Derailment - crash bars

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Chris Hollands
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Location: Vancouver ,Canada

Derailment - crash bars

Post by Chris Hollands »

front truck
front truck
I have been looking at making I'll call them crash bars just for ease of the topic , I went to Australia in April and there were 2 large Garretts that had them so while I had the Challenger apart to regauge I made the crash bars .

With a engine of this size weighing in at close to 1 ton if it comes off the rail then more than likely damage may happen , especially if there is a lot of detail , I was mainly concerned about the drain cocks and the brass pilot which are in a pretty prone area to get damaged .

This was quite a lot of work and thought , there is 3 setups one on the trailing truck , the front truck and the middle of the engine .

The front and trailing trucks are castings and so the mounts had to be machined to suit , the trailing truck the mounts were machined to recess in to the casting and act like a keyway with the mount a size for size fit so any impact is taken by the casting and mount and not the bolts .

The front casting was a little bit more involved as the front castings were not as robust as the trailing truck , the castings were machined and reinforced with 3/8" flat bar recessed into each casting on each side then the rod was machined to recess into the casting to again spread the weight of the impact .

The middle mount was done on the same line but recessed into the frame , the middle and rear are 1" schd 40 s/s pipe and the front is 1" s/s round bar .I'm sure there will be adjustments made once the engine is back on its wheels , I have allowed 1/2" clearance on the trailing and middle bars and 1/4" on the front .
IMG_1540.JPG
IMG_1543.JPG
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rear truck
rear truck
middle mount
middle mount
Last edited by Chris Hollands on Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Chris Hollands
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by Chris Hollands »

Overall view
IMG_1544.JPG
IMG_1545.JPG
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Chris Hollands
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by Chris Hollands »

the recess tie bars
the recess tie bars
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Fred_V
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by Fred_V »

You will still rip off your drains because your bar will go past the rail and the engine will drop down allowing the drains to hit the rail head.
Fred V
Pensacola, Fl.
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cbrew
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by cbrew »

Fred_V wrote:You will still rip off your drains because your bar will go past the rail and the engine will drop down allowing the drains to hit the rail head.
and i will go one step farther, when this happens, it creates a tipping hazard.

that said, I do like the idea of using tubing, giving a good lifting point using rods.
If it is not live steam. its not worth it.
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Builder01
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by Builder01 »

Crash bars, to be effective, must protrude from the locomotive farther than the distance between the drain cocks, left to right. This bar has saved my drains several times!
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DSCN1206 - reduced - 1.jpg
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cbrew
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by cbrew »

Builder01 wrote:Crash bars, to be effective, must protrude from the locomotive farther than the distance between the drain cocks, left to right. This bar has saved my drains several times!
thats more like it :)
the drains on my ten wheeler and american are well above rail head with the tall drivers (~9.25") i didnt feel i needed these. but the 12 wheeler (~7 ") will get something.
tenwheeler.jpg
If it is not live steam. its not worth it.
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NP317
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by NP317 »

Good timing on this discussion and photos.
My new small Mikado sits close to the rails and I've been considering options for derailment protection.
Thanks to all you posters for the ideas.
~RN
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Chris Hollands
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by Chris Hollands »

Maybe I will have to go back to the drawing board :D

With the weight of the engine and the forces involved if it does come off the rail the mounts have to be pretty beefy , so there is limited places I can put the bars . This is a engine with very little room between wheels and very limited places to mount the bars .

The bars protude just over 2" on each side of the rail , I tried to make them at a length so they would be not to much of an eye sore .

The trailing truck bar can be remade and extended quite easy , the mid section can also be extended but there will not be much clearance between the drains and the bar , also it may start to look a bit odd , but better to have drain cocks than broken ones .

The front truck I have limited options the bars on the front protrude about 2" past the rail on each side but are at a length that they them selves can not damage the drains with the movement of the truck . I did want to put the bars on the frame behind the front truck but there is no room to do this .

Maybe I will have to do something on the pilot / cow catcher I will have a look today and come up with a plan .
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Fred_V
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by Fred_V »

Derailing is likely and you are wise to anticipate it. you could make the bars longer and if you find that the engine tracks well you could remove them.
Fred V
Pensacola, Fl.
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FLSTEAM
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by FLSTEAM »

If you put crash bars on your Harley they are called Sissy Bars..........

John B.
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Builder01
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Re: Derailment - crash bars

Post by Builder01 »

On a miniature steam locomotive, they are called crash bars. Who cares what they are called on a Harley! HA! Full steam ahead!

David
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