Couple Scenery questions


S

steveparkinson

Member
Couple scenery questions that I have as I detail parts of my layout?

1. Do telephone poles running parallel to railroad tracks normally end at the tunnel... are the cables routed through the tunnel or up and over/around?

2. What are those pieces of extra rail called that are usually found on the track of rail bridges running parallel to the track? What materials do people normally use to add them to their layouts since most bridges don't come with them?

Thanks
Steve
 
I think the power lines go thru the tunnels, don't really know what your talking about with the bridges sorry.

Chris,
 
Often, the signal/power/telegraph lines go up/over/around the tunnels, since they aren't affected by terrain problems.

The extra rails on the bridges are general called 'guard rails', not to be confused with guardrails, which are on the sides of bridges to keep people and vehicles from falling off.
 
steveparkinson said:
What materials do people normally use to add them to their layouts since most bridges don't come with them?

Thanks
Steve
Click to expand...

Hi Steve--On an old Soo Line bridge in Northern Wisconsin they just curved the ends of some old track ("called guard rails above) and spiked them the ties several inches inside of the rail. The one I looked at was quite long. I have a good photo if I can find it.

Wonder if you posted an update lately or if I missed it? Thanks, lasm
 
Thanks Lasm, that would be great. I found a few online too but they weren't "close ups".

I did post a few new shots on my build thread and some more on the WPF thread for this week. I'll have some more to post shortly.

Thanks again
Steve


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Here is the photo:

IMG_4258.JPG
 
If my memory serves me it seems the guard rails were a slightly smaller gauge. Hard to tell from the photo. I know it was some pretty beat up track.

Believe it or not, I walked the trestle. You could see the rushing river seemed like 150' below the open ties. lasm
 
I have seen prototype guard rails where the ends touched like those shown in the photo, but also where the ends didn't quite touch. Because of the danger of short circuits, I would leave the ends of the guard rails slightly separated, or form the joint with plastic, etc. As a matter of fact you could probably make some from plastic forms. The idea of guard rails is to keep derailed trucks from going so far off the main rails that the rolling stock could impact the bridge structure.
 
if you use metal rail, go at least 1 size smaller than your main rail. sometimes the loco will catch the guardrail. also, leave a gap inbetween the two ends. it can cause a short if the wheels make contact, but the real problem comes with the coupler trip pins. if you have one hanging a little low and the ends of the guardrail are in a "V", the trip pin can grab the rail and follow it causing a mess.
 
Thanks for the suggestions and feedback on this topic. I painted up some scrap rails brown last night and was going to try forming them with the proper gaps to avoid contact with the wheel sets. After the posts about possible shorts I make look for another non conductive material to use in their spot. I'll post feedback on what I come up with.

Thanks again
Steve


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