What is normally put at the end of sidings? I know that in Britain, there are buffers. I have seen some people just put a pile of ballast/coal at the end of the siding, and I also have some Atlas bumpers. But I don’t really like the look of the Atlas bumpers. I’m just wondering, what else is used? And what do you use on your layout?
a stack of ties, also take a look at these:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Track&scale=H&manu=&item=&keywords=bumper&instock=Q&split=300&Submit=Search
a real Hayes bumper
Wheel stops, a bumper, a couple of ties, a stack of ties, a pile of dirt.
Hey Captain,
I like the end-of-track bumpers that Walther’s makes in kit form. You get enough pieces to make 12 bumpers and they only take a few minutes to make all 12…they are real easy. They are plastic and cost $7.99 for the 12 from most dealers. In fact, I was just going to order another set of 12 along with some other stuff from www.hobbylandinc.com.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
a pile of ballast
Ditto
A pile of ballast, dirt, cross ties bumpers, bumper.
Matt
The ones at Grand Central Terminal are my favourites!
There was an article in a recent MRR showing how to make a bumper from a piece of rail and brass flatstock. It did require soldering, but epoxy or CA may would work.
Just took this on the weekend, it is a real common site around here.
A slab of concrete and some ballast. I have seen the Hayes bumper
where it seem’s to matter more, when behind the end of track is a
building or some other important object.
Chris
i use a cliff edge
na… just kidding. I use these things made by hornby for my ho. They are a bit like what is used in the picture posted by TorinoGT390.
SOmetimes there is nothing there. almost always is something though. I make all my Bumpers out of Old peices of Atlas Flex Track ties.
Usually, I add nothing, just like the real railroads do. If there is a danger of a car rolling off the end of the track and fouling up a road or running into a building, river, etc, I’ll add a bumper, based on what my favorite prototype used. Usually, Hayes wheel stops or the full bumper like Nigel posted.
I think it’s Greenway Products ¶ or something. They have big concrete bumping posts of a type that were commonly used in larger stations in places where they REALLY wanted the train to stop. I think they’re a Pennsy design. They look great at the track ends at my Union Station!
They also have several stacks of ties cast in plaster that would make a better looking “bumper” than plastic flex track ties.
the difinitive answer: Anything and everything that could stop a rolling car.
I use wheel stops,I cut little tri-angles out of plastic stock,then CA them to the track ends,then paint them yellow.Any thing ulse can bang up couplers.And I hate re-placeing the little springs in KEDEE couplars.
[:)]OLE’IRISH
I’ve seen ties used but I think they were arranged to form a sort of an X pattern, does anyone remember the exact way this was done ? I saw a lot used ,so it seems to fit a standard pattern, any help??
Probably so it wouldnt mess up the coupler.
I saw one at the end of a temporary siding that was used to park a work train and supplies during double-tracking of the Southern Pacific’s Sunset Route through southern Arizona that was nothing more than a couple of upright crossties jammed into the ground to form an “X” shape.
The X shaped crosstie bumpers I’ve seen are dug into the ballast – one end goes under a rail and the other end goes over the other rail. Second one is placed the other way.
The common one is a metal contraption with a big casting to meet the coupling. Bend a Peco buffer stop inwards to a scale foot square piece of plastic.
Wheel stops are castings on each rail. The working side is a larger radius than most wheels. I think they’re clamped to the rails and will slide a bit if hit hard enough.
The Toronto subway has a tail track that ends at a concrete wall in a cut. They have a huge pile of sand in front of the wall (20 or 30 feet long).