Beefing Up Walther's Bumping Posts

[tstage]

Capt. Grimek

Hi TStage, Yes, I think that was the idea I was trying to recall. Was that your thread originally?

Jim,

Yes, I posted a how-to thread about those here on the forum way back in July 2005.  All the pics from the thread disappeared after one of the forum upgrades so I decided to just post the entire tutorial on my website and be done with it.

Tom

[motopac]

Hey Cap

Here is what I did on my switching module: The Walthers plastic bumpers seemed best because they didn't present electrical problems, but they were a little weak. So I discarded the plastic bail which runs behind the top of the striker plate and then down to the front base plate near each rail. I replaced it with a length of .020 brass wire. (made a jig to bend them) This wire runs through the base plate about 1/2'" into the homosote roadbed. Everything was glued down and the wires glued into their holes. They seem very solid, but on a switching railroad they have not been tested to the degree mentioned in this thread.Hope this helps.

motopac

[Capt. Grimek]

Hi TStage, Yes, I think that was the idea I was trying to recall. Was that your thread originally?

I like the Tomars but they're spendy, relatively and require track gapping. 

I round robin operate and some people don't know about changing the analog CV to prevent runaways.

I am also more ham handed than I like to admit. I've taken out one or two with an enthusiastic sweep of the hand and have learned to be more careful!

Jim

PS Sorry it took me awhle to get back to the thread. Busy busy busy...

[G Paine]

dehusman

If you want to stop anything don't buy a plastic bumper.  Buy the soldered metal ones.  They are strong enough to stop any locomotive running full speed.

Tomar makes a good looking bumping post in all metal, this a link to Walthers for HO posts in codes100, 83 and 70. Just remember to use insulated rail joiners to install them.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=&scale=H&manu=tomar&item=&keywords=bump&words=restrict&instock=Q&split=240&Submit=Search

[rrinker]

 I HAVE to glue mine - more than once I found an 'escapee' courtesy of a small white cat who asserts that anything that can be moved MUST be a cat toy. The first one I put together ended up batted under the front door and intot he public hall of my old apartment. How no one stepped on it, I'll never know. Just the other day I found it in the living room (train room is upstairs). Still in one piece - if it can handle Catzilla I think they're stout enough to handle a train bumping into them, maybe not a high speed multiple unit crash, but the the prototype ones can;t handle that, either. When it is absolutely imperative that no way, no how, can anything run off the track at a given point, a different type of stopping device is used instead of those like the Walthers ones. Like the massice concrete posts often seen in passenger stations.

 

         --Randy

[dehusman]

Capt. Grimek

Quite awhile back, someone here beefed up Walthers bumping posts using another piece of styrene as a track stop and (maybe?) encasing them in epoxy so they'd stop anything.  Anyone know a link or have a technique of their own? The Walthers seem to be mostly decorative when it comes to a runaway loco, etc.

 

Two observations:

 

If you are relying on the bumpers to "stop anything" then you must have some pretty poor operators.  Those bumpers, real or model are designed to withstand low impacts.

 

If you want to stop anything don't buy a plastic bumper.  Buy the soldered metal ones.  They are strong enough to stop any locomotive running full speed.

[doctorwayne]

While I do use a number of the Walthers bumpers, I don't even bother gluing them in place. The ones shown here are right at the edge of the layout, but it's only 3' to the floor:

Most industrial sidings get the pile o' dirt and gravel bumper, and they are glued in place:

Wayne

[tstage]

Jim,

Was this what you are referring to?

If so, here's the link.

It stopped an Athearn BB F7 going 60 sMPH with NO problem at all.  Not sure about a lash-up of 'em though.  You can always try it and report back.

Tom

[chutton01]

Hmm, what if you put some brads, or maybe just small blobs of solder on the inside of the rails a little ahead of the track bumper, have those stop the train as opposed to the plastic bumper - they narrow the gauge enough to stop the train (particularly if you can file them enough to provide a flat face), and can be weathered so as to blend in and be hard to see.
Yeah, enough oomph and the loco can jump the barrier, but then at that point all bets are off anyway.

[mlehman]

I don't remember that one, but I can imagine how they did it. On the back side of the bumper post, you need to install a small piece of plastic from the ground up to the underside of the backside of the striking plate. That will keep it from moving and reinforce it against breaking.

Yeah, I don't know what would happen if hit by a 4 unit lash up at speed. On the other hand, sounds like an operator problem of profound inattention to be running anything fast enough on a track with a bumper to break one. If glued and spiked well they're really pretty stout.

Of course, I have broken my share of them by being ham-handed. They're more delicate if hit from any direction but the one they should get hit from. I've taken out my share

[Capt. Grimek]

Quite awhile back, someone here beefed up Walthers bumping posts using another piece of styrene as a track stop and (maybe?) encasing them in epoxy so they'd stop anything.  Anyone know a link or have a technique of their own? The Walthers seem to be mostly decorative when it comes to a runaway loco, etc.

Thanks, Jim