mono-filament "Brakes"

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Has any one used monofilament fishing line as a brake to hold a car on a siding?

I have heard that a small piece sticking up just passed the axle near the inside of the wheel works. Its out of the way of the couplers etc. it has to be strong enough to hold the car but but flexible enough to pull or push the car over it with out issue …derailment

I am not a fisherman so totally in the dark about sizes. I am trying to figure out what size to use without going out & buying hundreds of feet of line of various sizes to experiment with

I have thought about trying piano wire…but that could be a potential poking or cutting hazard to a hand or arm if unaware of its placement

2

Tackle shops will custom load fishing line on your reel, so they would probably sell you a foot of this and that so you could experiment if no one has an answer.

Some people do use piano wire and servos to raise or lower the “brake” That would make it less hazardous.

3

yes I have used that method in the past with manual controls on layout facia (push-pull knobs) & flexible linkage

I was just thinking about trying something different …less mechanical

I have called both the Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s in my area…they no longer sell bulk line by the yard, only 200 yd packages

4

Try a bristle of a brush. A paintbrush, hairbrush or one that comes with a barber kit or camera cleaning brush. I can find things like that all over the house if I look hard enough. A whisk to brush off clothing often has nylon bristles. A piece of fiber optic will also work.

5

good suggestions …thanks

maybe multiple strands of brush bristles grouped together painted to look like weeds sticking up

6

I use tufts of artificial tall grass. It looks completely natural and does the job.

None of my sidings are steep, but I had a lot of rolling problems when I upgraded to metal wheels and reduced the rolling friction. I only have one or two cars on a siding, so a small impedement like grass is enough.

7

You can purchase a small spool of leader at a sporting goods store or Walmart.

Leader comes in different weights and is packages on small spools.

8

Hi,

Perhaps a length of fiber-optic line would serve better than monofilament fishing line? It can generally be found in larger diameters than the fishing line.

I used a length of music wire for my hill holder and activate it with a Hump Yard Purveyor “tower lever”:

car_stop2 by Edmund, on Flickr

car_stop4 by Edmund, on Flickr

When the pin is engaged a switch is activated which lights a fusee to give a visual warning to operators:

car_stop3 by Edmund, on Flickr

I used a Fusee animator from Logicrail to drive a tiny LED. Once the pin is down it takes about ten seconds for the fusee to sputter out [Y]

car_stop by Edmund, on Flickr

car_stop1 by Edmund, on Flickr

Good Luck, Ed

9

I used a soft bristle from a brush, shoved into a predrilled hole in a tie on a siding on my old-time (1895 era) HO model railroad to keep light boxcars from wandering away from a loading door. The track was hand laid Code 70 rail on individual wood ties and I had to work with the bristle a bit to get it just the right height to snag the axle without making the car jump. It actually derailed the first time, so it was much too long to begin with. When I got it right, I put a tiny dab of cement on the bottom and made it permanent. I’d seen it in a “Kink” in MR, used to park a car on a siding on a slight grade.

Deano

10

Wasn’t there some info from Gerry Leone on one of his Off the Rails videos about using a strand from a bristle paint brush? He used it to hold a car in place. Probably was a substantial bristle, but apparently a single bristle did the trick.

11

Try something around 20 lbs test. It’s still pretty fine but stiffer than lower test mono line. You can always install a few more if one doesn’t work.