Is there a product that can be added to regular flex track to make it into a re-railer section?
I am familar with the Atlas snap-track re-railers. They stand out quite a bit. I was thinking of something that would be glued between the rails, similar to how the magnet gets epoxied on the ties for the one type of Kadee un-coupler kit.
I thought something like that would be able to be masked better to blend in with the layout and could be added anywhere. For instance, if you had a trouble spot that you couldn't get to easily.
"lay the track right and you won't have to worry about it" I went ahead and put that line in so no one needs to reply with that statement. :)
ken_23434 Is there a product that can be added to regular flex track to make it into a re-railer section? I am familar with the Atlas snap-track re-railers. They stand out quite a bit. I was thinking of something that would be glued between the rails, similar to how the magnet gets epoxied on the ties for the one type of Kadee un-coupler kit. I thought something like that would be able to be masked better to blend in with the layout and could be added anywhere. For instance, if you had a trouble spot that you couldn't get to easily. "lay the track right and you won't have to worry about it" I went ahead and put that line in so no one needs to reply with that statement. :)
You should be able to fabricate one out of sheet styrene, and make it custom to fit your track configuration. The key is the ends of the rerailre that come to a point, aligned with the side piece that guide the wheelset back between the rails. Look at the snap track rerailer and fabricate one out of sheet plastic to fit your situation.
All you need to do is copy the geometry of the snap-track rerailer - in any material that looks reasonable. Ballast, bent guard rails, ground goop at a grade crossing - just as long as something lifts the outside-the-rails flange to railhead height while something else nudges the inside-the-rails flange toward the rail and gives the wheel an upward jog it will work.
FWIW, some prototype railroads used to build ballast mounds at the appropriate location where bridge guard rails would do the nudging. The tapered guard rails would be the same size as the running rails and close down to something like normal flangeway dimensions, then ease off to the more usual bridge rail spacing and size. The theory was that it would be better to rerail the truck rather than just keep it on the bridge.
Of course, in tangent hidden track you can just insert a snap-track rerailer. I recall seeing a staging yard on T. Koester's Allegheny Midland which appeared to be alternate flex and rerailers. That just might be overkill.
My own choice is to make my track sufficiently bulletproof that rerailers, while present, are actually unnecessary.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
The Atlas code 83 rerailers are lower profile, and I think they have wood grain molded in. Might be worth looking into.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
tomikawaTT FWIW, some prototype railroads used to build ballast mounds at the appropriate location where bridge guard rails would do the nudging. The tapered guard rails would be the same size as the running rails and close down to something like normal flangeway dimensions, then ease off to the more usual bridge rail spacing and size. The theory was that it would be better to rerail the truck rather than just keep it on the bridge.
That won't rerail a derailed truck. I have rerailed enough cars to assure you of that.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
I was hoping a product existed that could be simply glued in place to existing track.
I think I will use some balsa to mimic the atlast re-railer pieces. Stain them to help camoflage them and glue them down before ballasting. It seems the piece outside the rails just ramps up to rail height to lift the flange of the wheel, while the "point" between the rails will catch the flange for the wheel between the rails and push it outward back to the rail. Sanding those profiles on some balsa wouldn't take much work. After staining, some CA glue to the surface would harden it, so the wheelsets would not damage the soft balsa.
ken_23434 I was hoping a product existed that could be simply glued in place to existing track. I think I will use some balsa to mimic the atlast re-railer pieces. Stain them to help camoflage them and glue them down before ballasting. It seems the piece outside the rails just ramps up to rail height to lift the flange of the wheel, while the "point" between the rails will catch the flange for the wheel between the rails and push it outward back to the rail. Sanding those profiles on some balsa wouldn't take much work. After staining, some CA glue to the surface would harden it, so the wheelsets would not damage the soft balsa.
If you use styrene, that would eliminate the need to harden the surface.
ken_23434 think I will use some balsa to mimic the atlast re-railer pieces. Stain them to help camoflage them and glue them down before ballasting. It seems the piece outside the rails just ramps up to rail height to lift the flange of the wheel, while the "point" between the rails will catch the flange for the wheel between the rails and push it outward back to the rail.
You also need to lift the inside wheel up with a ramp so the tread will clear the top of rail.