Source for cast handrail brackets in N Scale?

[SandyEggoJake]

Might there be a source for cast handrail brackets in N scale?  For me, plastic or metal would both be acceptable.

On my bench is a scratch steam loco project requiring fab of new handrails (the grab pipe that runs along the side of the boiler and on the smokebox face). 

In prior redetailing efforts I've tried to reuse a model's existing cast brackets for wire handrails.  And where require, I'd use lift rings or fab my own using wire or small strips of brass.  But none of the later methods look as good as the dimensional cast parts.   Given companies like Bachmann use such brackets to hold phosbronze wire, right now somewhere  in China sits a bin of tens of thousands of these 1 mm plastic nubs.   I'd love to score a hundred or so.

PS: Bachmann claims they can't sell them as they don't get them in their parts inventory as a separate part. 

[glakedylan]

if IRC Gold Medal Models 160-42   Steam Locomotive Details (parts for several locomotives)    $18.00   
provides etched brass of these among the other parts on the sheet
you will need to verify to be sure

sincerely--
Gary

[SandyEggoJake]

Thanks Gary.  Yes, I've looked at Gold Medal Models 160-42, and agree in the absence of cast versions they might be the best option in N. 

The desc claims "200 handrail stanchions in four sizes (50 of each)" and such is PE in 0.01" brass.  If I recall correctly, the dia of the eye holes all seem the same, so the variation seems limited to the height of the standoff.  Such seem v.  similar to the fret of lift rings I still have.   And as such these stanchions (just like my lift rings) might be too large to be ideal - specifically, 2x too "thick" (0.01 ~ 1.6" scale) and too "wide" another ~0.01" above and below the wire.  Really noticeable when using 0.008 wire.  Also they don't have the fluted cove at the base like the cast versions.  Such gets worse when painted, as the PE around the wire becomes even larger, though the paint does create a bit of cove on the base. 

Kinda hoping for a cast or injection molded version....

[randgust]

The Atlas 4-4-0 cast stanchions are possibly the most beautiful, and damage-prone, part up there with the flagpoles and the whistle.   You can't get the darn thing apart without pulling out the stanchions, and they snap easily.

I've always made my own from .010 wire using a tight wrap around a .010 wire core, snip, straighten.    I've had to replace nearly every cast plastic stanchion I own due to breakage.

For 'tight' handrails, cut levers, misc. mounts  I use GMM lift rings in stainless steel, disturbingly tiny yet durable.

[SandyEggoJake]

Thx Randgust.

Yes, I've also seen a difference in the plastic used in cast stansions/brackets.  Some do seem more brittle, while those used in the b-mann spectrum 2-8-0 are more flexible.  In fact the later easily deform if pulled from the outside, so my removal method is to push them out from the holes inside the boiler.  Still, I never get 100% survival as they are CA'd in place.