So, I’ve got the AML track that had ties with no UV stabiliser. I put a strip out in the sun a 3 years ago and finally this summer it showed signs of going white & brittle. So I’ve got another 18 mths or so before the first track on the layout follows.
Working through my options - seems printing new ones in ASA is going to be least cost. Also means I can just buy rail for any new expansion.
Has anyone tried this? Success?? Fails???
Cheers
Neil
or you could brace yourself for replacing faded ties by wooden ties.
counting in costs and time for printing, i don’t believe, that you would be much worse off.
and there are wood types, that resist decay so well, that not your children, but your grandchildren have to renovate.
Neil,
Some have…
The Australian club also carries rails and sleepers. I suspect they might share with your club, their source. I have a some but can’t say how it weathers… yet.
I’m surprised that no one has posted photos of 3D ties with accommodations for guard rails yet.
Wood is one of the options Korm - but the thought of hand spiking 300’ of track has caused me some pucker.
It’d be cheaper, of course.
Cheers
N
Or, for that matter, complete sets for various switches and crossings.
Yeah, saw those Bill - interesting with the two piece approach. I’ve already put together an initial design (needs fiddling with), but was wondering if anyone had actually done something like this before I take the plunge.
We’ve got club track here too Bill, but it’s code 332. For better or worse I bought code 250 which I thought was a good call at the time.
Cheers
N
Hmmmm. 
(and still thinking till I go way past 20 chars…)
Neil,
I’ve not model individual ties or tie strips, but I have modeled and printed an entire #4 switch. Believe it or not, it actually works quite well, at least in a controlled environment.
My purpose in creating the model was to see if I could 3D print the frog and a short distance either side of it to make switch building easier and quicker. The ties you see in the model are intended to sit on or be attached to wooden ties. I have a feeling the thermal expansion of the filament may make this idea moot, however.
Doesn’t answer your question, but you can certainly do what you are considering. My biggest concern would be the tie plates will be quite weak especially if you use an FDM printer. You may be better served by either modeling holes that would accept a track spike and simply glue the spike into the tie or use manufactured tie plates and either screw or glue them to the tie.
ASA would be the filament of choice. I have a couple spools to use on the railroad. I have a Bambu Lab X1C combo.
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/x1-carbon?currency=USD&variant=40475104673928&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8Lu9BhA8EiwAag16bwHAPIQoM2ia2c_iDJsoaU7ui7Xfb_2CTUlGjTXYtCk9MxT5be3gARoC9QUQAvD_BwE
Don’t forget that ASA fumes are toxic and the printer must be vented or used away from people. Also, ASA is not as easy to print as PLA and you need an enclosed chamber with the fan turned off to do it right.
Tell you what…, if you want to send me the file, I’ll print a tie in ASA to see how it comes out. If it’s code 332, I’ll try to fit a track to it.
BTW, they do now have wood filament with wood powder in a PLA matrix. You can also get metallic, conductive, magnetic, silk, carbon fiber, etc. filament. But many of these filaments will require an enclosed and often heated chamber to avoid warping when cooling.
well, as all i have hand spiked were about 15 foot, i could not even imagine, how much time 300’ would need.
but do you expect all of 300 foot to crumble in the same season?
edit:
but, are you sure, that your vast layout sums to no more than 300 ft?
my indoors layout in a room of 16’ x 43’ had over 400 ft. (counting ramps, sidings etc)
In addition to wood filaments (not what I will be using), I do have a “wood grained” build plate that I will be using for my build. You would also want to use one.
This video on using wood grain filament also does a good job of showing what my X1C can do. This material may be desirable to use for an indoor set-up, but the PLA would not stand up to UV.
Here is a wood grained/surface water build plate like I have. You would want the surface to be textured so it would be face down. But, the raised “fish plates” would to screw you over.
If the ties print face down, the body of the tie would not lie on the plate so would need supports requiring more material that would have to be removed. If they printed face up, a solid bottom would take on the pattern, but you wouldn’t see it and that wastes a lot of material. If you printed them like AristoCraft ties (i.e., vertical sides with flat top) with the fish plates up, the sides would be fine, but the top may require support, again more material to use and remove.
My suggestion…, print the ties as two parts. Leave an open square in the “wood” for the fish plate and print the tie like an AristoCraft tie with the top down on the plate for texture.
Then the fish plates that hold the track would be printed as a single piece and mounted from underneath with the “plates” coming up through the squares to hold the track. These could even be with a smooth texture, rather than wood grain, like metal would be, and could also be in a different color regardless of the printer.
Seems like it would take a long time to make a whole lot of ties, though you could do a bunch at a time and because they would lay in different spots on the plate, their surface texture would vary with the plate.
Cool project, Dan, and nice switch.
About the “chairs,” I was vaguely thinking along the lines as you, in that a separately printed item might help. That’s where a lot of stresses are, holding the rail down; and one could use a different / stronger material for that part, like ASA, or better products that Todd brings up.
I was thinking the tie plate / chair could have a post and stab down into a hole in the tie part, like the version on the web site that Bill brought up.
But now I’m thinking, one could print a boatload of just that tie plate / chair / spike thing, and then mass produce wood ties – drilling them with a simple jig for the chair parts. Maybe JB-weld the chairs into the tie. That way you could replace them (in theory) just by having a bucket of them on hand (and having the patience to slide them around until the broken one is inserted). And the 3D printing time would be drastically reduced.
[edit]
The rough idea…
[nuther edit]
If the chairs were split, they could conceivably be replaced without rearranging all the other ties, by breaking away the broken tie assembly, placing a new tie in place, and gluing in the new chair pair.
Kinda tough to print though. If the chair was split the other way, that would help in the printing, but not in replacement.
Cheers Neil,
Cliff
Why not just rattle can a UV primer on the plastic ties once or twice a year?
That seems the simpler answer.
And yes spiking 300’ of ties isn’t that hard but even as someone who went years and years with hand laid track, I think plastic ties are better overall.
If using PLA, the primer may attack the plastic. PLA is biodegradable.
Wow, thanks guys - lots to digest there. Traveling for the next few days, will gather my thoughts and come back in a few days.
Cheers
N
I was hoping I’d find a PEI sheet with a wood grain pattern and whilst finding numerous cool build plate patterns, none were wood.
Wood PLA sands and stains well, but I suspect won’t hold up to the weather.
If you’re happy to build the sleeper on its side, this reddit article may be of interest.
Well, where to start!
I needed to figure out why I hadn’t seriously thought about wood. I think it’s because the wooden ties on my turnouts have all faded, and some have split over the years. Plus spikes do tend to lift out, although I’ve used epoxy glue on the last few sets to see if it makes a difference (pause for 10 years to complete the testing… 
)
So on balance - not first choice for maintenance and longevity. I think I finally parked that idea when you went plastic Craig - you’d stuck with wood forever but eventually moved so that was telling.
That’s why I ended up at ASA as the best filament print option that I could think of. Cost is around NZD $1.50 per ft of ties so not completely scary. Importing ties in bulk from the States is over $3.50/ft as a benchmark.
Todd, absolutely on the mark with the needing an enclosure and a heater (for a cold workshop), and fume venting. This is my sanity check in before I get that up and running. Wood PLA isn’t a goer with outdoors unfortunately. Time is fine, got 6 mths to slowly push these out. I might take you up on the printing offer once I tidy the files up. Rail is code 250 at the mo…
Lol, Korm my vast empire is 300’ because that’s all the track I have on hand incl the shortie bits. 
I 'd rather replace all the ties early than wait and have ongoing maintenance…
The tie I sketched was a dimensional copy of the AML ties - no surprise the failure point was the corner where the tie plate meets the sleeper. I haven’t fiddled with the tool path to make it stronger (mainly 'cause I don’t know how - bold assumption that you even can??). That needs beefing up, and I had warping on the plate but some infill and mouse ears might fix that. Print was petg.
That 2 piece idea is interesting. Thanks for the input on that Cliff. I really like the extra strength it adds. Not convinced on joints and glue long term on roadbed. I try to design out failure points at work and my beady eye sees different materials /expansion coeffs, heat and UV stresses. Hmmmm…
All in all not scared off - yet. 
Tks for the input all.
Cheers
N
That’d do the trick, Craig. I’ve just hit it all the stuff I’ve laid with ArmorAll with the same idea in mind. Definitely on the cards to extend the stuff I’ve already got down. Painted ballast might be the downside (but less work that lifting it all up!)
Cheers
N
Oh, forgot to add - I found some 3D ‘woodgrain’ files somewhere online a while back. Plan is to scale, then use as a cutting face to put a texture on top of the ties. More experiments…
TBH - the biggest hurdle is trying to learn Fusion at 10pm after family has gone to bed with a worn out brain…
Cheers
N
