadbeds or new? That's what I'd stock supplies for.

Michael

Personally, I'm planning to ballast, if only a little. My line, wherever I finally choose to set it (I'm now waffling between the White Mountains and Vancouver Island, oddly enough) will be a high(er) standard of narrow gauge, similar to the long-term operations on Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, and therefore standards akin to those of a mainline, standard gauge railroad will be at play... at least when the rails were first laid. As to what condition they are in 'the present'... well, that's harder to say. You see, I'm a sucker for weeds.