Hello all.
I have need of rerailers at entrance and exists of hidden tracks. The code 100 tracks are all installed. I was looking for Jiffy Railers mentioned in a series of posts in 2011, but I can find no current listing.
So. Questions for all. Are Jiffy Railers available under a different name?
Or. Can someone provide guidance for making a rerailer from styrene and gluing it between the rails?
Thank you all for your assistance.
Dwayne A
Just look at the geometry of a commercial rerailer.
Between the rails is a diamond shape designed to ease the wheels over to the rail on the inside. Outside the rails, there is a ramp on each side intended to lift the flanges to railhead height just before the diamond would pull them into the outside of the railhead. there may or may not be a little ramp between the diamond and the rail to raise the tread to railhead height.
That basic geometry can be formed with plastic, plaster or even bent sheet metal. It’s the shape, not the material, that matters. I would make sure that whatever contacts the backs of derailed wheels is a durable material - my personal preference is standard rail.
Another factor. Rerailers will put slow-moving wheels back on track. At higher speed, or with underweight cars, they are more likely to turn a one-truck derailment into a pileup.
The car’s trucks have to cooperate. Ideally, one truck should swivel without rocking, while the other should be free to rock. That equalizes things like a three-legged stool and assures that all wheels will be in contact with the rail.
(My own trucks have side frames that can swivel vertically - just another bit of equalization.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with rerailers)
If I may and without sounding like a ogre if you are having derailments then why not simply fix the issues? Derailment free operation is highly attainable.
All the weight,all the wheels in gauge and all the couplers and trip pins at correct height will never make up for a bad spots in the track that causes derailments.
If they’re hidden tracks, you don’t have to worry much about appearance. So, bite the bullet and just buy a few re-railer tracks and install them properly.
Sometimes, it just pays to do the job right, even if it means tearing up something you’ve already done. Retrofitting a band-aid usually ends up making the problem worse, not better.
You can’t use the Atlas rerailers??
Great. Got it. Thx.
Back when Tony Koester was building the Coal Fork Branch there was one photo that showed the staging yard the branch was built over. He had installed Atlas rerailers at the end of each track - and at the end of the first length of flex on each track. I’m sure that he tries to approach perfection in tracklaying, and it’s probable that those rerailers never rerailed a single axle.
My layout has several rerailers installed in critical places - as cheap insurance, even though I’m obsesso about making my trackwork as near perfect as possible. There’s no rule that says you can’t wear both belt and suspenders.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Just don’t do either up too tight![swg][(-D][(-D][(-D]
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Dave