How do these hold up with a trolley banging on them? I have a Rail King Trolley. Will they pop off the track when the trolley repeatedly bang into them?
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How are they fastened to the track? It depends on that.
With another brand of bumper I found it didn't work using the Post War gang car. Apparently some bumpers are only for looks.
I've considered scratchbuilding something solidly connected to the layout board, not the track. That would work better if I was willing to go to the trouble. It'd be modelled after the big green steel prototype bumpers that still remain at our local Central Station. The tracks once used for passenger trains are long gone, but they kept the massive solid bumpers that once guarded the stub ends.
I'd run a bolt vertically thru mine along with the board and fasten it with a nut underneath. I'm thinking wood for the body and paint it like the prototype. Or, I'm friends with a local metal fabricating shop and could get them to cut one from a small block of aluminum, taking care to avoid the middle rail.
With another brand of bumper I found it didn't work using the Post War gang car. Apparently some bumpers are only for looks.
I've considered scratchbuilding something solidly connected to the layout board, not the track. That would work better if I was willing to go to the trouble. It'd be modelled after the big green steel prototype bumpers that still remain at our local Central Station. The tracks once used for passenger trains are long gone, but they kept the massive solid bumpers that once guarded the stub ends.
I'd run a bolt vertically thru mine along with the board and fasten it with a nut underneath. I'm thinking wood for the body and paint it like the prototype. Or, I'm friends with a local metal fabricating shop and could get them to cut one from a small block of aluminum, taking care to avoid the middle rail.
quote:Will they pop off the track when the trolley repeatedly bang into them?
They will break apart, they are not sturdy at all.
Cesar
I just use the Lionel die-cast aluminum bumpers with the red light and spring loaded bumper.
I like the looks of the Atlas bumpers but agree with above posters - probably not sturdy enough for long term banging. I have had to glue mine back together and wasn't even using them as you describe. As well, they would need to be held down additionally from the way they are designed - you pinch them together slightly and outward tension holds them on the inside of the outside track rails.
They are for looks only and not designed to stop a train. .. although it may do do so once or twice before becoming dislodged.
Gragravs makes nice bumpers. They come in red, black and yellow.
Thanks everyone.
NYC 428 - Are you saying that the Gargraves bumpers will hold up to the Trolley banging on it? It looks like the Lionel Die cast bumpers might be the solution.
NYC 428 - Are you saying that the Gargraves bumpers will hold up to the Trolley banging on it? It looks like the Lionel Die cast bumpers might be the solution.
End of track bumpers were often made of stuff lying around. You could take a few Gargraves ties (or 1/4" basswood,) drill a couple of holes through the benchwork and fabricate a pretty solid end-of-track bumper that should hold up to a bumper trolley.
I think for constant hard hits in a factory bumper that the traditional Lionel that Len2 uses is the best solution.
But the best bumper is something scratch built along the lines that either Matt or I suggested. The key is to anchor it with a screw, nail or bolt into the layout board rather than attach it to the track, and especially to run your anchor all the way thru and ground it with a nut on the bottom side.
Hard to go wrong like that.
Btw, a lot of stub end prototype "bumpers" were nothing more than a pile of wood ties, rocks and dirt and anything else heavy and basically non-movable. These type probably had some name other than bumpers. But I've seen them, as has everyone here.
But the best bumper is something scratch built along the lines that either Matt or I suggested. The key is to anchor it with a screw, nail or bolt into the layout board rather than attach it to the track, and especially to run your anchor all the way thru and ground it with a nut on the bottom side.
Hard to go wrong like that.
Btw, a lot of stub end prototype "bumpers" were nothing more than a pile of wood ties, rocks and dirt and anything else heavy and basically non-movable. These type probably had some name other than bumpers. But I've seen them, as has everyone here.
