Yesterday I received the Walthers Track Bumpers, part 948-83109, I had ordered. I went to install them today. I noticed a burr on the top of all of them. I took a small file and with the first stroke, and it was not a hard stroke, the bumper fell apart. I tried gluing it back with SuperGlue, but it would not hold. I then tried using Plastruct Bondene and it would also not hold. I tried gluing another one to the track ties and it would not hold. I do not know what kind of plastic this is, but whatever it is it is flimsy and does not handle glue well. I would not trust these bumpers to stop a locomotive going at a moderate speed from blasting through the bumper to the floor.
I do not want you thinking that I would purposefully run a train at high speed into any bumper. But I have grandchildren and visitors who might do so accidentally. I am not willing to risk my equipment on these flimsy bumpers.
In the past I used Tomar Industries Bumping Posts, they are a lot more expensive, but as they are made of soldered metal, they are strong and easy to install as long as you remember to isolate them from the rest of the track. I guess I was penny wise and pound foolish.
I recently purchased a package of those, or I think it’s the same ones. I will be assembling them soon. I guess maybe something like Parr adhesive/sealant should work, or maybe Aleene’s Tacky Glue. But, if they don’t stand up well, they’re kinda useless.
In years past I have crafted the often seen timber and gravel ramps or bumpers.
15 or so years ago I picked up the 12-pk kit of the unpainted Walthers track bumpers (PN 933-3511) and assembled them with Testor Liquid Cement. (Plastruct Plastic Well would be a better choice.) Using CA, I reinforced the bottom side with two strips of 10x10 scale lumber (so that they fit in-between the ties) and they actually work and work quite well. They are also removable:
I used a Athearn BB F7 as my test locomotive and it stopped it cold at runaway speed. If you’re interested I have a how-to tutorial for making them working bumpers.
I bought a bunch of those bumpers when they first were available as kits. I found them to be rather robust.
In the places where I needed them to actually stop an errant car I drilled a small hole in the crossmember and used a long track spike to hold the bumper in place.
I did notice that when Walthers sourced their injection molding to countries in Asia, they began to use a very poor grade of styrene. Most of their earlier styrene Cornerstone kits were made in Denmark. I first noticed this when attempting to glue parts from their refinery piping kit. I’ll bet the styrene is loaded with more recycled junk.
If you are truly looking for something to STOP the movement of trains past a certain point you’d be best served by making your own and drilling into the sub roadbed for secure anchorage.
I have to respectfully disagree. I have around two dozen of the Walthers bumping posts, and I love them. They are not as fragile as you indicate and when glued to the end the tracks, they perform well.
I started out some years back with Tomar Industries bumping posts but, as you say, they are way too expensive, especially if you need a lot of them. And, since they are conductive, you need to isolate them from the powered tracks. Kind of a pain.
This thread got me wondering about the status of bumpers on my layout, so I did a quick inventory, keeping in mind that there’s two more towns, each with several industrial sidings, yet to be built.
The count revealed 19 Walthers bumpers in use, with another four stored in the crane yard at Lowbanks. Most of the in-use ones are simply sitting at the ends of industrial sidings, not glued in place.
The Tuckett Tobacco factory, in Mount Forest, has a pair of cast-metal bolt-on types (not yet painted) at the end of the siding. I have another two pairs of those on hand…
Here’s one of the Walthers bumpers at GERN Industries…
…while it has a bit of ballast and ground cover stuck to it, it’s simply sitting there, not glued in place.
Here’s another one at GERN…
…it may or may not be cemented in-place, but it’s likely that the scenic material heaped on part of it will keep it where it is. There are 19 Walthers bumpers currently in service, plus another four stored at Lowbanks
Here are a couple places using the always-dependable heap of dirt and gravel as a bumper-stop…
…and there’s another dozen in use on this layout.
Here’s the four more spare Walthers bumpers in the crane yard behind the engine shop in Lowbanks, along with four from Peco…
I think there may be a bit of confusion about exactly which Walthers track bumpers we are talking about. Several posters have referred to the Walthers track bumper kits part #933-3511 ($14.98 for 12) that have been available for years. The OP is referring to the newer Walthers preassembled track bumpers part #948-83109 ($9.98 for 4). I have several of the kit version and, like others have said, they are pretty solid (assuming the right glue was used of course).
My suggestion to the OP would be to contact Walthers directly and tell them about his experience with the prebuilt bumpers. Walthers is generally not a company that sells junk. I’m sure they would want to know if a customer is experiencing problems with a product.
I did note the difference. That’s why I listed the different PN in my reply.
And I agree that contacting Walthers is a good suggestion. How else are they going to know there is a possible issue with their product if no one says anything?
Aren’t these modelling a particular railroad specific type of passenger station end of track hydraulic or spring bumper? I use them clipped in only and they work to arrest a rolling car but not a powered locomotive. They look out of place anywhere outside a passenger car facility. Once our layout starts getting scenicked they’re gonzo.
A freight yard prototype track bumper will not stop a locomotive and probably not a string of cars. The Hayes or the cast iron rail stops are surely for only low speed rolling freight cars.
I have all four types and would not rely on any of them to arrest a model on its way to the edge of the layout. I just bought a pack of the Walthers preassembled units. I find the kit version uninspiring to build. I have one Peco version not yet assembled. Neither of my layouts is far enough along to need these yet. Woodland Scenics Foam nails (large T pins) work very well. In fact an ordinary dress makers pin partially stuck into the roadbed between the rails is effective enough practically speaking.
Relying on these to stop models leaving the layout is not smart imho. Scenery appropriately constructed or physical barriers such as acrylic or hardboard at table edge will work 100% of the time.
I use an exacto knife to trim flashing or burrs off styrene. More accurate control.
I purchased a pack of these years ago and haven’t had the problems you have. I don’t know if they are using cheaper plastic now to save money. It’s also possible yours got damaged during handling somewhere along the line. If something were dropped on them, it could weaken the plastic. Mine are primarily for appearances. I find them to be more realistic looking than the bulky Atlas ones although I’ve used a few of those as well. I’ve also used the Tomar wheel stops in places. Whatever I think would look right in a particular location.
As is? - I would agree. However, my reinforced version did stop (cold) an old Athearn BB F7 at runaway speed. And there was no harm to either the F7 or the modified Hayes bumper after the test.
He is just disagreeing with me because that is all he knows how to do… it is sad.
The OP asked about stopping trains, and I showed a bumper that when, as I said, is nailed all the way into the subroadbed, atually will stop a powered train and prevent it from kissing the floor.
I was trying to help the OP with his desired goals. Lesser people just want to start low-information arguments.
The OP suggests that even nailing down one of these Walthers Hayes bumpers wouldn’t work.
I’m not sure nailing down an inappropriate passenger station bump stop is a reasonable method of preventing models leaving the layout. For locomotives it is pretty easy to just gap a rail…for most rolling stock a track bumper just marks the end of track for an operator. More robust and realistic looking things like scenery would be a better and more reliable method.
Edge of layout physical barriers are fine because our layout has to end somewhere.
Who said it’s inappropriate? Did the OP ever specify these would be used outside of a passenger facility? What says these are passenger station specific anyway, outside of you guessing?
Completely agree. Then again there’s always the potential for momentum generated by flywheels (not to mention a keep alive like you mentioned) to carry them quite a distance. You could counter that by gapping quite a length of track, but if you want to be able to run normally on that length of rail it defeats the purpose.
What??
Yup. Model lakes, parking lots, flat terrain, and roads stop trains cold. [%-)]More specific would have been more helpful to the OP.
The OP had bump stop disintegrate when stroked with a file. I’m fairly sure nailing it down wouldn’t help.
Thanks for the locomotive bogging down scenery tips.
The post about the Atlas bumpers was just friendly banter with my forum buddy who always descends into the pit eventually. I infer it’s just a personality problem.
A prototype version.