# Railway ties



## shafta11 (Aug 26, 2012)

Another question... if one wanted to make Railway ties what do you use??
and, what does one use for the Railway bed??
Thanks.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Matters what scale you want to do it in.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

And what material would you like to use?


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## shafta11 (Aug 26, 2012)

Sorry... "O" scale and I was going to use plywood.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Since you're making ties, I'm guessing you have standard tubular track, right?

I'd reconsider the use of plywood if you're making individual ties. Personally, I'd probably look for something like birch that is clear grained and won't have splinters all over the place. I think plywood would be very difficult to create decent ties.

I actually hacked out a few at one time to see if I could do it, with a table saw it's pretty easy to make them. I made them with pine, but I've worked with birch for other projects and I think it would be a better choice.

Start with a birch board that's the thickness that you'd like the ties to be in width. Rip narrow strips of the proper thickness for the ties, then cut them to length in batches. 

Staining can be accomplished by using a diluted dark deck stain in a plastic bag, dump then in and mix for 15-20 minutes.


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## shafta11 (Aug 26, 2012)

Thank you, Gunrunnerjohn, yes, I have tubular track, see.... I told you I didn't know anything about trains, as, I'm a Coin Collector, it's just that I picked up a couple sets of trains and, I like them almost as good as my coins.

anyway, thanks for helping a newby out.:thumbsup:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You're welcome.

We all help each other, I'm sure your turn will come.


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