When my father and I originally built my railroad, we used Culp Rail. It’s a solid choice for a backyard railroad—especially one that doesn’t see heavy traffic. But when I decided to construct an extension, I opted for Accu-Tie pre-gauged ties and Accu-Tie Rail. The only issue was the noticeable difference in rail size between the two systems.

Back when I first purchased the Accu-Tie rail and ties, Bill Zingham was the East Coast representative. We had become friends a while earlier through a shared connection: a friend of mine had photographed a crossing signal, and Bill—knowing it would be appreciated—asked him to pass it along to a fellow Live Steamer. That Live Steamer happened to be me. From that moment on, Bill and I stayed in regular contact and built a great friendship. Sadly, Bill passed away a few years ago.

When I bought the new rail, I asked Bill how I could connect the Culp Rail to the Accu-Tie Rail. He agreed to come up with a solution and designed these clever rail conversion plates. They worked perfectly. But over time, I found myself needing more than what he had originally made for me. So a few weeks ago, I ordered some aluminum stock and began fabricating my own.

I followed Bill’s original design closely, with one small modification: I replaced the hex head screws with button head screws for a cleaner look and easier handling.

Today, I installed the first two of my homemade conversion plates—and they worked like a charm. A perfect solution to a tricky problem.

Here are a few photos.