What is the easiest way to mount a loco with many engine and tender wheels to mount? Use a rerailing ramp?
Thanks
Dave K.
My late brother-in-law who was a fanatic N Gauger always used a railing ramp, he swore by the thing. Especially since he was a big guy with fingers like bananas!
I used to do N Gauge myself and a railing ramp made things a lot easier.
Dave KWhat is the easiest way to mount a loco with many engine and tender wheels to mount? Use a rerailing ramp?
I use one, but I find it easier to run the locomotive through rerailing track.
I'm building my second N layout, and one thing I learned from my first layout was to put in a bunch of rerailing track sections all over.
York1 John
Hello All,
I model in HO and prefer re-railing track sections. I have a rerailing ramp but don't use it.
After visiting the Colorado Model Railroad Museum; in Greely, Colorado, I noticed that they re-rail their HO cars and locomotives by feel- -which can be time-consuming.
The disadvantage of a re-railing ramp is its length.
Some steam locomotives and their tenders might be too long to fit on the ramp, especially if they are joined by a drawbar versus couplers or hook.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
I'm a pretty dextrous person and I wouldn't even try to rerail N scale by hand. A couple bucks on a ramp seems like a good bargain.
Dave K What is the easiest way to mount a loco with many engine and tender wheels to mount? Use a rerailing ramp? Thanks Dave K.
One thing I'll add is out of the several re-railer ramps I have I like the Kato one then best. It has a shallower angle and on the other ones I have the pilot on some locos will hit before the front wheels.
I have no rerailer tracks but I do have a rerailer ramp I use occasionally. I model in HO so it's not so necessary, but it makes life easier for steamers.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
If I had to mount any sort of an N scale item I think I would just try to find a good taxidermist.
sandjamSliding traction tires along the rails will cause them to stretch, and when stretched they are easily thrown, then they will need replaced.
I'm an O Gauger myself and I HATE traction tires! They're a major PITA to replace on O Gauge engines, I can't imagine trying to do it on HO or N Gauge ones! If they fall off one of my engines and the engine doesn't miss them I just leave them off!
But I can understand how they might be crucial on smaller gauge engines.
OK, for N scale I can see the little ramp as useful, but I can put an N scale car on the track without any real difficulty.
I guess it depends on how you use them, but I have always considered the ramps and the re-railer track as being a little "brutal" with the equipment in HO.
Some of my equipment in HO is pretty pedestrian, like Athearn Blue box cars, but some of it is high end, high detail RTR, or craftsman kits with lots of carefully built detail.
I'm not plopping them on the track and running them back and forth by hand.....
I have ZERO trouble putting HO models on the track.
And here is a tip that makes it easier. Convert all your freight cars to Kadee "self centering" trucks. A never talked about feature Kadee introduced a few decades ago. The truck has a special bolster and bolster pin that aligns the trucks with the car when the truck is suspended in mid air, making it easier to place on the track.
Most of my freight cars are equiped with these Kadee trucks which have also been refitted with Intermountain metal wheelsets - producing the most free rolling truck you will ever find.
Locomotives - without even talking about traction tires, I just have a hard time dragging the drive wheels of a locomotive down a re-railing ramp or over a re-railer track.......but that's just me.
Traction tires - I don't love them or hate them, but sometimes they are a useful evil. The best HO traction tires are not black and not rubber, but are clear vinyl sold by Calumet Trains, they seldom wear out.
Flintlock76 - in HO or N, a loco with traction tires simply will not run without them. The grooved wheel is BIG problem without the plastic/rubber tire.
As explained above, most of my rolling stock has sprung trucks, but I have been putting them on the track by hand since 1965 or so, and at 65 it is still not a problem.
A rerailer or two in hidden trackage is cheap insurance that I hope seldom gets used - but not a bad idea at all.
But here is my other thought - I don't take my trains off the layout that much, so I'm not spending much time putting them back on the layout. The new layout is designed to store about 30 trains, typical freight train is 35-40 cars. Then there are industries, a freight yard, a coach yard, etc.
The operational scheme for the layout requires about 800 freight cars, 150 passenger cars and 150 powered locomotive "units" - that's about what I have. So as the layout gets to the necessary level of completion, the equipment will just go on the layout - where else would it be?
So while I understand the the reasons, those little ramps are something I have never owned.
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRALFlintlock76 - in HO or N, a loco with traction tires simply will not run without them. The grooved wheel is BIG problem without the plastic/rubber tire.
I can well understand. O, HO, N, different animals.
Dave K What is the easiest way to mount a loco with many engine and tender wheels to mount? Use a rerailing ramp? My 80 year old eyes aren't what they used to be, so I use a ramp, but my ramp is set on a siding 30 inches long (a piece of flex) that works great as long as I remember to throw the switch! I use rerailers where they are out of sight, in tunnels, otherwise I make my own from excess rail left over from flex track. If I have a grade crossing, I cut the middle out of the grade crossings and use that between the rails with super glue...which also holds my flex track rerailers in place. I do this because I don't think the lead ups to the crossings are as realistic looking as ones you can make yourself so the road way leads right up to the rails. The rerailers I made have worked well for years and the super glue holds them very well. I cut an old steel square into two 4 inch long sections and use that as a rail bender to bend the ends of the rerailers, then file them smooth. On each end of the sections I have glues a clamp to hold the two sections together while bending the rails. When yo put in bridges or trestles those rerailers look like they just belong there. Thanks Dave K.
My 80 year old eyes aren't what they used to be, so I use a ramp, but my ramp is set on a siding 30 inches long (a piece of flex) that works great as long as I remember to throw the switch!
I use rerailers where they are out of sight, in tunnels, otherwise I make my own from excess rail left over from flex track. If I have a grade crossing, I cut the middle out of the grade crossings and use that between the rails with super glue...which also holds my flex track rerailers in place. I do this because I don't think the lead ups to the crossings are as realistic looking as ones you can make yourself so the road way leads right up to the rails.
The rerailers I made have worked well for years and the super glue holds them very well. I cut an old steel square into two 4 inch long sections and use that as a rail bender to bend the ends of the rerailers, then file them smooth. On each end of the sections I have glues a clamp to hold the two sections together while bending the rails.
When yo put in bridges or trestles those rerailers look like they just belong there.
Why is my reply not going into a separet box? It looks like it's part of the OP message?
DonRicardo Why is my reply not going into a separet box? It looks like it's part of the OP message?
When you add the quote, you have to scroll down until you see the word "/quote" in brackets and type your message after that, not before it.
CSX RobertOne thing I'll add is out of the several re-railer ramps I have I like the Kato one then best.
I will second this. The Kato railing ramps, in HO also, work quite well.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I DO NOT use a rerailing ramp. I place the locomotive on the track making sure that the wheels are on the track. Roll it back and forth about 2 inches. If it rolls smoothly the truck is on the track, if not I lift the offending track and repositon it on the track. Sometimes it may take to three tries, but it works pretty well.
I model N scale and for most steam engines (and a few finicky diesels) i use the Kato rerailer ramp. I generally position the ramp so the tender rerails first, backing the engine onto the track. I try to keep as much of the weight of the locos drive wheels off the ramp and rails (as possible) so the side rods don't bind. The Kato ramp works even with long wheelbase locos like my 4-8-8-2 cab forward. For most 4 axle diesels I usually just use my fingers, which might be an acquired skill.
I have seen electrified retailing ramps, and I suspect there would be no particular rocket science involved in adapting an existing or scratchbuilt ramp to be appropriately powered.
This might also be a way to remove delicate locomotives from the track without the usual GHA sausage fingers.