- Locate 12’ to 16’ off of track center
- Bottom of sign 6’ to 8’ high measured from ground at post
This area is a catch-all for information about prototypical objects. Eventually it will be organized a little better, but for now there's not enough here to make finding anything all that difficult.
An average block of ice, dating from about the 1920's on, is about 12" x 16" x 30". Prior to the 20's the size tends to vary considerably, as most of the ice of that period was hacked from frozen lakes and rivers.
- Locate 12’ to 16’ off of track center
- Bottom of sign 6’ to 8’ high measured from ground at post
Telephone poles placed along the railroad right of way are generally aligned a nominal 18 to 20 feet from the closest rail. The poles are set erect or with a slight pitch away from the track and have an average height of about 22 feet above grade. Where the lines cross a highway or a railroad track the height of the poles is gradually increased to provide minimum clearance under the lines: 18 feet for highways and 25 feet for railroad tracks.
Real poles are spaced anywhere from 40 to the mile, to 26 to the mile. In model work, where distance is always a problem, a shortened spacing of about 80 scale feet is desirable.
For use on standard "Class A" mainline, ties are usually approximately 7 inches high by 9 inches wide by 8 feet long. The exact size tends to vary from tie to tie. Smaller ties are somtimes used on "Class B" sidings and spur tracks, although the more normal practice was to stick with one size of tie and just space them out a little more on the lesser used tracks.
The spacing between ties varies quite a bit between the Roads, the usage of the track, and the weights of the engines using them. The Santa Fe specs of the 1940s, typically specified 10 inches between ties (NOT center-to-center) on "Class A" main lines, 11 inches between ties on Class A passing tracks, and 14 inches between ties on "Class B" sidings and spur tracks.
In case anyone is interested, below are a couple of photos of prototype track joiners. This is fairly old track, but is still in use.
