They are hard to scratchbuild! The rails are not I-beams. You can see the many various profiles from web info. The rail top and bottom are not symmetric. They have both different widths and different thicknesses. I had to attach strips of plastic to a basic "I"-beam shape, then scrape the corners to give the rounded edges the profile calls for. Then, I made the ties. Remember, in many places they were creosoted, so they age a different color than most wood.
I had to scratchbuild the tie-downs, no fun, as they are not flat, but stepped to touch the tie and go over the bottom flange of the rail. Then, I drilled every spike hole through the tie downs and the ties. Then, I got a special plier to hold and start the insertion of every spike before pushing them home. Yes, spikes, with the head to one side to clamp the rail bottom lip.
Then I realizied that I made a mirror image of the straight piece and curved piece I needed.
Oh yes, don't forget the different guages or track in everyplace at different times. I would have blown my cork trying to make the manual switch gear, but first I realized I didn't have accurate information as to what they looked like in the locale I was modeling. Then, I realized my (Kelley's Heroes) tank was going to cover the place where the switch would be anyway. Phew!
Sealhead
"Oh, I'm not working on the railroad, all the live long day..."
