Are there any (or were there any) prototype end-of-track bumpers that look like Atlas’ lighted bumpers? It’s time for me to start adding some bumpers and I was wondering if the Atlas type was completely fictional.
i have seen some bumpers in the US that resemble the atlas type pretty closely. they are made of concrete with a large metal impact head on heavy coil springs mounted at the height of the coupler face. anything that big would probably be at the end of a track in a passenger terminal. they had seperate red signal mounted alongside the bumper at the height of the cab window. walthers has a bumper that is just like the metal prototypes in there cornerstone series in n scale which is what i’m using. they may make them in ho. they’re not illuminated but not many real ones are. a couple of ties buried in the ballast or just a pile of dirt or ballast at the end of the track is prototypical too. theyre not supposed to stop a speeding train. just to keep a car from gently rolling off the end of track.
The bumpers in Chicago Union Station look a bit like the Atlas bumper
Dave Nelson
Lighted bumpers like those made by Atlas were used only in train stations, usually at the end of underground tracks and, needless to say, the light was not as horribly oversized as the Atlas model. With the advances in super-small LEDs, perhaps it’s time for Atlas to re-tool their design and put a more prototypically sized light on them.