I am sure that everybody out there will think that this is an absolutely rediculous question, but I will ask it anyway. Are rerailers needed, and how many should a track have? I am guessing that the number would be dependent on the size of the layout. Is there a way to hide or disguise them into normal track?
I am going to be building my layout in HO, and I am not planning on having many curves that are more than 18" radius.
Thank you for any information that you can give me.
Gary
No, rerailers are generally not needed. They are typically found on the prototype on very sharp curves, but are not really functional for a model railroader unless you are modeling urban or industrial trackage, in which case there is no need to disguise them as they would definitely belong there.
That helps out quite a bit. I didn’t see much point in them, and honestly I thought that the premade ones looked pretty cheesy. I wasn’t looking forward to putting one on my layout.
Thanks again for information.
They are not prototypical, anywhere.
They are easily disguised as street crossings. They are useful for putting rolling stock on the rails, but a RIX railer is better for that. If you have tunnels, you may want to use them in there.
okay, what I was thinking of was inner guardrails, like one sees on the inside of sharp curves and on bridges. nfmisso is right, though, a “rerailer” is a model-railroady thing one uses to put trains back on the track.
I have seen rerailers used for hidden staging yards, since they will not be seen and this is a location one will be swapping out equipment constantly, plus they ensure that the coming-and-going trains don’t derail in a hard-to-reach place.
One other place that I see them a lot is in Helixes. In fact, I have designed my helix so that I can put one every complete revolution - intent is to reduce the number of times that I may have to climb inside to rescue a car with a set of trucks on the ground.
I agree with above-posters that a rerailer such as the Atlas has a role to play in hidden trackage. If you have “active” staging – where cars are taken on and off the layout (often according to car forwarding methods) then rerailers are really very useful. I have seen staging yards where every track has two rerailers at the end of the stub
If I modeled N I would try to have at least one visible rerailer because at my age I have a heck of a time seeing to get the wheels on the track. Of course another alternative is the removable rerailer such as Rix makes.
Dave Nelson
I agree with all the above. Cheesy, yet functional. I include many of them in areas they are not seen, or areas where a derailed train is hard to reach. I have found them to be very helpful in preventing large derail’s. Kind of the “stitch in time …” theory.
I’ve just seen a picture of a prototype for a rerailer. the site is
http://www.gppsoftware.com/sitenet/ShowPage.asp?SiteId=4
(model railways on-line) and there is a picture of a bridge where, as well as the guard rails between the tracks, there are two rails mounted outside the tracks running in the way a rerailer does.
The magazine is a couple of megabytes to download and the pic is on page 9.
Thanks for the link.
What’s really interesting is the guard rails are rails on their side.
Enjoy
Paul
Interesting indeed–as mentioned above, often trolley modelers will simulate girder rail with rails set on the OTHER side, nestled up against the track. Guard rail like the above is common on bridges, as the article mentions–such things are visible on the prototype–or on extremely sharp curves. In the real-life locations where I have seen them, it is typically rail set in its “normal” way in between the outer rails.
Of course, there are other places where such setups might come into play–dual-gauge track, or “gantlet” track where two lines merge with each other through a narrow tunnel or bridge.
I have used them ( I assume you mean the ones made by Atlas) in tunnels and in some hidden track I have under the layout. If a car goes off in an inaccessable part of your layout it can save you some trouble by rerailing the car. If its hidden, what have you got to lose?
Rerailers come in almost every set of trak. I like to use one near the end of the team track. Another goes in front of the station where crews or passengers would need to cross the track. Some are also used to provide simple electrical connections from the track to the pack.
Some turnouts may need a shim to the guard rail. Other guard rails are used on bridge trak. What you have to lose is a car thay obeys Murphy & Newton. It derails where you can’t reach and breaks where it falls.