The Tippecanoe Valley Railway

[nkp_174]

William Henry Harrison... That guy wasn't president for long!

I like your progress so far - and I agree about the N-scale atlas rail profile. You would be better off in the long run to get code 83 rail. And 4 micro spikes per tie?!! No wonder I haven't been able to find any! That's okay, when I need more spikes, I think I will get some from the proto87 store. I hear they are better in that they have a point and not a blunt end. I have been having a little difficulty with the micro spikes holing my hon3 code 55 rail tight in place. I think I have developed a solution: after the rails are spiked in place and tested to make sure the gauge is accurate enough, I put a drop of diluted acrylic matte medium onto each spike. After the matte medium sets up an hour or two, i go back and gently tap the spike down tight. The matte medium provides enough friction and tackiness to grip the spike in place.

Kevin, you are a good man! I definitely would prefer pointy micro spikes...and the glue idea is good (although it might not be needed with my insane number of spikes! not such a big deal for those with a Kadee spiker...) I switched to the 4 per tie a bit ago, but much of the trestle is every other as I was running short on my supply.