Before buying railroad spikes, the first thing should be considered is the type and size, there are two common types on the market: the screw spike and the dog spike.
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The screw spike refers to a large metal screw that is usually used to fasten rails, and also used to screw a tie plate. Based on the different use, standard of rail track, and specific geographic requirements like length, diameters, drive heads, etc. railroad screw spike can generally be divided into 4 types, including Ss series sleeper screw, square head screw spike, hexagon screw spike and double-head screw spike.
Ss series sleeper screw is a typical kind of rail spikes, the common sizes include Ss 1/130 , Ss 1/150 , Ss 2/180, Ss 5/150 , Ss 6/150, Ss 7/180 , Ss 8/140 , Ss 8/150, etc.
Square head screw spikes get their name from its square head, and common sizes include M22*145, M22*155, M22*165, M22*185, M22*195, etc.
As the name implies, the Hexagon screw spike has a hexagon head, and common sizes include M22*145, M22*155, M22*165, M22*185, M22*195, and so on.
Double-head screw spike is usually used with Nabla clip fastening system, and it is widely used in Africa, and common size is 23×174.
As a primary type of railway spikes, the dog spike has an L-shape head and a square shank, which is used to fasten railroad track to wooden ties. The dog spike is so called because its two lugs on the rail head that looks like a dog’s head. The underside of spike is sloped to fit the surface of the rail base. The dog spike is applied in North America, and common spikes are 5/8”*6” and the 9/16”*5-1/2”.
It is necessary for you to learn the materials and standards before buying railroad spikes.
As we all know, quality control is a vital factor in purchasing product, it is important to focus on strict quality control and qualification certificate in terms of railroad spike. As for strict quality control, it is specific in the quality control link of whole process of production. And the common certificates include CRCC, ISO and so on.
Besides that, a wide range of the service around rail spikes was provided by the manufacturer, which will be a related consideration, such as after-sale service, shipment service, sampling service, etc. for example, there are various kinds of railroad spike packing methods, including:
In addition to these factors mentioned above, the price of rail road spike is one of the most important factors, buying railroad spikes, in a sense, it is a process of finding a best railroad spike price, comparing price on railroad spike from different manufacturers, calculating the cost, and finding cost-effective railroad spikes.
In conclusion, as a qualified buyer, all you need to do is take all these factors into account, and make a right purchase decision on buying railroad spike online.
As a young boy, I loved model railroading. But school, family, career etc. got in the way and now, as an adult, I finally have the time to come back and again pursue…My knowledge of the hobby has slipped with time and as I get ready to make my first purchases, I could use your advice and counsel primarily in the choice of brands and manufacturers as I start my first purchases…Any of your ideas, recommendations would also be very helpful…I’m starting from “Zero” as I buy my first sheet of 4X8 ply…Your advise on brands, starter sets Vs. non, layout, gauges etc will be appreciated,I’m tending toward HO gauge. I have seen some interesting offerings on C List as well the auction site and brand knowledge would be most helpful there…Thanks…Your advice will help me to the right paths.
[#welcome] to the forum, your posts are delayed while you are moderation. Keeps the spam totatlly out of the forum.
That’s a lot to pack into just one thread. In the 50’s I had an American Flyer, traded that for HO, which was a good trade, in terms of use of space. The same gain can be made in N-scale and you can run much longer trains in a given space. Visually I can’t make to jump to N, it just looks too small. However it is a popular scale.
Next you need an era and a location. That’s up to you, I model Appalachian transition steam to diesel era. I only remember one steam train as a child, but who doesn’t like steam engines? Avoid the temptation to buy a good looking locomotive that doesn’t fit your locale. If you model modern California UP, you don’t need a Reading camelback.
Stay away from starter sets, unless this is going to be a train around the Christmas tree.
Brands depend on your era. There are some bargain diesels that were produced in the 80’s by companies that no longer exist. Athearn blue box freight cars, outfitted with Kadee couplers can be found at train shows for $8-10 are the best deal around. If you want modern cars with all the possible detail you will be looking at north of $40
4x8 is popular, because that is the size of a sheet of plywood. It’s a big compromise in design though.
I’d get a starter book on DCC from Kalmbach and John Armstrongs’ Track Planning for Realistic Operation. There are still plenty of DC fans, but DCC has advantages if you are into sound. It is not an intuitive technology.
[#welcome]
Glad for your return to the Greatest Hobby in the World!
I never had a starter kit but from what I have heard you don’t get much for the cost.
If you are mechanically inclined I would go with used locomotives, restoring them for me is half the fun of model railroading.
If you are into more modern trains the Athearn Blue Box (BB) locomotives are solid locomotives. I’m a transition era guy (50s) and have dozens of older Rivarossi articulateds as well as early Athearn diesels.
Henry covered it pretty good, lots of DC stuff out there as well as DCC. I run dual mode HO scale, either DC or DCC, one or the other not at the same time. I only have a dozen DCC decoders and around 70 locomotives. I wired all of my locomotives to accommodate decoders and swap the decoders around for something different. Out of the 70 or so locomotives I only bought 5 new the rest are restored and run and look better than new.
Which ever way you go have a blast, I do.
That assumes those companies make locomotives you are interested in owning…
Those are great brands, but of the three only Athearn Genesis is represented in my 140 loco fleet, and then only with EMD F units, and few other non Genesis items.
I will not be the only person to say this, but it first depends on what, and when, you want to model.
Those three brands only represent about 4 steam locos, and maybe a dozen early diesels…
I have a lot of Bachmann steam, and the nay sayers can laugh all they want, they all run good and look good.
Most of my diesels are pre Walthers Proto except for Genesis and Intermountain EMD F units…
On average, I have only spent $100 per loco…
Sheldon
I would recommend the new person try the following, mostly for drive mechanism durability, and because they can be handled and hold up well with handling:
(This is specifically because the ScaleTrains, Genesis, and other high end models are both expensive and very delicate. I wouldn’t spend my money there until I was very comfortable with unpacking and handling HO models, and had a better idea of what I wanted.)
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Specifically I would recommend anything made by Kato, in Japan, because although some are rather highly detailed, they are designed and made to be handled and their mechanisms are generally outstanding, more durable than others. Because their models are considered by purists to be “older technology” now, they often are not quite as expensive–but everybody else has copied Kato’s mechanisms–and the copies are not generally as good. Kato is still producing brand new engines, but there are somewhat limited models and roadnames available, with a ton of older models on Ebay that generally are awesome.
Likewise, I’ll recommend the Atlas Trainman series engines. They offer some lesser details, to keep the price down (if somebody wants to, they can add more details like the wire grab irons at a later date), and they also generally have a great mechanism in them, that will run and last, very similar to Kato, with very minimal, or even practically no, maintenance.
The other less expensive loco series out there, excepting Bachmann steam engines, I personally cannot recommend, for a variety of reasons…The Bachmann steam engines do offer very good value for the money.
John
For freight cars, Kadee, manufactured 100% in the USA, though only limited models are available, they are the best. They can be handled, and because they are extremely well engineered with extensive use of delrin plastic, they are difficult to damage. Nothing else is 100% made in USA, and nothing else in my opinion, matches the qualit
Hello All,
[#welcome]!!!
If you can increase your layout size to 5’x9’ or 5’x10’ it will allow you to have larger curves which will allow you to run “larger” locomotives and longer cars.
Sheets of this size plywood are available from specialty suppliers.
Locomotives are generally classified by the number of wheels or axles.
In the steam realm there are typically three numbers used; 0-0-0 to classify their sizes.
The first number referrers to the front or pilot wheels. The second number refers to the drive wheels and the last number refers to the trailing wheels of the locomotive.
A 0-4-0 will have no pilot and trailing wheels and have 4 driving wheels; 2 on each side.
A 4-10-4 will have two sets of pilot wheels, 5 sets of driving wheels and 2 sets of trailing wheels. This loco will be much longer “larger” than a 0-4-0- -perhaps twice as long.
This wheel classification does not inclued the “size” or length of the tender. Generally speaking the larger the loco the larger the tender. Some of the largest steamers also had auxiliary tenders that carried extra coal or fuel oil and water.
Some of the smallest steamers; 0-4-0s & 0-6-0s; used for switching duties in yards, had no tenders but had ingenious ways of storing limited quantities of fuel and water on board.
These were re-fuled in the yards they worked and not on the mainlines.
In the diesel realm locos are classified by the number of axles. A 2-axle loco will have 4 wheels- -two per axle. These are typically found on switchers or “smaller” locos (AKA “Critters”).
Four-axle diesels will have 8 wheels arranged on 2 trucks- -2 axles with 4 wheels per truck.
A 6 axle will have 12 wheels arranged on 2 trucks. Each truck will have 3 axles and 6 wheels. These are considered “larger” locos.
To these guidelines there will be exceptions but for general classification
[#welcome] to the Model Railroader forums.
We get “new guys needing advice” threads a few times a year, and it always gets very confusing. I hope we do not scare new people away with all our favorites and crazy specific advice.
Anyway… here I go…
I always suggest to new people to JUST BUILD SOMETHING! Accept that your first layout is best used as a learning experience, build it and see what you do and do not like. Find out what you enjoy and what you find tedious.
There are some acceptable-good track plans for a 4 by 8 using off-the-shelf track components. Read a book like the old HO Scale Primer from Kalmbach. Read Track Planning For Realistic Operation, also from Kalmbach, before you build your SECOND layout.
Make a mess, make mistakes, ruin some trackage, replace the trackage, troubleshoot a wiring mistake, flop down some scenery, and have fun!
This is a fun hobby, but you need to figure out what parts of it you enjoy. You will have a better idea after you build your first layout.
-Kevin
Could be. Honestly I never use Craigslist or Amazon for trains. Amazon has some but the prices (higher) and selection (low) caused me to give up.
I also encourage any new folks to avoid the straight jacket of the 4x8 plywood which limits you to sharp curves that many longer HO trains don’t like much.
But it is a good idea to start by building a smaller layout for the experience and practice of laying track, and other skills. Then if you decide to “level up” and go with a bigger layout, you wil benefit from the experience of the smaller one.
Lots of great information in this thread, great job guys!
This hobby can be daunting with all the possible choices out and some gotchas that occur. How do you want to control your trains, DC or DCC? If DCC, do you want sound? An important decision.
If I was starting out today and wanted a diesel locomotive, I would purchase an Atlas Trainman GP38-2. The GP38-2 came out in mid-seventies and you can still see them working the rails today. The trainman series is a budget level model but look very nice and don’t require VERY careful handling like the more expensive detailed models. Purr like a kitten with very smooth operation. It is a two-minute job to drop in a decoder for non-sound dcc operation. Atlas Trainman locos can be also be purchased with sound decoders. A solid purchase for a first loco.
Good luck!
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