I recently had a discussion with an aquaintance who unlike me knows every thing there is to know about model railroading and other assorted subjects. I mentioned to him that I was thinking about using Atlas re-railer section on the entraces to my hidden staging yard and a few other spots on the railroad. Well you would have thought I committed murder or something as horriific. He’s telling me there is no reson to use re-railers if you do your track work correctly bla bla bla etc. Well I’ll be the first to admit I am by far not the best at laying track but not the worst either. So I felt they had a purpose sort of a little added insurace.
I have 6 of the Atlas rerailers on the leads to my lower level staging tracks, and had them on the last layout as well. I am also very proud of my “bulletproof” trackwork and can say without reservation that any derailments I have had were about 98 percent due to equipment or operator error, and not faulty track. Actually, I don’t recall having any track generated derailments on the previous HO code 100 layout of 14 years. Of course it took me a few months of actual operations to fine tune it, but after that, most were caused by my 0-5-0 switcher and reckless engineers.
I had two of them on the two main lines on the previous layout, and they were made to look like road crossings with ground cover “shrinking” the width to road size.
If your friend is a model railroading purist aask why he uses electric trains and not steam and diesel… Some people take the simplest thing far too seriously… When you are fitting up your rerailers keep in mind the way the scene for each is supposed to look and remember that you can make the rerailer blend in well as a road crossing no matter the color or texture of the road, so long as you protect the rails and the grooves in the plastic that guide the wheels back onto them you can paint and do almost any landscaping to it or raise the level of the road to meet it…
Mobilman’s got a great answer, there: disguise them as RR crossings.
I’ve got one in the middle of a long curve that is difficult to get to on my own MR, and it works like a charm. And it looks really cool with the RRCROSSING signs and some ballast.
The important thing is that THEY WORK! And they don’t look that bad, either. You can disguise them very well and still keep your trains on the track, which is the whole idea.
I use Atlas code 83 track and place rerailer sections every 6 feet in my staging yards. Most of my staging yards are active staging (fiddle yards) and the rerailers help setting up the new consists.
As anyone who has been reading my posts is aware, I am obsesso about trackwork - to the point that I consider a derailment a personal affront. Even so, I have rerailers at several critical points in the underworld, and will doubtless install more as I find other critical points.
For hidden track, I’ve used Code 100 snap-track rerailers. On visible track, the standard will be Code 83. Another alternative is to model road crossings to rerailer geometry without using the commercial product.
Until somebody can prove that Murphy is dead and his laws repealed, rerailers are cheap insurance - even cheaper than an Athearn BB AAR boxcar.
I am planning re-railers for the hidden track in the helix between layout levels just to be on the safe side, and; the straight pieces will also decrease the tension on the engine & rolling stock couplers let alone ever so slightly decrease the helix grade itself.
If someone’s track, especially in hidden trackage, is spotless – good for them. Again, I elect to be on the safe side.
Rerailers are great on storage tracks, allowing you to get cars on the tracks quickly. On my new layout my fiddle/staging tracks are visible and scenicked (although in an out-of-the-way corner of the basement) so I use those little ramp deals to get cars onto the tracks.
Otherwise, on previous layouts I’ve used rerailers in tracks going thru tunnels or otherwise hidden from view (and thereby hard to get at) and I’m sure I’ll do so again in the future. I see nothing wrong with using rerailers on the layout as simulated grade crossings, in fact most manufacturers make their rerailers to look like grade crossings out of the box (although a little gray or lt brown paint makes it look more realistic than the black plastic).
I use Atlas rerailers at both ends of a hidden staging track on my current N-scale layout. Since access will be limited, I think they might save me some time and effort should anything start derailing. If that means my trackwork sucks, so be it.
Two and a half months ago–10 Apr to be exact–forum member UncBob posted a topic titled Rerailers–Yeah or Nay which, in essence, ask the same question; it got three pages of responses. Go to the “Search Community” and key in UncBob and go to page 3 of the screen and see what was said at that time!
I would love to lay trackwork–switchwork to be more exact; see my posting on that topic–that was derailment free but, unfortunately, I, more than many others, frequently fall into the evil clutches of a particular Mr Murphy.
Thanks for the reply’s and reassurance I guess until I shed mere mortal status and become a “Train God” as my wife likes to call em and lay perfect track work I’ll be following suit and using re-railers as planned. I think it was a very smart comment who said their cheap even cheaper then an Athearn B/B car. even more appreciated when they help in keeping the little more expensive items there as well.
Remember, faulty trackwork is only one reason for derailments to occur. As I wrote earlier, the vast majority of derailments I have experienced were due to a faulty 0-5-0 switcher error in placement of rolling stock on the tracks, and operator error - such as going thru a “wrong turned turnout” or drag racing a train from stop or sudden slack movements around curves.
Stuff happens. Derailments happen. I also take pride in well laid track, carefully gauged wheels, weighting to NMRA standards, and my trains do stay on the track.
I also have rerailers at strategic locations and on all “underground” track, just in case.
Your friend needs to come out into the real world and operate trains more. Re-railers are your friend! Great for staging, and faster then hands. Faster means less handling of rolling stock. I’ve never used one as a grade crossing although I’ve pondered building my own re-railer as a grade crossing!
I use lots of them for grade crossings, but I modify them by cutting away the side ramps where they begin their downward slope. I would rather elevate my roadbed than use the Atlas bevel. They still work as a rerailer to put cars on track.
I have over 300’ of hidden track and have gone with the common wisdom of putting re-railers before and after turnouts etc. In the four years now that some of the track has been in, I haven’t had the re-railers save any derailments. I am very careful about my track work in the hidden areas and haven’t had any track work caused derailments yet (operator error, sure). All the track is code 100 and Peco turnouts.
They are handy for re-railing cars that have been 0-5-0’ ed from another area. I have noticed that for some reason they are harder to keep clean, this could be a problem in the years to come as I bury them under hardshell…If I had a “do-over”, I might use a lot less of them. I don’t use them in visible areas.