Grab Irons & Hand Rails

Greg,

P&D hobbies, Des plains hobbies, Precision scale and you can find others. Just google O scale grab irons and hand rails. Same for Ebay.

Thanks a million Ron, this info is deeply appreciated, and with several sites I'm confident I'll find a lot of items.  Thanks again 

If you don't already have them.  A pin-vice, and a set of small numbered drill bits.   A caliper or micrometer,  to measure grab iron sizes, and the small drill bits is also a plus. Round nose pliers another important tool.

Handrails are usually custom bent using brass or bronze wire of various sizes. .015, .020, .032, .040 etc 

Tichy, Detail Associates, K&S Metals, Clover House

Tichy offers a few different styles and sizes of grab irons.  Here's a photo taken after I installed the Tichy scale "18-inch straight style" grabs on a Weaver boxcar...

You didn't mention stirrup steps, but if you ever want/need them, Scale City Designs (formerly Keil Line) offers really nice ones (with bolt detail) as pictured below...

The above responses pretty much summarize the approaches.  It's pretty easy to bend up your own grabs using the Grandt Line jig.  The process entails making the first bend, putting the bent end in the jig hole corresponding to the width you want, then simply folding over for the second bend.  To get the dropped version, put the grab in a square jaw vice with the loop up maybe .060" or so, then fold over, and you're done.

P&D Hobby has many detail parts.  They make sets of cast brass grabs for F units.  These have the little brackets on the ends, and they really look good.  The problem is the Lionel F3 body casting has indented their door grabs into channels. The outside of the Lionel grab is flush with the body.  To do a proper job these channels should be filled then the new grabs added.  That means surgery and probably a repaint.

Jim