Is such a thing as a portable roadcrossing/Rerelair Hello, The photo below is Kato roadcrossing track, and this track helps engines and cars to be aligned on the tracks. I am wondering if there is such a thing that is portable, so it can be put on the tracks and when the train passes it can be removed. Thanks. Mo
Hi, That is a rerailer that is made to look like a grade crossing. Other track manufacturers have similar items. I do not know of any that are portable, maybe someone else does. Gary
Rix makes a ramp that you can use to put trains on the track,but I've never seen a rerailer that can be placed then removed...
Why do you want a portable re-railer? You can make one out of styrene or wood strips and move it from straight section to straight section. You can paint the re-railer a Rail Tie Brown.
Question? Are you referring to something in N scale or possible something that is done prototypical? BMLA makes a prefabricated road crossing used for modern road crossing which is made from either rubber or concrete. These style are manufactured first then delivered to were a road crossing is being built or reconstructed. So in a sense they are portable. Railheadz Picture below taken from BMLA's site showning actual modern road crossing.
Moshken, I was just viewing the photos of your old layout were you had derailment problems and noticed something. When you ballast your tracks did you make sure the ballast was at tie level? Some areas look to have ballast above the ties. And if you should have a build up on the inside of the rails thats high enough this may cause your equipment to ride up & over the rails. This is just an observation on my point and I might be wrong but I thought it might be worth noting.
I think Railheadz suggestion is the best (only?) solution. Or if you wanted to go with wood those from Blair Line should work. http://blairline.com/miscsce/ If you don't have a place or need for a grade crossing, if it could be located near a station one of the small ones from Blair Line could be used as a crossing for baggage carts. Ben
It looks to me like its intended to be 1/2 of a Japanese double track crossing. Most major mainlines in Japan are double tracked or quadruple tracked for shorter sections. Grade crossings are very common JR is estimated to have 3000 in Tokyo alone.
The approach ramps on each side of the roadcrossing are removable. And the ramps are not needed for rerailing purposes. I'm not sure how this helps, just stated because it is so. I think a portable rerailer would be difficult to build. It would have to incorporate the center guide as well as the two guides outside the rails and the 3 parts would have to be connected. If the connection was by thin rigid steel wires that could fit into gaps cut into the rails it might be possible. Maybe a dentist skilled in bridgework could build such a contraption. :tb-err: Ben
Ben: I built several of these out of styrene and wood for the "original" JJJ&E. I eventually cemented them in place.
:tb-ooh: Yep, I think putting a temporary rerailer in place and then removing it after the train had passed would be more trouble than righting a derailment. Ben
Hello Bob The one that you built, does it do the function of rerailing to put the train and trucks back on track? I think I am going to cement them as you did. Do you mind how did you do it? I have been looking every where with no success. Thanks Bob, Mo
I built several of these out of styrene and wood for the "original" JJJ&E. I eventually cemented them in place.
See if this will help to build your own using strip plastic or even stripwood. The image is an enlargement and you may want to download it to see the enlarged size. The parts I have marked in pencil are almost equal to rail height. On the Kato rerailer the "V" shaped portions at the ends of the outside guides are level with the ties at one end and level with the solid part marked in pencil. You could use plastic the thickness of rail height and sand or file to slope the material downward to tie height at the ends. Ben
Interesting. The one in the patent information is the same as the between-the-rails portion of any brand of track rerailer. It may rely on the screw to hold it in place so it is not truly "portable." Also I'm not sure how effective it would be without the guides outside of the rails. Ben
