I'm on the verge of buying some of Trumpeter's plastic railway tracks (00213) and wondered whether anyone had used them in a dio, or whether there were more realistic or more appropriate options... I'd thought about metal rails too, but not sure what the gauge would be for 1/35 - any help there greatly appreciated...
I'm planning a diorama with a tank sat across them, more news on that later...

Hi Richard,
There was some discussion about the different brand rail tracks in the Campaign Tread for the Military Railroad Campaign that starts in November. Your dio sounds like it would fit in here:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/173396&page=1

Hi Richard
I am building a dio as we speak using the Trump tracks.
Thet look realistic and the moulding for the track ballast/ties/rails
are good.
With a proper paint/weather they came out really awesome.
i will post pics of my dio when it is done.
Hope this helps...
Oh on a side note the ballast base on mine was a slight bit warped
but it looks o.k.

Regards
Horst

Thanks, that's what I needed to know... I looked at garden railways (gauge 1) which is equal to 1/32 scale, but the scale gauge is a bit too wide at 45mm...
I'll probably ditch the trumpeter ballast track and use Woodland scenics' fine Talus as the ballast...
I'd like to have a Tiger 1 sat right across the track, gun aimed down the track, and a load of wermacht resting alongside under the hedge and trees... I'll call it something like 'Afternoon, June 5th 1944, Normandy'

Ok, next questions - I have the Trumpeter tracks - not overly impressed - the rails have sink marks all down the sides, so they will need some work, and I'm not entirely sure about the 'spikes' that hold the rails to the sleepers - they look like just 3 nail heads on a flat bit of sleeper... An old Azimut set I have (only 25cm long unfortunately) has beautifully moulded sleepers and rail-grips (I have no idea of the correct term) so I was thinking of making some resin copies for the length of the rails I need (50+ cm). The Dio is set in France - Normandy, Spring 1944 - so what was the prevalent rail gripping method then and there? Nails/spikes or a cast 'foot' with bolts... My camera's not good enough to gat a good snap of them...
Any thoughts gratefully accepted...

the nice Azimut 'feet'
the Trumpeter 'feet'
Hope this illustrates my choice...

Ok, so in my search for Rail-track products for 1/35 scale, I have happened upon the 'Gauge 1' railway supplier http://www.cliffbarker.me.uk/ and have ordered some products from him...
The rails will be much better, I hope, than the pin-holed Trumpeter ones that come with their track kit, and I'm hoping to see a better representation of the 'chairs' too.
I'll post pictures next week when the stuff arrives (then I might be able to do a review too, if someone from the staff here could guide me in the right direction for that...)

I guess it depends how accurate you want it to be. In 1940's France, the ties / sleepers would have been wood, probably softwood soaked in creosote. The rails would not have needed saddles or chairs as they would likely have been flat bottomed. The chairs are used in the UK where bull nosed rail was used. This allowed the rails to be turned up side down when the top surface had worn as an economy measure. I don't think this was adopted elsewhere but it might be worth checking. In 1/35 the rails would be 41mm apart between inside faces and it is quite common for railway modellers to build their own tracks. Glue the softwood sleepers in place and then pin the rails to the sleepers. Peco in the UK sell sections of rail, both bull nose and flat bottomed in various sizes and they also sell miniature rail spikes. I am modelling French 60cm narrow gauge railway in 1/35 and I am using Peco's On30 track which scales out quite well. The sleepers are a plastic moulded base representing wood with rail clipped to it by moulded nail heads. Some research on the model railway forums may help with your main line rail.

Dave

On a side note, if memory serves there were no Tigers in Normandy prior to the invasion. So your date/location may be a bit off in terms of historical accuracy.

I was going from this photo for a reference, but I have, over the last weeks, found other references that railways in France during the period had a variety of chairs and rail fixings. It depends on whether it's a mainline or branchline apparently.
The website I linked to has two types of rail, along with two gauges, and as I'm not having any rolling stock, I've gone for the 45mm gauge. The site also has individual chairs in plastic and white metal, and also a variety of sleepers in plastic or wood...
With prices from £1 for a yard of stainless steel rail, it appealed to my pocket.

Ah well... I'll have to put it more towards the middle of summer...

There's also this as a more local reference for the Normandy area; photos

For reference, the Trumpeter rails come with the spike you mention, and the Azimut/Ironside track has three-bolt chairs...

Yep, the Normandy photos look pretty convincing! It was the Trumpeter style that I thought would have been more prevalent but as you say it depends on where in the network it was. From what I read France was a very diverse network up to the war with various companies, councils and whatever owning sections. Throw in tramways and you have a real mix of possibilities. It certainly sounds like an interesting diorama, capturing the implied menace that the Tiger has.