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TrainPro Manufacturing Co. analog rivet counting tool
This is something the hobby has needed for a long time.
Finally! A companion tool for my visitor’s hand held nit picker. Will it work for counting rivets on large truss bridges or will I need a fascia marking tool for every 10,000 rivets…
Sounds like an April Fools joke to me.
APRIL FOOL !!!
Anyone considering purchase of this product should bear the cover date of the magazine in mind.
Digital counters are also available that can sense the rivet/tie/pea/rock and count them automatically. The Standard Tool comes with a 0.2 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.6 mm, 0.8 mm and 3.0 mm laser head to match the size range of the object being counted. The Standard Tool uses a
You can always tell it’s the middle of February when MR brings out its April First NeOw PrOducts SpeciaL EdiSion!!
I found it of little use to me and had to return it. I’m sure if it had included a small magnifying glass it would have been more useful!
I don’t intend to purchase the analog version of the rivet counter…I’m sure that the manufacturer will have a digital version available shortly.
One of the best products I’ve read about in a while. Brought a smile to my face. Well played, Neil!
This product will not quiet the rivet counters; if anything, it will make them more vociferous. A fine item to review in the April issue. Good move, Neil.
April Fool. Got mine last year.
It’s always a treat finding the ‘April Fool’s joke’ in your April issue, especially since it arrives at the end of Feb./early March; tho’ I must confess, you really had me ‘hooked’ the first couple of years I subscribed! One of my favorites was ‘NoTrak’, and another was the ‘magnetic wall car holder’. Keep up the tradition!
it’s got to be april. I don’t need to count rivets.
Another must have item. I hope they’ll have the digital version in gold finish by April 1.
Can’t wait to order a six pack for the guys in our club!
Just when I was thinking I’d overlooked this years April Fool’s joke…I found this. Funny guys…but on a serious note, a lot of reader might be interested to know that the real railroads actually do give their conductors these very same counters…although not for the purpose of counting rivets. Norfolk Southern (and probably the rest) issue one of these to each new conductor for the day when they’ll eventually encounter a “defect” in their train as announced by the wayside detectors that are scattered every so many miles along most main lines. Generally a detector will be one of several varieties…hot box (or hot journal technically), hot wheel, dragging equipment, or some combination thereof. Upon detection the crew will be notified by an electronic voice from the detector that whichever problem has been found and which axle it is associated with. The train is required to stop as soon as it is safe and the conductor is to make a walking inspection. These counters help keep track of axles as you walk. The rulebook states you are to check 20 axles ahead and behind the announced one…or in other words, 5 cars (assuming a car has two trucks with two axles apiece). Trying to keep count in your head could be difficult, so you simply click this device each time you pass an axle, starting with the first axle on the first locomotive. A good conductor will also take a printed copy of his train consist along to keep up with car numbers as well, because whether you find a problem or not, the dispatcher is going to want to know the number of the car involved, and it’s position in your train. So, although as a “rivet counter” this device is nothing more than an “All Fools Day” prank…it is actually used in real railroading for a practical purpose!
we hoped Trainpro had worked out the bugs in their rivet counting app for release in Spring 2014 
Version 2.0 barks comments using voice synthesis when the counted number of rivets doesn’t match the prototype.