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31 mm, 31.2mm or 31.5mm that is the question!


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Still looking at gauges, and have decided to go 31.5mm track gauge, BUT:

 

In a post above, O-MF was quoted by Martin as 31.5mm track gauge, 1.5mm flangeway, yet C&L/Exactoscale sell THEIR gauges which are listed as 31.5mm track gauge, 1.25mm flangeway.

 

Who is right? And whose should I buy?

 

I note that the C&L ones come in sets of four, while those from Borg Rail, although cheaper, only come in pairs. How many do I need?

 

TIA.

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  • RMweb Gold

You definitely need two gauges and it is useful if one has a cut away flat to use where there is a crossing (assuming a roller type). However there will be times when an extra gauge is very useful. With two gauges you can have one each side of the bit you are fixing with three or fouryou can hold the rail in a few places and then fix several points. In addition to roller gauges you can sometimes obtain triangular ones can be handy. Whether you want 1.5mm flangeways or 1.25mm flageways is up to you and what you need to run. at 31.5mm 1.5mm flangeways will cope with 29mm btob (28.5mm over check rails giving 0.5mm clearance) whereas 1.25mm flangeways would be tight. However Slaters wheels are generally just over 29mm BtoB and will be fine with 29mm over the check rails.

Don

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In a post above, 0-MF was quoted by Martin as 31.5mm track gauge, 1.5mm flangeway, yet C&L/Exactoscale sell THEIR gauges which are listed as 31.5mm track gauge, 1.25mm flangeway.

 

Hi Jeff,

 

I cannot find any 31.5mm gauges on the C&L site. Their gauges are listed at:

 

 http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=395_411_412

 

comprising 31.0mm gauges and 32.0mm gauges.

 

C&L are free to manufacture gauges to any dimensions they choose.

 

The 0-MF standard is for 31.5mm track gauge with 1.5mm flangeways. As far as I can see C&L do not manufacture gauges for 0-MF. That is presumably why Debs started doing so.

 

Many modellers have adopted 0-MF with excellent results. If you choose to modify those dimensions you should ideally maintain the 30.0mm check gauge. For example with 1.3mm flangeways the track gauge would be 31.3mm. If you do this please report your results with different wheels, but please do not call it 0-MF. Invent your own name for it to avoid confusing everyone.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

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  • 3 months later...

Hi Jeff,

 

I cannot find any 31.5mm gauges on the C&L site. Their gauges are listed at:

 

 http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=395_411_412

 

comprising 31.0mm gauges and 32.0mm gauges.

 

C&L are free to manufacture gauges to any dimensions they choose.

 

The 0-MF standard is for 31.5mm track gauge with 1.5mm flangeways. As far as I can see C&L do not manufacture gauges for 0-MF. That is presumably why Debs started doing so.

 

Many modellers have adopted 0-MF with excellent results. If you choose to modify those dimensions you should ideally maintain the 30.0mm check gauge. For example with 1.3mm flangeways the track gauge would be 31.3mm. If you do this please report your results with different wheels, but please do not call it 0-MF. Invent your own name for it to avoid confusing everyone.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

 

According to my caculations, 31.5mm is the minimum track gauge that maintains scale wheel track clearance with wheel flanges up to 1.1mm wide. As soon as you go less than 31.5mm track gauge you are restricted to Slaters wheels and others using thiner flanges. There is more to a track standard that works properly than track gauge and flangeway nominal values. My preference is the AMRA  fine tolerance standard, at least it is properly designed for K crossings. It allows a larger range of 'fine scale' wheels to run without any problems. Drawings for track gauges are includeded in the standard. See http://www.amra.asn.au/finewheeltrack.pdf

 

  I thought there would be some gauges on the market that match the AMRA standard, after all the nominal track for crossing V's works out at 31.75mm = 1 1/4", the original 0 gauge.

 

 

Terry Flynn.

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Just to inform the thread, that I have stocks available of my precision track gauges-

0-MF: 31.5mm. gauge with 1.5mm. flangeway and the gauge widened 0-MF+: 31.75mm. gauge with slotting forming (both) 1.5mm. & 1.75mm. flangeways.

 

 

 

 

 

Please P.M me for further details.

Deb.

 

 

 

 

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I am now the proud owner of a set...and they are like jewellery! Never seen a gauge look so good. Even my wife thinks they are beautiful.

 

At least Debs gauges will not rust,  the one's Slaters make are as bad as their wheels.

 

Martyn.

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