Is code 80 (almost) prototypical after all?

[Alcuin]

I came across this photo on the Railroad Picture Archives:



Is it just me or are those rails very tall? Suddenly code 80 doesn't look quite so bad.

-Chris

[3rdrail]

Yeah, that rail is pretty tall, about 8"-9", but Code 80 is 20" tall in N scale. PRR used up to 152 Lb. rail on major curves and it was occasionally "cascaded down" to sidings. That might be what you see here.

[Zox]

Well, Code 80 rail is 12.8 scale inches tall (0.080" x 160 = 12.8").

According to a chart provided by A&K Railroad (at http://www.akrailroad.com/OnlineCatalog/RailJointBars/TeeRailSectionsData/tabid/76/Default.aspx ), the heaviest AREA-standard rail (140-pound) stands about 7.3 inches high.

So theoretically, Code 80 is about 75 percent oversize. (Code 55 is still about 20 percent oversize; actual "scale" rail would be closer to Code 45.) However, I agree with you that Code 80 doesn't look that bad in practice. After all, quite a few N-scale modelers are quite willing to accept cinderblock-sized "bricks" in the walls of their buildings, and Arial and Times New Roman as "good enough" fonts for copying historical signage.

Unfortunately, rail size is a "hot button" issue for some people right now, so people using Code 80 are often expected to "defend" their choice.

(John Armstrong used outside third rail on his O-scale layout, and nobody was much bothered by it...)

[John]

Unfortunately, rail size is a "hot button" issue for some people right now, so people using Code 80 are often expected to "defend" their choice.

Rob .. for me, its more of a question of the tie spacing ..

[3rdrail]

Unfortunately, rail size is a "hot button" issue for some people right now, so people using Code 80 are often expected to "defend" their choice.

Rob .. for me, its more of a question of the tie spacing ..

I compromise, and use Micro-Engineering Code 70.

[randgust]

I've got a lot of C80 on completed layout portions.  Anything that gets upgraded gets Peco C55, but a lot of C80 remains.

I've learned not to stress out about LP wheels either.  It's all a matter of selecting the right prototype:

[Boiler-man]

When it comes to the track, I say use what suits your fancy, it all has its faults in one way or another.

I my self like the Atlas Code - 55, looks good fits the budget and the turnout frogs can be powered which allows me to run my short wheel base locos.
There are locomotive wheel flange issues with it, however I have over come that with a small metal lathe I use to turn them down.
Wheel flanges on my rolling stock get replaced with MT trucks and their Low Profile Wheels.

[Zox]

Rob .. for me, its more of a question of the tie spacing ..

I can understand that. What I don't understand is why Atlas didn't update their Code 80 tie
designs when they were creating the Code 55, or why Peco won't commit to doing American-style ties in N like they did in HO scale.  ???

It almost seems like the manufacturers themselves are pushing the "Real Modelers use Code 55" meme--which is just plain silly, given the number of Real Modelers who build NTrak modules.

"Obi-Wan!"
"Yes, Luke?"
"I heard that Peco just released their buried-rail 'Code 55' turnouts with American-style ties...Obi-Wan, are you okay?"
"I felt a disturbance in the Force...it was as if a million modules cried out as their track was ripped up, and suddenly replaced..."

;D

[Alcuin]

Unfortunately, rail size is a "hot button" issue for some people right now, so people using Code 80 are often expected to "defend" their choice.

Mine is a two-word defense: Peco turnouts. I'm tired of having to fiddle around with ground throws and I don't want the hassle of having to bury switch machines underneath the scenery. I guess we all weigh our preferences differently. For me, ease of installation and reliable operation trumps prototypical look ... for now, at any rate 

-Chris

[Walkercolt]

Now heavier rail isn't taller, the "web"(the part between the bottom and the top of the rail) is thicker, to make it stronger, so 186 pound rail down the street from me on the BNSF mailine thru town is little taller than 90 Lb rail on the Trinity Industries sidings. We're talking 1/16th's of an inch. I took a tape measure down to the tracks, one day. As I remember, "scale" height N-scale track would be about code 45 or so. PECO turnouts have also made me a true believer in them. PECO code 55 track at $6+ for 36" vs: Atlas code 80 at $2.35 for 29 1/2", or $225 a case. Ummm... let's think about this.... :

[Hyperion]

Now heavier rail isn't taller, the "web"(the part between the bottom and the top of the rail) is thicker, to make it stronger, so 186 pound rail down the street from me on the BNSF mailine thru town is little taller than 90 Lb rail on the Trinity Industries sidings. We're talking 1/16th's of an inch. I took a tape measure down to the tracks, one day. As I remember, "scale" height N-scale track would be about code 45 or so. PECO turnouts have also made me a true believer in them. PECO code 55 track at $6+ for 36" vs: Atlas code 80 at $2.35 for 29 1/2", or $225 a case. Ummm... let's think about this.... :

You might wanna check your measuring tape. 

Most BNSF mainline rail (which is closer to 136lb not 186lb which would be absolutley immense) would be almost 7" tall (depends whether its' tangent or curve and just how new it is), whereas 90lb rail would be about 5.5" tall.  That's a VERY noticeable difference.

[Walkercolt]

It's stamped on the side 186# C&EI STEEL 1986, and yes it was just under 7" tall as I recall. The sidings are probably heavier than 90 lb, I really don't remember, but they too were very nearly the same height. It's already dark or I'd go down and look again. Have to work the next two days. Twenty(gosh it doesn't seem that long) years ago, BN replaced the jointed rail from Cherokee Yard in Tulsa to Catoosa with welded rail and concrete ties on the curves east of town, This month they've been replacing every third wooden tie down the street from me with new ones. I've tried to get photos of the equiptment and the work, but either the weather's been bad, or the light was completely wrong(back-lit) or they weren't working, letting trains thru the work limits, or I had to work. There's a two foot scrap of rail I was going to appropriate, but my cousin and I couldn't carry it to the back of my pick-up. It was like picking up a small-block Chebby core. :