Smalltrainsgreatpains Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 I might have missed it, but I don't see it listed anywhere. Whats the situation with the 2MM associations code 30 rail? How small can rail profile go? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowinLinby Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 It went WSL a while ago and as It no longer listed, it suggest all the stock has gone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill-lobb Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Sorry, but as the new keeper of Shop 1 it is definitely no longer stocked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalltrainsgreatpains Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 Thank you for keeping us on the rails mister store keeper I wonder if a home machinist could come up with something to roll out the rails? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VRBroadgauge Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 I believe it was code 30 bar. That shouldn't be impossible to find. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 2mmMark Posted October 31, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 31, 2023 (edited) The code 30 rail was actually a rolled flat wire, as was the Association's original code 40 strip rail. Both have an oval cross section with flat sides and a rounded top & bottom. These rail types were best suited to soldered track assembly, although a moulded sleeper base was produced that suited the code 40 very well. Unfortunately, the rolling process introduced some distortions in the code 30 which curved it vertically as well as the natural lateral curve from being coiled. That made it a little tricky to use. Over the years, several members have found ways to create a bullhead cross section in the code 40 rail. Bill Blackburn had a well engineered system to profile and straighten code 40 strip rail. The current rail sections I believe are drawn through hardened steel dies at a specialist wire company. Code 30 flatbottom would be a nice product to have but I suspect it would be a rather niche market for narrow gaugers, light railway modellers and those wanting a scale conductor rail. Edited October 31, 2023 by 2mmMark 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Argos Posted October 31, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 31, 2023 (edited) I bought a coil of the code 30 rail which I never used so should still have at home somewhere (on my hols at present otherwise I would check). Happy to post it on if the OP still wants some (assuming I can find it......) Another vote for code 30 flat bottom here Mark. It would be ideal for my Irish modelling. Sadly probably a bit niche to make it worthwhile producing. Edited October 31, 2023 by Argos 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalltrainsgreatpains Posted November 3, 2023 Author Share Posted November 3, 2023 That's a kind offer. Started to hunt around and found a manufacturer that produces rail for the hobby industry. https://wintwire.co.uk/12-nickel-silver-wire/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flubrush Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 7 hours ago, Smalltrainsgreatpains said: Started to hunt around and found a manufacturer that produces rail for the hobby industry. https://wintwire.co.uk/12-nickel-silver-wire/ You might have a problem with their minimum order quantities. I remember the SSMRS ordering a supply of Code 87 bullhead rail from Wintwire some years ago. We wanted 1000 yards of rail to match the order we had put out for injection moulded chairs, but had to accept nearly 2000 yards. The final amount that we had to take depended on the quantity of undrawn source material used and that was a fixed quantity. Jim. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Square Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 This is the firm that produce our rail using special dies. Costs have increased dramatically over the last few years. To get anything like a decent price, we had to buy 30kg last time. That's 18km of rail. Approximately. 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalltrainsgreatpains Posted November 10, 2023 Author Share Posted November 10, 2023 On 03/11/2023 at 12:47, Yorkshire Square said: This is the firm that produce our rail using special dies. Costs have increased dramatically over the last few years. To get anything like a decent price, we had to buy 30kg last time. That's 18km of rail. Approximately. I kind of guessed as much. What would 30kg of nickle silver be in cash I wonder? Perhaps there is a way to collaborate to split costs across scale interests, as this rail would closely represent miniature gauge lines in 7mm scale, something I would like to try . Maybe a paid up pre-order shared between the interested parties? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Square Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 2 minutes ago, Smalltrainsgreatpains said: I kind of guessed as much. What would 30kg of nickle silver be in cash I wonder? Perhaps there is a way to collaborate to split costs across scale interests, as this rail would closely represent miniature gauge lines in 7mm scale, something I would like to try . Maybe a paid up pre-order shared between the interested parties? Our last order was c £11,000.00. It's not just the raw material, the production involves multiple draws of the metal to achieve the required profile. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now