What makes you call them "old school"? Are they ornately frilly, or are they just painted grandma white (and thus fixable with black Rustoleum) or what? Wrought iron is pretty classic, so it doesn't necessarily need fixing unless it's full of acorns and squirrels (a real pattern I recently removed and replaced with a straight modern rail)...

Photos?

The spacing it too wide ( a small child could need a stick of butter behind the ear if they were so inclined to stick their head through ). Also, they are have swirly rails (think twizzlers) and swirly s hooks at the ends of each handrail. I have been noticing that a more square end cap is used on most modern iron rails. Sorry I don't have a pic....just happened upon this site and jumped in feet first.