Real train track

[GlennW]

A standard length is 39 ft.  That amount would fit into a gondola.

[grumpy]

It isn't something you put in the back of your pickup and take home.
Don

[Dr EMD]

what i meant when i said shelf was to use the flange as something to hold pictures. not for a acctuall train layout shelf but just hooked up to the walls to hold pictures

Nope, still to heavy to spike into the wall just to rest a picture on it. Maybe a section of rail from a live steam operation be better.

[Jim Banner]

adari, you have given me a great idea and I thank you.  But I would use a wooden rail, shaped to a profile to match the real thing.  Maybe something about the same size an mining rail (15-20 pounds/yard)  but in wood it would weight maybe 2 or 3 pounds/yard.  "Spiked" to the wall with the base of the rail vertical, the web would make a perfect "shelf" for framed photographs and the head of the rail would keep them from slipping forward and falling off.  I can even picture some ersatz spike heads carved out of wood to make it look like the rail was spiked to the wall.  A picture perfect picture rail for the train room. 

[adari]

adari, you have given me a great idea and I thank you.  But I would use a wooden rail, shaped to a profile to match the real thing.  Maybe something about the same size an mining rail (15-20 pounds/yard)  but in wood it would weight maybe 2 or 3 pounds/yard.  "Spiked" to the wall with the base of the rail vertical, the web would make a perfect "shelf" for framed photographs and the head of the rail would keep them from slipping forward and falling off.  I can even picture some ersatz spike heads carved out of wood to make it look like the rail was spiked to the wall.  A picture perfect picture rail for the train room. 

That was my idea but  wanted to use real rail. Maybe ill make some with wood and hangup 3 feet of real rail. thanks for a beter idea then my idea. adari

[Paul M.]

Where can I get real Pennsylvania rr train track or any other railroad of real train track. <snip>

\

<snip> . . . rail generally weighs up to 150 lbs per foot . . . <snip>

Paul M:
You are correct about track being very large and heavy, but the heaviest U.S. mainline rail is actually ~152# / yard (or ~51# / foot), not 150# / foot.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

Ok, I had forgotten it was weighed by the yard, not by the foot...

[JerryB]

Adari's original question was "where can I get real railroad train track?"

It's a fine point of language, but "track" is an assembly of rail, joint bars, ties, tie plates, spikes, and some miscellaneous hardware including all the fasteners to keep the track assembly together.

Seeing that he wants rail requires a different search and produces different answers.

Googling for "railroad rail pieces" produces 127,000 hits in .17 seconds.

The very first hit is a company in San Diego, CA that advertises "Railroad Rail Pieces for Jeweler's or Blacksmith Anvil, Make custom tools." The site also advertises longer lengths of rail as well as spikes, and they invite you to come pick your own rail. There are pictures of piles of rail and spikes. See:

http://sandiego.backpage.com/ToolsForSale/_20_railroad_rail_pieces_for_jeweler_s_or_blacksmith_anvil_make_custom_tools/classifieds/ViewAd?oid=1964633

I didn't look much further, but would bet that somewhere in the over quarter million Google returns, there is a source of the kind of pieces of rail adari and others are looking for that is near to our individual locations. I did see some discussion on getting rail from junk yard sources on at least two of the sites on the first couple of pages of the search returns.

Follow the link I previously provided to A&K Railroad Materials:

http://www.akrailroad.com/OnlineCatalog/RailJointBars/TeeRailSectionsData/tabid/76/Default.aspx

There is a table of size and weight of a wide range of rail, starting at 12# / yard. That information is very useful just for modeling. It also provides all the information required to make certain any rail you purchase for paper weights won't collapse your desk!

Happy Railroading,

Jerry

[BIG BEAR]

    adari,
  Try going to your local Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, or lumber yard,
& look at the stair raillings, patio railling, etc. I believe you can come mighty close to the look you are seeking.

       Good luck
              Barry

[adari]

Adari's original question was "where can I get real railroad train track?"

It's a fine point of language, but "track" is an assembly of rail, joint bars, ties, tie plates, spikes, and some miscellaneous hardware including all the fasteners to keep the track assembly together.

Seeing that he wants rail requires a different search and produces different answers.

Googling for "railroad rail pieces" produces 127,000 hits in .17 seconds.

The very first hit is a company in San Diego, CA that advertises "Railroad Rail Pieces for Jeweler's or Blacksmith Anvil, Make custom tools." The site also advertises longer lengths of rail as well as spikes, and they invite you to come pick your own rail. There are pictures of piles of rail and spikes. See:

http://sandiego.backpage.com/ToolsForSale/_20_railroad_rail_pieces_for_jeweler_s_or_blacksmith_anvil_make_custom_tools/classifieds/ViewAd?oid=1964633

I didn't look much further, but would bet that somewhere in the over quarter million Google returns, there is a source of the kind of pieces of rail adari and others are looking for that is near to our individual locations. I did see some discussion on getting rail from junk yard sources on at least two of the sites on the first couple of pages of the search returns.

Follow the link I previously provided to A&K Railroad Materials:

http://www.akrailroad.com/OnlineCatalog/RailJointBars/TeeRailSectionsData/tabid/76/Default.aspx

There is a table of size and weight of a wide range of rail, starting at 12# / yard. That information is very useful just for modeling. It also provides all the information required to make certain any rail you purchase for paper weights won't collapse your desk!

Happy Railroading,

Jerry

Sorry I said track Instead of rail. I meant rail

[bevernie]

 ???OH, MY!!  :oDoes all this mean that when I cross an old abandoned piece of an old "track" that I have actually crossed only a rail? I'm so glad that none of my English instructors, especially that DOCTOR I had in COLLEGE, were not present to hear me make such a BLUNDER! To have massacred the English language in such a way would surely have resulted in the cutting out of my tongue!!
Should the song have said, "Leave a lot of happy rails as you go down life's road?
                                                                                       THANX!!
                                                                                      Ernie

[Jim Banner]

No, bevernie, it means that when you have crossed a railway track, you have crossed two rails.  Unless somebody stole one of them.  Or somebody built a monorail.  For the benefit of our southern friends, maybe I should have said railroad track!

[jsmvmd]

Dear Guys,

Please don't try to "cross" my wife.  You will find out, as I have that you will be sadly overwhelmed!

Best Wishes,

Jack

BTW, Jim, great idea for the train room!

[bevernie]

Would that be one track, or two??