Gargraves Questions

Track is what you prefer or want. Stainless vs tinplate depends if you have older engines. Magne-traction does not work with stainless. Also if you are going to solder the track stainless is harder to solder. As to plastic tie vs wood tie I have both. There is a difference in color of the ties. I do believe now if you are going with preformed curves they come both plastic and wood. Again roadbed is what you preference is. I used Midwest cork. Ballast wise I just did ballast on the bevel sides and the top of the cork I painted it  a color matching the color of the ballast.................Paul

Forgot one more thing. I think stainless is harder to bend if you are bending the track yourself...........Paul

You will probably get as many opinions as there are possible combinations plus some. Rails: I favor tinplate rail over stainless as it's much easier to work with and less expensive. INMO stainless is only needed for outdoor installations. MY GG has been down over 25 years in the basement and no sign of rust!

Ties: I used wood as that was all that was available at the time; easy to work with and very prototypical.

Roadbed: I ordered samples of cork, vinyl-bed, and Homabed (Homasote). Decided what suited my taste as to appearance (i have some large flat yard areas where raised & ballasted roadbed would be very un-prototypical - hence are a sheet of Homosote, painted and covered with oily looking dirt), and analyzed the cost per foot (times 700+ feet). I went with Homabed (also available from Cascade Rail Supply) because it was cost effective and a tried and true product dating back to the 1950's. There are numerous articles on the internet about it including this one that tells you how to make your own, http://www.housatonicrr.com/DIY_Roadbed.htm.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

jackson

At a train show in Monroeville,PA  this summer I got a great deal on box on 096 Gargraves curves.  When I got home I notices that the box said "tin plate" as opposed to "stainless steel". Your only concern with tinplate is excess humidity and I think plastic only ties.

If that  is not a problem, I think their TP is less expensive.  if you prefer the wood ties they you will have to go Stainless Steel.

I have purchased additional Gargraves track (humidity is not a problem) but  went with SS because of the wood ties.

I took a chance on their remote switches also to remain uniform ( have not used them as of yet) but most forum members prefer Ross switches with their Gargraves track.

Some pictures of the Fort Pitt High-Railers  modular layout. Gargraves flex with Ross switches.  Most rail has been air brushed with Polyscale, (Now, Modelmaster) Railroad tie brown.

Ross 204 three way switches.

I went the following:

Gargraves tin-plated with wood ties and blackened center rail.

Stainless is great for outdoors... otherwise no need.

I then mount on cork, Ballast and then paint.

Plus:

cost, looks, easy to solder too, easy to bend radii with lead in on curves, readily available, you can find used sections in good shape, mates with Ross switches, good electrical contact with a joining piece of Gargraves and Atlas track.

Easy to clean. Center rail is a black electroplating so its friendly to rollers and the TMCC/Legacy signal.

Minus:

Rounded rail with hollow section- noise with some wheel gauge slop.

Wood ties do dry out a bit and may split.

Rail section hangs below tie requiring painting over bridges

Plating does wear off over a long period of time (mostly the switches)

Track tends to bend up and down as well side to side so bending curves

must be done carefully

Need some additional bending on track joints that meet in a curve.

wood ties are slightly over-sized

Gar graves has a flat railhead. Using Ross switches you could probably run scale 2 rail cars. Newer Lionel engines have both magne-traction and traction tires. Magne-traction works the best with tubular track...............Paul

Gargraves Phantom tinplate, easier to solder electrical leads to center track(hot) and outside common rails, buff off the black paint on hot rail side(web) for soldering. Layout in basement in Northwest Indiana, no corrosion issues, use dehumidifier to maintain basement humidity around 45 to 50 percent.

I use the wood ties, ties removed from cut track used for flat car loads or rail yard material.

I use the Midwest Products cork roadbed, wood ties on plywood deck can be noisy.  

Regular GG flex with wood ties. Looks good and is easy to work with.

tin plate is easier to bend.

wood ties look better

magne traction will work on

tinplate(steel) track and

NOT on stainless. 

I have wood ties and all of mine is tin plate so I don't know where you get the idea you can only get wooden ties with stainless they have for atleast 8 years been offering it that I know of.

I realize you are going Gargraves, but, this is just a suggestion, I like Atlas O because its flat Solid Rail, I like Ross Custom Switches, I like Ross Custom Curves, I suggest cork road bed over Homosote for sound deadening.  My reason for Atlas O is simple, if you should happen to drop one of these scale Locomotives on Gargraves/Ross/Curtis track, it DENTS.  Also for what its worth, I highly reccommend your track plan consist of Large Diameter Circles so as to run any of the larger locomotives made, such as Big Boys, Challengers, Cab Forwards. I really like Ross track because it sits flat on wood ties.  Being that you are ballasting, wood or plastic works just fine. Happy Railroading.

Reminds me of a riding buddy's sticker on the rear fender of his bike which he put there after getting his repaired bike back (~$10K in damage) following a single bike crash; i.e., the crash was his fault:

"STUPID SHOULD HURT"

I am using Phantom GG with the blackened center rail.  I have both plastic and wooden ties.  When I bought the sectional curved pieces, you couldn't get wooden ties.  I am using Vinylbed for roadbed (3/8" for mainline; 1/4" for yards).  Vinylbed also changed their formulation about 10 years ago.  The stuff resembles carpet padding.  I also plan to ballast at some point.

George

Gargraves flex track is very versatile. By employing a simple plywood jig, it can be bent to just about any curve radius. Ross track is high quality and they offer fixed curved sections.

If you don't mind some rust Gargraves tin plated steel track is good.

If you want to keep the bright rail look, then Gargraves stainless steel track is the way to go.

Both Gargraves tin plated steel and their stainless rail WILL work with magnetraction. I use both on my layout and can confirm that it works. While the large train importers also sell nice track; I prefer the American made quality of Ross and Gargraves track and switches.  

There are some misnomers in this thread, I know others have said similar things, but figured I would clarify them:

1)Gargraves tinplate and stainless steel are available with wood ties

2)Stainless steel is not necessarily non magnetic, it depends on the type of stainless steel. Stainless steel is an alloy composed of iron, Chromium and Nickel, and depending on the exact alloy, it can be anything from basically non magnetic to being pretty much almost as magnetic as regular steel. From what I recall, the more nickel it has the less magnetic it will be

3)According to what I can tell and have been told both by Gargraves and by others with it, the stainless steel Gargraves is somewhat magnetic, but will be significantly less magnetic then either tinplate gargraves or plain old tubular track. Among other things, O gauge tinplate simply has a lot more steel in the track,is a lot bigger, and thus will be more magnetic based on that (I believe 0 Gauges tinplate is more magnetic than O27 for the same reason, O27 is less metal/area). 

I've used GarGraves for years, both plastic and wooden ties.  I much prefer the wooden ties for their realistic appearance.  After all, real ties are wood. 

Tinplate unless for outdoors.  No other reason to use stainless because, as others have said, it's more expensive and more difficult to work with.

Roadbed is more a personal choice.  I've always used cork and been happy with it, but never having tried anything else - who knows?

Just my .02.

More like 50 years. Check mid-60's MR ads.

I was just stating what I knew for sure 

I'm in the humid south and the layout is in the attic so I went with Gargraves stainless/phantom. (The center rail is tinplate black.)

I do see some very light rust on the surface of the center rail when cleaning the track. The track has been down for 3 years.

I used Ross switches on the mainline crossovers and will use Gargraves switches for the freight yard.

"trainfun" - i live in the south - western nc - building layout in basement - seriously considering gargraves tinplate - now i am beginning to worry about potential rust - maybe i should consider stainless

rdeal

trainfun, they don't call SC the "low country" without good reason.  Whereabouts are you located?  I ask because I've lived in the Atlanta area and had layouts for 30+ years, including Gargraves track in attics and basements, w/o any rust issues.

rdeal, you have plenty of great motorcycle roads in western NC at elevations well above sea level; so, humidity inducing rust should not be an issue.  Just my opinion of course.

Clean the track, paint it with ultra flat dark brown and scotchbrite the top of the rails clean. Now the rail sides look rusted just like on the real railroads

Excellent advice; I used Floquil rust brown, but why quibble?

I use all tinplate Gargraves flex track with wood ties and cork roadbed.  Stainless steel is hard to solder and not needed for an in-house layout.  I also use all Ross Switches.  No better combination I think.

.....

Dennis

Tinplate flex w/wooden ties & 1/4" thick felt carpet runner padding for road bed.