HO Scale mock 3rd rail

Ken Harris asked a question about 3rd rail tie lengths and this warrants a quick post.

I knew that the 3rd rail would be only cosmetic on this layout – as a matter of practicality. about 3 years ago I thought I had the dimensions all worked out, but I found that some HO engines have truck details that are a bit oversized and this was causing derailments.

Recently I moved everything around using the engines that were causing trouble

• 

  Truck was riding up on the protection board

• 

  New setup at left, old setup at right.

The resulting 3rd rail position is about 10 scale inches beyond where it should be, but I think if I install it consistently this shouldn’t be too distracting. Of course amongst of my operating crew are a couple of Track Superintendents and I’m sure I’ll get some ball busting from them about it.

Below are the dimensions for adding an extension to Atlas flex track to create a longer third rail tie, sometimes called a “Stone Tie”.

As a cheat I discovered that I could glue the protection board (the styrene strip) directly to the top of the rail. This is one benefit of the rail not having to actually transmit electricity.

So how long are these extra tie bits?

(Yes, that is NOT how you spell “extension”.) After you cut away the plastic tie bit that sticks out beyond the rail, you replace it by supergluing a piece of strip wood 1/2″ in length, which is about 3-foot 8-inches in 1:87 scale. I spray paint the whole strip flat black before I cut it into pieces. If the bare wood end is visible after installation I mark it with a black Sharpie.

Here is some more tie data, which I use when hand-laying, or when I’m filling in some of the missing flex track ties to make the installation look a little more realistic.

1:87 scale feet on top, real inches on the bottom

If I recall correctly, the prototype distance from the gauge of the running rail to the third rail is in the neighborhood of 28 inches.

It’s been covered in other posts, but the white plastic 3rd rail supports (“chairs”) are Peco IL-120, and I use Micro Engineering Blackened code 55 rail in them.

• 

  I modified a RailCraft gauge to consistently set the holes for the 3rd rail chairs

• 

  Shows the difference between the old (closer) distance and the new (farther) one.

Obligatory glamor shot. Note to self: still have to put spikes on
the far side, in case of pictures like this!