George S posted:Today I am back to making 5 rail track. I am using a mix of old and new track trying to conserve the track I already own. Years ago, before USA Track, I bought some ancient track that I used mostly on carpet layouts around the holidays. Some of this was silver tie Lionel. Today, I was using the rails from some of that track and found that I had put a piece of paper under the center tie on one section. I’m sure I just fixed the short and moved on at the time. Today, I took the track apart and examined the insulator. Then I saw these little spikes on the tie. Lionel apparently put them there to hold the insulator in place and speed track assembly. However, this little spike apparently wore through the insulator over time enough to create a short. Here are some pictures. The ties are engraved Lionel and NY.
George
George- what gauge are these silver ties?
