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Check rails and viaducts


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I've been pulling out what little remains of my hair trying to work out how to reproduce the track which passed over Belah Viaduct and its sister, Deepdale Viaduct, in the Northeast of England. Both of these magnificent structures are sadly long gone. 

 

I'd like to show a picture of the viaduct deck here, however the only ones I can find are on Flickr and are plastered in Copyright tags. Since I don't want to get into trouble by showing a link to a copyrighted image, If you google Deepdale Viaduct and click Images, there are some very clear pictures of the deck of the viaduct. 

 

I'm playing with the idea of gluing lengths of rail on the inside of some straight track I have to act as check-rail, however it may not look the best. The second difficulty to overcome is to work out a realistic interpretation of the how the track is laid over the length of the deck.

 

Any suggestions or thoughts would be very welcome.

 

Cheers, 

 

Mark

 

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41 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

They aren't check rails, they are guard rails, set much further from the running rails. They are intended to stop derailed vehicles from plunging over the side of the viaduct.

Indeed.  If the train derails for whatever reason then the guard rail should be positioned so the backs of the wheels catch on the guard rail before the opposite wheel goes over the edge.  I believe they are mandatory on any bridge that doesn't have a solid parapet.  

 

A check rail is used on tight curves where forces might cause the outer flange to climb up over its rail, and around crossings (as in pointwork) where there is a gap in the opposite rail that the wheel flange might go through.  In either case the dimensions are such that the back of the opposite wheel contacts the check rail before anything untoward can happen.  

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1 hour ago, Edwin_m said:

Indeed.  If the train derails for whatever reason then the guard rail should be positioned so the backs of the wheels catch on the guard rail before the opposite wheel goes over the edge.  I believe they are mandatory on any bridge that doesn't have a solid parapet.  

 

A check rail is used on tight curves where forces might cause the outer flange to climb up over its rail, and around crossings (as in pointwork) where there is a gap in the opposite rail that the wheel flange might go through.  In either case the dimensions are such that the back of the opposite wheel contacts the check rail before anything untoward can happen.  

Thanks for clearing that up, I'd originally thought they were one and the same. 

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3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

How about hand laying the track using bullhead rail and check railchairs from the likes of C&L.

 

You lay the baulks in on the viaduct deck and then use plastic weld to stick the chairs to the baulks.

Thanks for the advice.

 

I've had a look at C&L and it looks like I could use the chairs they sell, perhaps attaching them to lengths of wood (Or plastic) running the length of the viaduct (I'll need quite a few as it's 5' in length). Attaching the rail shouldn't be a problem In itself, except for the fact I'm using code 100 due to the fact my late father left a load of it as well as older rolling stock. The only stumbling block I can see is the guard rail. They seem very close to the running rails in the photo and I'm wondering if using chairs side-by-side would look a bit odd. Of course, I could be nit-picking here!

 

Either way, I think it's worth investigating to see if it's viable. :)

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23 minutes ago, Wear Valley Wanderer said:

Thanks for clearing that up, I'd originally thought they were one and the same. 

 

They can look similar in certain situations - as seen in the posted photo.

 

In that case a, check rail has been fitted (requires special rail chairs) to perform derailment protection, and its use is related to the style of bridge deck.

 

On masonry viaducts, the guards rails are usually fitted in the 4 foot directly to the sleepers allowing ordinary rail chairs to be used, as seen here.

875551-1.jpg

Edited by phil-b259
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Code 100 is usually flat bottom and wouldn't fit in chairs, you need base plates for flat bottom rail. Peco do base plates, not sure if they're 100 or 82, if they're 82 you may need to file a whisker off of the foot to get it to fit.  Look for Peco individual lay.

 

 

Edited by Siberian Snooper
To many thumbs.
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Those photos of Belah show a check rail for each of the four running rails, which is a highly unusual arrangement.  I can only assume each rail runs on its own beams with nothing structural anywhere else, so nowhere to attach a more conventional guard rail either inside or outside the running rails that would withstand derailment impacts.  In that situation a check rail is presumably better than nothing, as it might keep a derailed wheel from something like a broken running rail in line.  

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With inspiration and advice from the above posts I took the leap into designing an appropriate chair for use with my Code 100 track. Trying out a piece of spare rail as a guide, I produced a few prototypes which I've since reproduced on my 3D printer. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to say I'm quite happy with the results thus far. All being well I'll be able to churn these out to enable me to cover the double track on the 5' span of the viaduct. Goodness knows how many I'll need, so I can only hope I have enough printer resin. 

 

Once that's done (And no more disasters!) I'm thinking of gluing these to strips of either wood or plastic. I'm leaning more towards wood and may try out coffee stirrers as they see to be roughly the right width, not mention cheap. I can use some off-cuts for the spacers you see in the pics so that I can make sure the rails are the right distance apart. Once that's done I'll finally be able to get them all painted up and in place. This is still very much a work in progress, and one which I'm enjoying despite fumbling around in the dark a lot!

 

I'll see if I can get some pics to post up.

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