Track Bumpers

I have a four-track single-ended yard on my layout. Ive just finished laying the track and now I need to decide what type of car stop to use. The single-ended yard design may already be less than prototypical, but I was wondering if anyone has prototype pictures or first hand knowledge of track bumpers in a North American yard situation? Could I scratchbuild rail bumpers that bolt to the rails, or should I opt for the commercially available design made from spare pieces of rail? Thanks for any input.

cnz4956 wrote:

I have a four-track single-ended yard on my layout. Ive just finished laying the track and now I need to decide what type of car stop to use. The single-ended yard design may already be less than prototypical, but I was wondering if anyone has prototype pictures or first hand knowledge of track bumpers in a North American yard situation? Could I scratchbuild rail bumpers that bolt to the rails, or should I opt for the commercially available design made from spare pieces of rail? Thanks for any input.

There are a variety of options. Here's one option.

Loren,
Those are interesting wheel stops. I don't think I have ever seen anything like those. Are they something just used in Southern Oregon?

OH, GO BUCKEYES ! ! ! !

Loren... Make sets of those with your lazer and sell them!

Loren, thanks for the pic. That's similar to the design I'm thinking of using.

(another drawing)

I took this photo in Palmer, AK 4 years ago and thought it was a cool way to "chock" a train.

Those railroad ties certainly look well used.......

loadmaster wrote:

Loren,
Those are interesting wheel stops. I don't think I have ever seen anything like those. Are they something just used in Southern Oregon?

OH, GO BUCKEYES ! ! ! !

No no no Robert, you had it all wrong........but Oregon did put up a good challenge.
Oh well, maybe another time.

TechRep wrote:

Loren... Make sets of those with your lazer and sell them!

Believe me Alex, the thought has crossed my mind.

I have,(somewhere) a picture of a crude cement bumper used right here in Medford.
But as luck would have it, I can't find it so I'll go down tomorrow and retake the photograph and then post it. I've thought about making this one too.
When I post the picture, tell me if you think it would fly?

I'll have some of these cement bumpers on my yard module because I'm actually modeling the Medford yards to some extent.

Loren

alaska-rr wrote:

I took this photo in Palmer, AK 4 years ago and thought it was a cool way to "chock" a train.

That's called a derail--a portable version that can be placed anywhere it's needed. It's used to prevent a stray car from rolling onto a mainline by derailing it. Here's a permanent derail, located on a siding, that can be made active or inactive using a switch stand:

Here's a "survivor"...

Lots of food for thought:

flickr.com/photos/57182853@N00/2381332033

flickr.com/photos/55976115@N00/3849982027

flickr.com/photos/61787893@N00/350528596

flickr.com/photos/61787893@N00/350528600

www.azrymuseum.org/Projects/Tumbleweed/DSCN2153sm.jpg

www.trainweb.org/algoma/Images/Locations/Sault/endoftrack.jpg

www.trainweb.org/algoma/Images/Details/wheelstops.jpg

www.trainweb.org/AbandonedLIRR/freightsidings/gm1.jpg

trainweb.org/AbandonedLIRR/riverhead/riverhead13.jpg

www.nolancompany.com/Main/Pictures/Photos-for-web-091603/Lg-CS-60R-up-1.jpg

4.bp.blogspot.com/_K1TqwC7GI4I/RzAerGYxp2I/AAAAAAAAAiA/Za23BAe46TI/s400/yard_1.jpg

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Hayes_bumper,_Linden,_Indiana.jpg

www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=173087&nseq=7

www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=185427&nseq=20

www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=248792&nseq=1

www.classicalvalues.com/TreeRails.jpg

www.wch.com/newstps.htm

Gee Dave,
Only 17 choices? What ever happened to freedom of speech?

Here's yet another one that is right here in Medford......kind of bulky, but I'm sure it works.......

Oops, I had to resize the picture.......

I'm sorry guys, but I think my server likes to play games with me. I did not send the picture twice or the text. It's the electronic gremlins.

Jim, go ahead and axe one set please.

My trouble is I take every photo with high resolution and the pictures have to be resized for ZCS to accept them. I get told initially that the photo won't go through and then whammo, it happens. Must be operator error:side:
Loren

Hi Loren, Unless you are selling you photos for wallsized posters simply use 1600x1200 on you camera and life will be much more enjoyable. Trust me, I was teacher! Cheers, Jim CCRR:woohoo:

Socalz44 wrote:

Hi Loren, Unless you are selling you photos for wallsized posters simply use 1600x1200 on you camera and life will be much more enjoyable.

Well, not to quibble, but here's the problem: you never know in advance how a photograph might be used. If you always used them full frame, this would work. But sometimes you may need to crop in tighter on just a part of an image, and if it's shot at a lower resolution with no opportunity to re-shoot it, you're out of luck.

As a rule I always tell everyone to set their digital cameras to the very highest resolution possible, and leave it that way, because it's all too easy to forget to reset the resolution after changing it. That way you'll always have every possible pixel you may need. It's much less punishing to bump the resolution down after taking it than to be kicking yourself for not having the image you needed.