Plastic Sleepers

[denis M]

Hi all,

I am a new member and would like to say hello to you all.

My first posting is about Plastic Sleepers. My society is looking into the possibility of changing to plastic on the ground level using 50 x 50 mm recycled plastic.

Anyone had any experiance and can give details of a good supplier

[Pierre]

Hi Denis,
I do not know where you are living but try the following:
www.rmirailworks.com
They are located in FRENO, CA 93725, USA ,and can supply srecws, joiners, steel and aluminium rail and tie material as well as a new system called TRUE-TIE track system.
Best regards
PIerre

[Steve K]

Hi.

We use plastic sleepers on our 5" gauge garden line and have had not problems at all with them. We bought ours from PNP railways (http://www.thewebfactory.co.uk/pnprailways/index.htm).

The track was easy to build and has proven to be maintenace free over the couple of years we have used it so far.

HTH.

Steve K.

[denis M]

Thanks to Pierre and Steve for their replies on this one and Pierre I would loved to have come and collected some from the States but living in rural Oxfordshire its a long way, thanks all the same.

Steve, we looked at PNP and in no way am I knocking the product but they were not really suitable for a railway in a public park.

However through the power of the internet I have found a company in County Durham that make plastic wood from recycled polystyrene (probably spelt wrong) who sent me sample of a 65mm x 40mm x 450mm sleeper in black which we have been so impressed with we decided to order 400. They are not cheap a £0-79p plus VAT each but they will last loner than wood.

The company is Evershed, no connect just at the moment a satisfied customer.

If anyone wants more information I can supply.

Thanks who replied.

[greasemonkey]

HI All
Out of intrest what is the fire resistance like? Im just thinking of hot ashes and plastic.

Andy

[the_viffer]

As compared with flammable wooden ones and ashes?

[alanstepney]

Recycled wood is used for many things, and having seen some tests on it, seems to be ideal for sleepers.

In some of the poorer countries, it is now used for frames for houses, and it is expected to have a life of 30+ years in tropical conditions.

The fire resistance is much greater than (most) woods.

[Steve K]

When I drop the fire on 'Polly', I put a metal plate under the ashpan to protect the plastic sleepers. However, when running, the odd bit of coal drops onto them. Does not seem to do any damage or melt big holes in them - just makes a very small mark.

HTH.

Steve K.

[greasemonkey]

Hi All
I was talking to a member from one of my clubs last night and he said that they had tried plastic sleepers and found them to be very prone to catching fire from dropped cinders. They were so flamable that they would catch fire from cinders dropped by a passing train. As a result they reverted back to wood. This was some years ago and I believe it was a diffrent supplier. Hence my question.

Andy

[denis M]

We will not know the answer till we try them but from our tests with a cigarette lighter they will not burn. What tends to happen is that the surface melts but cools down solid again leaving a mark where the flame was. The chap that we bought them from makes park benches and tables and he says that if you stub a ciggy out on them you will see the mark but nothing else. This in my view is no different to wood.

We will still use wood in the station where the fires are made up or as mentioned before put a sheet of tin over them.

To hold the rail down we are using 1 inch long course thread cladding bolts which if you do up too tight in wood will strip the thread, but it won't in the plastic.

Time will tell I suppose.