N.J.Pull
TIE SIZES AND SPACING
The comments on the chart below are from observations made on site. They include all information available regarding the data collected. In many cases the observer could not measure the actual rail. In some cases tie was inspected with no indication of where it came from on the given railroad. Tie specification are given by: Hgt = the ties height, Wdt = width of the tie, Lt = length of the tie. The information available gives a good sample and similar railroads should be very close to these figures. Generally, the earlier the track was laid, or the less the importance of the track, or the poorer the financial ability of the road, the smaller ties and lighter rail.
RAIL SIZES AND SCALE EQUIVALENTS.
The following table lists various rail sizes and their related height. Again, these figures are from the measurement of existing (and therefore old and worn rails. New rails, rails from other mills, etc. may be give slightly different readings. I did not collect this data, all I've done is gather and condense the material from a variety of sources. The remaining columns convert the actual rail size into its scale equivalent. These figures, 172 for example represent thousandths of an inch, i.e. .172". In model railroading terms, this is equivalent to "code 172" rail.
