Hi All,
This is my first post…I’ve been making an o scale track for my 3 year old using gargraves tracks. I have a figure 8 setup and wanted to know how to make a rail on the outside of the curve so that the train won’t fall off the track.
The guard rail I was looking for is something like they use on slot cars…
Any suggestions would be appreciated
patch
Unfortunately, physics is working against you here. Slot cars and model trains are two different animals. Slot cars have a very low center of gravity, and aren’t prone to tipping over so much as spinning out. That’s what the guard rails on slot car tracks prevent–the car from spinning around to face the opposite direction. Trains, on the other hand, don’t play by the same rules. Theirs is a much higher center of gravity, so the tendency on curves isn’t to spin out, but flip over. (Think of it in terms of an SUV.) A guard rail won’t prevent tipping. The only way to do that is to slow the trains down on the curves. Unfortunately for a 3-year-old, that tends to take much of the excitement away. You could also use wider curves, which would allow the trains to travel around them without centripetal force pulling them off the track. Later, K
I don’t know of anyone who has guard rails except one bloke down in Victoria who has a very big drop off a curve on to a hard surface. I wouldn’t bother unless i had a very good reason to do so.
Rgds Ian
I haven’t seen any guard rails either, but since my train “could” tip over and fall, I would like to protect it some how in case it did…especially once the train start to descend around the figure 8.
BTW, thanks for the replies!
patch
I am sorry mate i have no ideas for making guard rails; as i have never considered it.
Rgds ian
There is a better way, sence you are dealing with children why don’t you install a large resistor in the locomotives eleminating the need for a guard rail and many chances of said child injuring themselves.
Phooey.
Ian
S&G Rute of the Silver River, you are right. I would go a little easy on the higher end trains for a 3-year-old. Another approach, which maybe better, is to just get the kid some L-gauge, aka Lego Trains, instead. I am almost out of High School and I still have my Lego Trains intact. These puppies will last for years, and they can take a beating and still be okay. Plus, if they break, you just re-build them.
Patch;
What about just using a “people bridge handrail?” Just put a pedestrian path between the tracks and the drop off and you have a valid need for this type of structure.
ttrigg,
“people bridge handrail” is too weak to keep a heavy G-Scale loco from falling. You would just end up breaking two items instead of one.
Not if it is “overengineered”.
Or rather, engineered to do the job intended. instead of using 3/16 inch lumber how about using some 3/16 square steel tubing? Then paint the stel to look like wood.
Then again one could always thread some “steel” cable through the posts.
There are many ways to design a fence rail to do the job.
Since patch is using Gargraves track, I’m assuming he’s running 3-rail toy trains. Part of the charm of 3-rail trains is running them open throttle until they jump the track.
If you are running on a table, you might wish to line the edges with plexiglass. That’s what they do at the train shows.
I made an indoor layout for my son when he was smaller. It had 5 different tracks with 5 different trains all running at the same time. I put up guard rails, one for little fingers and two to keep the trains from falling on the floor. The layout was HO and was up about 32 inches.
The guard rail system I used was PLEXI-GLASS, about four inches high and pre-drilled and bolted (screws and nuts) to the side of the layout with little " L " brackets about an inch long…This stuff can bend a little too and worked great. It would be high enough to prevent trains from falling off the track on to the floor.
dan
Sounds good to me and the reason for so doing was well thought out.
Rgds Ian