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Perspex "fence" to prevent loco's crashing to the floor


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Hi,

I'm looking a installing some Perspex fence's on parts of my layout to prevent the unfortunate consequence if a engine should de-rail and then proceed to fall to the floor. Has anyone got experience of how high the fence should be. I've mocked them up in card and 80mm seems to high. Was thinking more of 50mm. If to high there is a risk of snagging  myself or clothing on the corners as they are mainly for around a lift-up bridge section. 

 

Any thoughts ?

 

Thanks

 

Edmund

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I cut A4 sheets of "perspex" lengthwise giving approximately 70mm high lengths to go along the sides of a traverser fiddleyard, to catch any stock that may move sideways if the motion is suddenly halted.  This gives a nominal height of 60mm above the baseboard level, allowing 10mm to attach it to the sides.

 

Alternating clear and red "perspex" panels will give a visual clue that its there if needed!

 

(Sorry, no photos as its in storage at the moment)

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Edmund,

 

I have done this on my current project and got my sheet from The Polycarbonatestore.  With an eye to economy, I wanted 2m of 2mm thick "perspex*" cut into 150mm strips but was advised it would be too brittle and would not survive shipping..  I was persuaded to go for 2mm Polycarbon sheet which they supplied in a 2m x 600mm sheet and i cut it into strips myself with a fine-toothed hand saw.  It has been entirely successful fitted to the edges of my baseboards and standing about 75mm above the baseboard tops.  It is true to say that i catch my clothing on the corners from time to time but no damage results (to either clothing or polycarbonate).  Unlike Dave, I havae not used any strengthening for the attaching screws - in fact I have used countersunk screws so that the heads are flush with the surface of the polycarbonate shhet.  It handles well with no tendency to split or crack. The poly was rather expensive - it cost £37 including delivery and arrived rolled up which was a surprise.  However is sprang flat as soon as it was opened.

 

I hope this helps,

Harold.

 

* for "perspex" read "Acrylic"

Edited by HLT 0109
added footnote
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I have used track side fences 12mm  0.5" high for 25 plus years on my garden layout and never had a derailed train jump the barrier.  Dropping the train after it derailed is a different and disastrous matter as the drop is 3ft onto concrete.  I find acrylic sheet to be nasty stuff to work with after re glazing all the pictures at our village hall with the stuff to keep the health and safety gestapo happy.  It has sharp edges and I find its best to use a sanding disc in a power drill to de burr the edges after cutting the edges.  If you want to stop punters at shows half inching the stock then perspex/ acrylic is great but probably a bit of overkill for a home layout.

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I have Perspex on the front of my layout, but fixed with Velcro rather than permanently so it can be removed if I need to for access. We do the same with our club layouts, which is where I got the idea.  On my layout though it is more to prevent me damaging the scenery at the front when reaching over to clean the track etc as to prevent stock committing suicide, as there is several inches of undulating scenery between the nearest track and the front of the baseboard.

Jonathan

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for all the comments. I've made a mock-up for the fences in card and also using 20mm by 12mm aluminium L shaped angel. The card is 40mm above the cork and I think is still to high. The aluminium angel looks much better but perhaps a little low. 30mm maybe about right.

 

 

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Thanks

 

Edmund

 

 

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If there's a possibility of snagging the corners, I'd be inclined to cut a generous chamfer on them or, for better appearance at the expense of more work, cut them as quadrants of a circle. 

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If it's on a hidden section, why use Perspex?

I use thin plywood for the side of my fiddle yard - not necessarily to stop stock falling on the floor, but more as protection for the stock when someone leans over the layout.

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  • 10 months later...

 

Just an update to show the completed perspex fences.

 

After much procrastination and a bit of over engineering the perspex fences have been installed. I learnt that when scoring and bending to break the perspex it is best to clamp the perspex when bending between two solid (in my case a bit of 3"x 1" timber and aluminium L channel) bits of material to get a clean break.

 

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P1000465.JPG.6f43369f8cb7c699c35cd9fd86d3967e.JPG

 

The aluminium L channel needs to be painted to complete.

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