Custom Built Rail Making Machines

[Chris Webster]

Here's an interesting listing on ebay - custom built rail extruding machines that produce codes 100 through 215 rail:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/315792196994

According to the seller, "these machines were built by my grandfather around 1938 they've used to supply all the companies including Walters with rail for the last several decades."

[ScaleCraft]

$55,000? Crap. I'd pay somebody else for the bit I might need!
And at 3/4 ton they won't fit in the back of your Prius!

[up148]

I think it would be a push as 10% of the listed price. Just no market to recoup the money and certainly more than anyone would need. Looks to be old and well built if not worn out.

[bob turner]

There is life around here!

I agree with Butch. When was the last time we bought rail? I think I got several lots from Lou Cross about three decades ago. And how much would it cost to extrude enough rail to realize $55,000 to recoup your investment?

Note the All Nation Line - really nice stuff, in a doorstoppy way, but the used market is full of them at less than the production price of a new kit. Or CLW - I think Lou Houlemarde is still in production, but I would bet that after a quarter century he still has not recouped his initial investment. Really nice stuff, but an extremely limited market.

I just discovered in the aviation world that simple little drain grommets (plastic washers made out of old Walthers window material) are eighty cents each. Average fabric covered airplane needs 50 of them. Used to be five bucks for a hundred. So now we just use an old pencil soldering iron and burn the drain holes. That way the next batch will be five bucks each - easy to make, but in batches of 50? Set-up costs would be over a hundred dollars.

As the market dwindles, the price goes up - in the case of extruded rail, probably dramatically.

[Chris Webster]

And how much would it cost to extrude enough rail to realize $55,000 to recoup your investment?

I was also wondering that, so I did some back of the envelope math.

Walthers is currently selling Code 83 rail at $37.98 per 17 piece package, which works out to $2.23 per rail. 40% of that is 89 cents per rail, so I'll assume that's what you might be able to sell a 3 ft piece of rail for, wholesale. If you can allocate 11% of your sale price to paying for the machine, then it's about 10 cents per rail that can go towards paying for the machine.... so you'd need to produce and sell around 550,000 pieces of rail to pay off the machine (and that's assuming the interest rate you're paying on the loan to buy the machine is zero percent!)

[ScaleCraft]

and...........you need to buy stock wire.............and, it's custom-made, when it breaks, who you gonna call, where are you gonna get parts.
I imagine the dies wear out...then what?

Actual value, zero.

[bob turner]

First thing I would do is check with Jay C- he sells code 148 rail in nickel silver and steel. He may have enough to satisfy O Scalers for the next half-century, and his prices would doubtless be lower than new production. His company is Right O' Way, and was started by Lou Cross and Gene La Vancil.

I met them both in Burbank on an overnight, and they sold me sets of castings for the famous CLW all cast PA. Lugging them home in the cockpit of a 737 was an experience - we had to re-compute the weight and balance, and add lead in the aft bathroom!

[E7]

How much rail could I buy from Jay for 55K???? How long would it take to sell 55K worth of rail?

Rich

[sleepmac]

Bob,

"I met them both in Burbank on an overnight, and they sold me sets of castings for the famous CLW all cast PA. Lugging them home in the cockpit of a 737 was an experience - we had to re-compute the weight and balance, and add lead in the aft bathroom!"

Loved that story!

Dan Weinhold