Just what is the Code?

Model railroad rails are sold in various heights. These are known as codes. The "code" indicates the height of the rails in thousandths of inches. So Code 100 rail is 100 thousandths of an inch high. Code 80 is eighty thousandths of an inch high. So you get the general idea. Here's a handy link to an article about this on the Trains.com website: Model railroad track codes defined Anyway you look at it Code 55 rail is pretty small. It has a very low profile when compared to code 100 or even Code 80. The illustration came from the Trains.com website. Give credit where credit is due.