In my one yard I have a number of Kadee undertrack magnets, very easy to spot before scenery, now impossible but I measured their location so I know where they are. So the question is, how others have marked them in a yard. I was thinking of a wire with a small red diamond at the top but would like to get other ideas.
One suggestion I have heard is to mark the tie ends with coloured paint to simulate a spill. I have never tried any method, so I don't know.
Dave
I figure a RR sign adjacent the magnet was what I would use or suggest.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I've got a number of visual cues. One has a pickup truck parked next to the track. Another has a trackside ditch filled with a little Envirotex "water." A third has a beaver dam.
If I were going to go with a "standard" marking, I think I would use old oil drums or barrels.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
These aren't under-track ones, but they're just as invisible once a train is over them. I use simple posts, as shown below - they're Evergreen .100" styrene rod. I brush-paint them yellow, then add a black stripe - it looks sorta railroady...one of those "what the heck does that sign mean?" kind of things that we less-knowledgeable railfans sometimes see when we're trackside. Posts with two stripes denote that the track beyond the one immediately behind the post also has an uncoupling magnet at the same location.
Here's another visible magnet, but in an area with scenery:
Wayne
I second Wayne's suggestion. There are all kinds of similar signs and/or posts along prototype railroad tracks. Mile markers, whistle commands, speed limits, mile markers, etc. Many are warnings and mark the of locations of buried utilities and such. Thus, a post here and there along your right-of -way would be perfectly prototypical.
Hornblower
hornblower I second Wayne's suggestion. There are all kinds of similar signs and/or posts along prototype railroad tracks. Mile markers, whistle commands, speed limits, mile markers, etc. Many are warnings and mark the of locations of buried utilities and such. Thus, a post here and there along your right-of -way would be perfectly prototypical.
My prototype (and, probanly, others) paints the tie at the clearance point yellow. If that tie is over the end of the magnet closer to the turnout frog you've killed two birds with one stone.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
A small pile, or spot, of sand will stand out from the other ground cover and will not look out of place.
If you have a backdrop or scenic item you could have a variety of markers that you would know and you could teach your operators, for example a telephone pole that lines up "square on" to the middle of the magnet, a yard man standing conveniently between the centres (standard English spelling) of two magnets, a small rock outcrop, a small dab of white or yellow paint on the rail side, the leg of a billboard, the corner or window of warehouse, a traffic light post, a tuft of grass or an area of different coloured soil or a small slough or furrow between the tracks, a small yard hut, a path or road crossing the track just before the uncoupler area, a manhole cover or small concrete slab such as a drainage inspection point... it is what suits you...
Good Luck with it
Trevor
www.xdford.digitalzones.com for your interest...
Don't know how "clean" your yard is, but you could put a bush/clump foliage at each location. Out on the main or on a passing siding a tree could be used. I have seen some magnets that come with a figure to use as amarker.
Have fun,
Richard
I don't usually have guest operators, but if you do, using arcane methods to denote the location of an uncoupling magnet doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It's one of the tools that makes your railroad operable, so should be easily visible and recognisable, too. I opted for the simple post to differentiate it from the speed limit signs, flanger warning signs, restricted clearance signs, clear of restriction signs, whistle posts, station signs, etc., etc.
I use Doctor Wayne's idea for magnet and fouling point (switch clearing point) marker. My marker is a post brush painted white with about the last scale 1 foot in black. TTypically left side of track.
I love the one bar vs two bars idea ... Although my 5 yo has been proud of the posts and that comlication might be too much for him and i would need to take the job away from him.
I used the same method as DoctorWayne, with fouling markers and magnet markers. It is very easy to understand for guest operators.
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A layout at a train show I was just at had signs saying "buried cable" across the yard ladder to indicate the magnets.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
It is quite common in yards to mark yard tracks with numbers on poles. About 1 engine length (~4 inches) behind the yard track marker is the uncoupling magnet.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Hello All,
I've seen figures holding lanterns; toward the uncoupling magnet, to mark the magnet.
Currently I don't have any figures on my layout so I use a "fancy" turned toothpick to mark the center of the track mounted magnets.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Hi rrebell
The best system I saw for this was a RR sign in line with the center of the uncoupler and instead of a W or SW on the sign it had a U.
The end result once scenery was all done was something that looked like it should be there, was not to obrusive but worked.
I have seen the switchman with lantern marker this looks good untill the the yard track is empty but the sign looks right every time.
If your layout is modernish give the sign a yellow background with a black U and have all other signs around it black on white
Avoid anything red as a marker in the RR world red is DANGER STOP!!! and just will not look right.
rregards John
Now that is the type of advise I was looking for and I do beleive I have some dry transfer U's I could use. Was thinking a punchout of styrene glued to a wire.
My suggestion would be std "N" scale rail for the post
Being much smaller than normal HO rail it looks like recycled old rail. the railroads commonly recycle old worn or replaced low poundage rail into sign and fence posts or anything else it can be made in to
regards John
I think I have a peice of code 55 rail (amazing the things that are thrown into bundles), everything else is code 70. What you think?
rrebell I think I have a peice of code 55 rail (amazing the things that are thrown into bundles), everything else is code 70. What you think?
Sounds all right to me its smaller than what you plan on using do a test sign and see how you think it looks.
Its as much about the right look as it is scale fidelity, and you won't know that till you make one.
Make sure it matches the hight of other RR signs you have on the layout.
If you don't have any the post wants to be scale 9' tall when measured from rail hight
so the train driver can see it, or the hight your chosen RR used.
Remember your creating a genuine fake RR sign so it needs to look like it tells the train driver something and belongs there.
No one needs to know its really for the 1 to 1 full size off layout driver
That rail will also be handy for un-protected level crossings where just a stop sign or similar and cross type RR crossing on the same post is enough protection can't think of the US name for those off hand.
I use switching limit sign posts by JL Innovative Design.
https://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/361-834
I place one next to each track where the magnet is located beneath the ballast.
Rich
Alton Junction
One of my solutions was a small battery box.
pennwest One of my solutions was a small battery box.
Bob Schuknecht A small pile, or spot, of sand will stand out from the other ground cover and will not look out of place.
Little spots of sand on both rails - conveniently where the loco starts up when pulling a cut of cars, and thus drops a little sand to help get started.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Man hole covers at ground level as a corollary of that idea provided you can see the trackside on a shelf,
Regards from Oz
tomikawaTT My prototype (and, probanly, others) paints the tie at the clearance point yellow. If that tie is over the end of the magnet closer to the turnout frog you've killed two birds with one stone. Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Glad to know this is a prototype practice since I had painted my rails for the same purpose. I used white but since the tie color shows through it is a little hard to see I'm going to try the yellow.
jecorbett tomikawaTT My prototype (and, probanly, others) paints the tie at the clearance point yellow. If that tie is over the end of the magnet closer to the turnout frog you've killed two birds with one stone. Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964) Glad to know this is a prototype practice since I had painted my rails for the same purpose. I used white but since the tie color shows through it is a little hard to see I'm going to try the yellow.
A yellow mark on the side of the rail at the clearance point/uncoupler is not un-prototypical either, and non-intrusive.
And a little more natural than a sand pile in the same spot on every single track in a large yard.
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
One very realistic possiblity is a flip up blue flag. They are common on yard sidings both in engine service areas and car yards. They will be inclose proximity to the siding's switch and are often placed where a derail would be placed.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.