06-18-2010, 06:20 PM
Gary, I think the easiest way to mark the magnets would be to make a tie at each end a different color. It might be a new tie where the rest are weathered, or it might be a tie so weathered that it looks ready to be replaced, or it could be a tie just a little longer than the rest of the ties. If it is consistent throughout the layout, you would know about it, but it would not be obvious to anyone observing unless it was pointed out to them. The other thing I've noticed on most of the spurs around the City Of Industry before I retired was a derail is located at every spur to derail any rail car that might get loose and roll through the switch onto the mainline. Each of those derails is marked by a sign on a post. The post and sign is white with simple block lettering saying "DERAIL" in caps. Those tracks were all on the UP, but it wouldn't surprise me if Santa Fe did the same thing. All of the spur were lower than the main line that they came off of, but they had derails installed with a sign anyway. If the derail sign just happened to be on the next to the end of the magnet, it would work as a reference point and be a very realistic detail at the same time.