Does anyone know a source for HO scale “old style” guard rails consisting of vertical steel posts (like I beams) set in the ground with cables strung between them?
Thanx. Bill
Bill,
I made just that type of guard system on my N scale layout, using Evergreen “H” beams and quilting thread.
I predrilled the holes in the beams, then ran the thread, knotting it at one end.
In the attached picture, you’ll notice that the far end of the cabling is run through a single hole of a beam at ground level. The three strands were knotted together, run through one hole in that pole and threaded through three holes in all but the last beam at the near end on the far side of the bridge.
I used the smallest “H” beams available from Evergreen, .060" and they look alittle large in N scale, but they’d be about right for HO.
Once the poles were planted and the threads pulled taut, I used aged silver from Floquil and bush painted it.
Mike-That’s a GREAT picture!
Thankyou loathar,
The bridge is scratch built from styrene. Here’s a side view.
The arched sides of the bridge are skewed to match angle of the pass. The road base is I beam construction.
Mike- awesome work. I really enjoy the pictures. You really do nice work. Thank you!
Hal
A+! [^]
Mike, Thanks a lot for the info. I’ve got lots of road to cover, so youor method is better than buying factory made stuff. Great looking layout. How big is it?
Bill
Hi Bill
You could also use the EZline from Berkshire Junction. I love the stuff. You never know when a snag will ocur.
The roads around my house still have the old cable guards but use concrete posts with the cables attached with an angle iron or small I beam.
Pete
I saw a great one made out of those plastic stir sticks. The ones that have that dogbone shape if you look down them. Painted steel/ grey colour they looked great as post.
Bill,
The layout is an “L” configuration, messuring 10’ X 14’ with a depth of 3’. It’s all the room I had, but N scale lets you get alot in a small space. It doesn’t have as much switching as I’d like, but with hidden staging I can run freights with more than 40 cars.
It’s freelance Wasatch mountain area with big UP power from the early-mid 60’s.
The cable system I used in the photos was contrived because I had the raw materials in my stash and was bored with that day’s TV programming.
The real tedious part of it was drilling all the holes in the H beams. If I’d had more to do, I’d have made a fixture to use as a drill guide. A piece of styrene channel would work for the fixture. It would fit over the smaller H beam. That way the hole spacing would be consistent.
Mike et al,
Thanks for all the info. Mike you’ve got the right idea using a drilling template. Hadn’t thought of that.
Bill