What are the rules concerning rerailers on bridges?
How far do they extend from the bridge?
How far from the main rail should they be?
Anything else I should know?
I have a couple of bridges that are ready for the reailers and want to do them right.
Thanks
Joe
Bridges do not have rerailers. That is strictly a model device. I think you may be confusing bridge guard rails with a rerailer. The purpose of guard rails is to prevent a deailed wheel or truck from wandering and either damaging the bridge or going over the side. they should extend beyond the end of the bridge at both ends.
While not common, there is a picture of a rerailer on a bridge in one issue of Model Railways online.
http://www.gppsoftware.com/sitenet/ShowPage.asp?SiteId=3
It looks like a structural steel version of a model railway rerailer,
The guard rails on a bridge don’t usually go very far past the end, but they may go farther if the bridge is approached from an embankment.
The end of the gurad rails can have several variations, and the distance from the running rails seems to vary (I saw a picture where it varied along the same bridge.)
Bridge guard rails are usually about 8 inches in from the running rails, but are usually eyeballed rather than laid with a gauge, so they may vary or even wander a little. In my experience they taper in to the center line about a carlength short of any above-rail bridge structure. Some railroads use a wedge-shaped casting to give them a blunt point, some don’t.
Since they aren’t intended to carry any weight guard rails usually consist of whatever junk rail the track gang had available, usually (but not always) of a lower profile than the running rails, laid directly on the ties without tie plates.
Guard rails are also used in tunnels, where a minor derailment can quickly escalate to a major disaster.
Thanks all for the info. Obviously, I was not sure what the rails were called. Thanks for the link as well. A picture is worth a lot, especially in my case.
Joe