Where to install rerailer.

[thumsup]

Greeting all,

I'm ready to lay track and was wondering if and where would a rerailer be used?

Thanks,

Joe

[nachoman]

Since there really is no prototype for a rerailer, your best bet is to put them where they will be useful, but mostly out of view. They do kinda look like a grade crossing, so you may want to try and disguise one as such, but even there they don't look that great. If you have a long tunnel, it may be nice to put one inside the tunnel just in case you have a derailment in the tunnel. Or perhaps place one in the corner of your layout or near where you normally place locomotives or cars on the rails. They do help a little when placing cars on the rails.

I've never put one on a layout - but they don't offer them in my gauge or rail size. If your track is laid correctly and your wheelsets are in gauge, you won't have many derailments anyway. I believe in fixing the cause of the derailment rather than placing something in the track that rerails the cars after they have derailed.

[thumsup]

Thanks Kevin for your input. Of course not anything I was thinking
With this being my first layout, I'll do as you suggested, hide them.
Off to work on the railroad. Later.

Joe

[yellowlynn]

Any time you have a hard job, put a lazy man on it. He'll ALWAYS find an easy way. Me, I put lots of rerailers in. Seems like they are never where I want one. I have several different train consists, and when I take one off to put another down, I don't feel like walking 627 yards to set each car on the track. ALWAYS one close to the workbench so I can just swivel and see how something tracks. 'Course, I don't call that lazy, that just makes sense.

Lynn

[TrainNut]

I have several different train consists, and when I take one off to put another down, I don't feel like walking 627 yards to set each car on the track.Lynn

Wow, you must have a big layout! Lesseee, 627 yards = 1,881 feet!

[yellowlynn]

OK Trainnut, alright already. So I didn't measure it. Maybe it's only 611 yards

Lynn

[TrainNut]

I have several different train consists, and when I take one off to put another down, I don't feel like walking 627 yards to set each car on the track.Lynn

It's not that far fetched if you think about it. Let's look at this... you did say that you had several consists... For the sake of gumption, let's pick 5.
5 consists of 25 cars each (short trains) for a total of 125 cars.
Now let's speculate that you have to walk 15' from your storage vault to your nearest rerailer to place two cars at a time (assuming you've got two hands) and then 15' back for the next two cars.
If you do this consistently for all 125 cars (5 consists), you will have walked 1,881 feet or 627 yards!
Adds up fast, don't it?
I bet your wife would never believe you if you told her you were going to go and get some exercise by operating some trains!

[yellowlynn]

Thanks! Whew, I didn't know how I was going to get out of that one. Anyway, back to the original idea, I like rerailers all over so I don't have to move far, no matter.

Lynn

[BR60103]

I saw a prototype picture of one on the approach to a bridge. Made up from angle irons, but the same basic concept.
I would put them where you can't get at the track easily. One on the track where you put the trains on, but I use a portable one for that.
After you start operating you will find out where you should have put them.

[MountainMan]

Always in hidden and/or below table staging areas!

[Russ Bellinis]

Actually the prototype calls them "guard rails", and they are located on every bridge deck. They just don't try to make them look like road crossings.

[BR60103]

Russ: the picture I saw was a structure like a rerailer. It's the first item in this article so it may be considered guard rails.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mrol.com.au/Files/Articles/PaulPlowman/Guard%20Rails.pdf">http://www.mrol.com.au/Files/Articles/P ... 0Rails.pdf</a><!-- m -->

[Russ Bellinis]

Russ: the picture I saw was a structure like a rerailer. It's the first item in this article so it may be considered guard rails.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mrol.com.au/Files/Articles/PaulPlowman/Guard%20Rails.pdf">http://www.mrol.com.au/Files/Articles/P ... 0Rails.pdf</a><!-- m -->

It is not angle iron, that is rail stock laid on it's side. I think I've also seen them constructed from a smaller rail laid inside the rail on the mainline. The NMRA gauge has a pin on one edge that is designed to set the spacing between the rails and the guard rails. In my opinion, scale guard rails look a lot better than a "fake" railroad crossing. For railing cars on your layout, Rix makes a neat, inexpensive tool. It is wedge shaped and acts like a sort of funnel (actually if you look at the top of the tool, it is 2 funnels, one for each rail. You lay it on the tracks and set a car on it and allow it to roll down. When the car gets to the tracks, the wheels line up perfectly. Keep one of these Rix tools on your work bench, and just carry it to where ever you want to put a train on the tracks. Most of the guys in the modular club carry one in their tool box that they take to shows.