My HO layout has a yard area that needs a short rerailer, about 5 or 6 inches long intact, to fit between existing spiked and ballasted turnouts. Nickel silver, code 100, preferably. Does such a product or project instruction exist? Any info or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
You could always buy a 9" long one and cut it down to fit the required space.
If you need a rerailer then what you really need is to either fix you track or watch how you line your switches. No layout should ever need a rerailer.
Dave H.
Dave, I beg to differ. When changing-out rolling stock, adding a new car, or that once-in-a-while instance that I’m not perfect, it’s a great help for not-so-young hands & eyes!! Glasses & bright lights help the eyes, but I’ve yet to figure out what to do about these old hands!![|(]
I plan to include one in my staging yards, it just makes adding cars to the yard that much easier and faster. Fiddling with a steam loco is a bit of a pain without one, too!
[;)]
I forgot to add that I have a Challenger & a Turbine - try putting them on without a re-railer!![banghead]
I have a 2-8-8-2 and its nearly inposible to get on there and I dont have a rerailer.
What about a home made rerailer?
With plastic you fill the area outside the track up to the rail head. And between the rails you can do it similar. All you can hide with some concrete color. Like a caboose track?
Wolfgang
They sell a plastic ramp that is useful for putting cars on the track. You could probably extend it with sheet plastic so it would hold an entire challenger or turbine all at once.
If you have to put a rerailer in then you will have to cut one down to size, either cutting a section out of the middle of a 9" one, the cutting away enough under the rails to pput a rail joiner between the two halves or cutting out the plastic “ramps”, trimming them to size and glueing them to flex track.
Dave H.
Ah but Dave,you are forgetting old Murphy and his laws…Even the best of the best can’t escape his laws…
While I will fully agree good smooth track work,couplers and trip pins at the correct height and wheels in gauge ensures 99.9% smooth operation you still have that .1% covered by Murphy.
Might do as in an above post. Cut down an Atlas Rerailer and disguise it. Neither my home layout or the club’s layout have rerailers. Derailments on both layouts do happen but not that often. Not sure if you are experiencing many derailments or some other problem.
On the club layout the rollingstock has to be removed from the layout when it is going to a show. We use the Kadee uncoupler magnets to rail the rollingstock after the layout is reassembled.
I have a total of six. Four are the plastic type, two straight and two curved. One of the curved ones is one the inside loop because it was an easy way to get power to the track. The other curved one is on the outside main, again as a power connection point and to make putting rolling stock on the track that much easier. The two straight ones are on spurs and serve well as power connection points. The remaining two are homemade grade crossings.
I have two on my layout, one in a tunnel and the other in the back where it can’t be seen. I don’t really “need” them. They are a more just in case something goes wrong. Both are hidden. I agree with fixing the track issues. I tried to use one to mask a track problem until I finally fixed the track. But on the other hand with so many different types of rolling stock, something can always go wrong. I find them a good safety mechanism.
I have some of the old brass rerailers from Atlas, left overs from my original layout from the early '60’s. The rerailer setion measures 5-3/8 inches long, which is quite a bit shorter than the newer Atlas nickel-silver rerailers.
You might find some of the older ones at a train show, or perhaps an older LHS may still have some in stock. If desired, you may be able to slide the brass rail out of the rerailer, and replace it with NS rail. The rail slides pretty easily in the one I dug out of the box here.
I use the rerailers like Jeffrey mentioned, as grade crossings on my layout. I currently have 6 on the main layout, and 5 on the new addition (under construction).
I don’t have much problems, but every now and then, they do catch a derailment before it becomes a disaster. And it does make it easier to rail new cars on the layout.
Rotor
RIX makes a portable re-railer, or rather, “railer,” because it’s only for putting cars on the track:
I’ve got one, which I use occasionally. It requires a reasonable straight stretch of track, and won’t work too well on turnouts or curves.
I think I have one of those in HO, but I haven’t seen it for years. [:-^]
The Kid has a couple for his N scale layout. They do work well for adding cars and locos to the layout.
Rotor
Dave, the original post was not mine - I just commented on the necessity for some of us - my necessity is my 12 year old grandson who has some motor skills issues. We added a rerailer on a siding that has the LL “operating” log mill & gravel loader - for the grandson. Before that, we both used the Atlas turntable for “re-railing” which works pretty good for that purpose - even the Challenger & Turbine!! If re-railers can be disguised as road crossings fine - or if they can be put in an out of sight position. I don’t think any of us - well most of us - would place them in an obvious location!! My [2c][2c] 4c because it’s a lenthy reply [:D]
[:)] Considering that I raised the rerailer question, and the responses are great, I owe you guys some clarifying info. My layout and rolling stock developed over 40 years, and I am now age 81, which Ivanhem might have sensed. Tearing up well-established OLD trackage is not an option, and the Atlas rerailers I used as grade crossings have proven their worth in showing up the subtle defects in OLD wheelsets and drooping replacement couplers and the like. Kcole4001 and BRAKIE have right ideas. Also I use the “portable” plastic rerailer that dhusman suggested, for quickly putting a string of cars on the track, like when a friend brings over his favorites to run. My old 5-prong crane does not work well to put a car back on track in an occupied yard, so I want to install a rerail track (less than 9-inch, unfortunately) into the yard entrance as an extra precaution. With all the experienced advice you responded, it looks like what I need is not manufactured in recent years. My old LHDs are long gone, but I’ll look for a vintage short brass rerailer, as I think was suggested by Mr. SP, and change the rail if I can find one. Lacking that, maybe I can use the idea of cutting up a 9-inch Atlas rerailer and gluing the needed portions to a thin piece of styrene for mounting. What do you think?
OOps, it was Rotoranch who suggested the vintage brass rerailer! Thanks! And thanks too, to Mr.SP for advice.
Building a custom-made rerailer for a strange location is a strong idea, and might be the most fun to consider. Thanks! bobbauie