A few months ago, I bought a kit of handrails to add to my IHC GP7 that I've been redecorating into CNR colours. I received helpful advice on this forum re obtaining these handrails. The ones I bought were made by the Smokey Valley Railroad company. Once I received them, the handrails looked very complicated and messy to assemble, so I haven't done anything with them since I received them a few months ago!

The other night, I thought I'd have another go, but the handrails don't seem to match up with the picture/diagram of the GP7. I compared the bits of wire that came with this kit but nothing really seems to match up exactly with the picture.

So, now I'm thinking of drilling the holes for the stanchions and the fitting the bits of wire through them the best I can by simply following (or eye-balling) the diagram, and re-bending/tweaking the wire as necessary.

Has anyone else used these kits and have any advice? I also want to make them quite sturdy as my 7-year-old son occasionally handles my trains.

Thanks in advance,
Rob

Rob: did the picture come with the handrails or is a prototype? The kit may be for some other road's geep. I never got handrails to look perfect when installed and I was installing the handrails that came with the loco.

Thanks, David. They came with a diagram for a CNR GP7, which is what my model is. I think I'll just follow the diagram and see how it looks.

Cheers, Rob

When all else fails, read and follow the directions.

P5se Camelback Wrote:

When all else fails, read and follow the directions.

Don't take that personally, Robert! It's just a phrase that Brother Bob
and I used to say while looking at each other and laughing. It usually
had to do with our Grandmother's approach to the kitchen!

You always knew she had been the one to open the cereal box ...
... it would look like it had been opened by a chain saw!

Thanks! This obviously makes sense except, in this case, the shapes of the parts (the wire handrails) do not match up with the diagram. I'll follow the instructions as much as I can. Rob

P5se Camelback Wrote:

When all else fails, read and follow the directions.

Don't take that personally, Robert! It's just a phrase that Brother Bob
and I used to say while looking at each other and laughing. It usually
had to do with our Grandmother's approach to the kitchen!
You always knew she had been the one to open the cereal box ...
... it would look like it had been opened by a chain saw!

In the military...Navy at least, the phrase was RTFB.....Read The Foolish Book!
.....and yes, it was taken "that" ( ) seriously.........and yes, there are times when I still... RTFB.

RobertInOntario Wrote:Has anyone else used these kits and have any advice? I also want to make them quite sturdy as my 7-year-old son occasionally handles my trains.

Thanks in advance,
Rob

I LOVE smokey valley handrail kits. if you don't like them send them to me.

The problem with those kits though, is for some reason they don't give you a solid handrail, they give you two pieces and then you cut them to fit, preferably at a stanchion. I usually just take some .020 brass wire and bend the handrail myself, which isn't to hard, and you can use the existing handrails to make sure its right.

all you have to do is put the SMALLEST droplet of CA on the hooked tip of the stanchion, and hold the wire in it. that will hold it all together very well and without looking messy.

I used them on my C32-8 and my GP15-1. I hope to find more kits for future projects, but they are hard to find.

yes, they are hard to find indeed, is it a part time venture for that company I wonder, or have they stopped trading?
I love them too, there's not that many other companies offering decent handrails, or even just the stanchions for that matter. I like them, and I still need loads more myself for all those projects I've started and never finished yet....
The diagrams I take with a pinch of salt, they may just be generic. I use pictures etc and bend the actual handrails myself too, using CA glue indeed, sometimes I go with the handrail that came of the model and shape my wire accordingly, or I try to find a drawing and follow that.

Koos

torikoos Wrote:yes, they are hard to find indeed, is it a part time venture for that company I wonder, or have they stopped trading?
I love them too, there's not that many other companies offering decent handrails, or even just the stanchions for that matter. I like them, and I still need loads more myself for all those projects I've started and never finished yet....
The diagrams I take with a pinch of salt, they may just be generic. I use pictures etc and bend the actual handrails myself too, using CA glue indeed, sometimes I go with the handrail that came of the model and shape my wire accordingly, or I try to find a drawing and follow that.

Koos

That's basically what I'm going to do -- follow the instructions along with the diagram! (I'm a very visual person so the diagram will be very helpful.)

The point made above, in an earlier posting, is helpful -- i.e. to join (glue or solder) the wires at the stanchions if necessary. I think I'm going to have to do that with my GP7's handrails as it appears that some of them are too short. I hope to try this project later this week.

I have some CA glue and it does work very well.

Thanks, Rob

just get some new wire and bend the whole thing as one piece. Though i've seen people manage to merge the two stock wire pieces, i think its more of a headache in the long run.

all the smokey valley handrails are like that, and i've never understood that, except maybe for packing purposes.

Green_Elite_Cab Wrote:just get some new wire and bend the whole thing as one piece. Though i've seen people manage to merge the two stock wire pieces, i think its more of a headache in the long run.

all the smokey valley handrails are like that, and i've never understood that, except maybe for packing purposes.

Thanks! Maybe it's for packing purposes or maybe they simply mass produce a batch of generic handrails that end up having to be "custom" fitted for each model?

I also thought of using some thicker (i.e. slightly too large / out-of-scale) wire because my young son often handles my models. If the wire is too fine or flimsy, I'll almost certainly end up having to fix it at some point. I'm not too worried about the out-of-scale issue because, when viewed from a distance, the handrails will probably still look realistic.

Cheers,

once you get all the handrails glued in, it will be very stiff. If anything, using larger wire might be a bad idea, since it might not seat into the flange properly, and there fore not fit so tightly

Green_Elite_Cab Wrote:once you get all the handrails glued in, it will be very stiff. If anything, using larger wire might be a bad idea, since it might not seat into the flange properly, and there fore not fit so tightly

Thanks for the heads-up re this. I'll either use the wire that came with it then or, at least, use the same thickness if I need to replace it.

In any case, I'll still "warn" my son not to be too rough with it!

If your son is going to handle the models, he should always pick up a diesel locomotive by the tank, never by the body or handrails. That being said, I would recommend that you use piano wire of the correct size rather than brass wire. It is tougher, and less likely to bend or distort.

Russ Bellinis Wrote:If your son is going to handle the models, he should always pick up a diesel locomotive by the tank, never by the body or handrails. That being said, I would recommend that you use piano wire of the correct size rather than brass wire. It is tougher, and less likely to bend or distort.

Hm, thanks, Russ. I'll consider piano wire then, especially if it's tougher. I'll tell my son (or try to!) about how to pick the locos up, etc.. He's pretty good with our MRR stuff, although there is some damage now & then, which I simply tolerate. I'd sooner allow him some freedom (i.e. take some risks) here to encourage his railway interest, rather than put him off.