Track Work Soon to Start

Amid the great corona lockdown and whilst I was playing with wooden rails, the post man called at the door. The ever dependable track supplier of Wenz Modellbau continues a proud tradition of German companies supplying track material to Danish narrow gauge industrial railways.

Supplies for the track workers at Nystrup Gravel have arrived. Track spikes, fish plates, sleepers and rails.

After having contemplated what choises to make regarding track back in february I'm now well equipped for the first experiments with homebuilt track in 16 mm scale. In 1:35 I made my own sleepers by cutting appropriate pieces from a supply of poplar profiles. As I was shopping at Wenz Modellbau I found it resonably to buy a batch of ready made sleepers from abachi wood. As the sleepers (as well as the fish plates) are meant for 1:32 scale standard gauge they are a bit too long (80 mm) but otherwise a very good match for a wooden sleeper for 600 mm gauge in 1/19 scale. I will reduce the sleepers in varying lengths between to 60-65 mm. Wenz Modellbau has an impressingly large selection of track supplies and their website is well worth a study .

What at first looks like tank tracks is actually two bands of etched fish plates from Wenz Modellbau. One band has rectangular bolt heads while the other band has 4 hexagonal nuts. The fish plates are designed to be bent to shape and fitted to Code 143 rail. I will probably use solder.

Newly fitted and greased fish plates on 22,5 kg/m 700 mm track on Hedelands Veteranbane in Denmark. My Nystrup Gravel track will look pretty much like this only without base plates. Rails made by Krupp.

With everything figured out I only need to find out how to replicate the manufacturing company's markings in the web of the rail. Here is a marking on a 22 kg/m tongue rail. Again it's a German  producer. Any enthusiast interested in the rolled markings on rails should visit the German website walzzeichen.de