Hi. I'm an armour modeller and need a specific type of rail for a planned 1/35 armour build.
I'm after a Decauville rail which I understand to be a narrow gauge type. Would an 0 Gauge rail be a suitable size for this as I assume that G (equating to approx 1/32 scale) would be too big? I'm not concerned about distance between rails etc, just the actual rail itself.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Many tahnks
Gary

Well, it sort of depends. The Decauville rail had three gauges over it's lifespan: 400mm, 500mm, & 600mm. During WWI, the French military used the 600mm Decauville rail. Standard O Gauge track is 32mm, which in 1/35 scale is 1120mm. For a 600mm Decauville rail in 1/35 scale, you need a track that is 17.14mm. Your best bet is HO Gauge (also called OO Gauge in Britain) track which is 16.5mm.


Decauville
O Scale
HO Scale

Hope this helps.

Jim

I just thought of something on my way to work that I wanted to add, but I couldn't edit my original post. Oh, well.

One thing you'll have to consider is that while the HO track will be close to the correct gauge, the rails & ties will probably be too small for rails in 1/35. You will probably be better off scratch building the track from Evergreen or Plastruct parts.

Jim

Gary,
Maybe this will help. Model rail is measured using "code", as is code 100, code 140, etc. Code is the height of the rail in 1/1000 of an inch, so code 100 rail is .1 inches high.
My best guess is that code 140 would work well for what you need. It is a scale 4.9 inches high in 1/35 scale (.14x35=4.9).
You can find rail at almost any model railroad hobby store or online. The ties (sleepers) can be made from plastic or wood without much trouble.
You might try "O" (or On3 narrow gauge) gauge track made with code 140 rail. This might be close to the look you want.
All this data is, of course, based on what is used here in the USA, so I am not sure what is available where you are, but I think it is the same.
Good Luck,
John

Thanks for the replies guys - much appreciated.

I've been digging around elsewhere and found that what I actually need is N gauge track. I've sourced some PECO code 80 track which is exactly what I need apparently. This works out to be 2mm in size (tail height) which is correct when scaled up to 1/35. It is just the rail itself I need so no need to worry about sleepers or ties etc.

Thanks again.

Gary

1/32 = .031
1/35 = .029

There's not a huge difference that the eye will pick up. We have these discussion at Nscale.com all the time. The eye is the judge and in cases this close it will be nearly indiscernible.