One of the most necessary is a track bumper. It may be mundane but it is hard to do without. As soon as we install the first dead end siding, yard track, or industrial spur we realize a problem exists: How do we keep cars from rolling off the end should the brakeman fail to park the car on a track skate or properly tie down the handbrake?

THE SIMPLEST BUMPERS
Standard gauge railroads used all kinds of hardware, usually off-the-shelf products from a railway equipment manufacturer. Narrow gauge railroads and most short lines were unable to afford fancy bumpers. They had to make their own from whatever materials were at hand. So the most common end-of-track car stop is a simple pile of dirt or track ballast, usually about three feet high and wide enough to cover both rails.

The next most common short line arrangement is digging a couple of ties into the ballast, then crossing them over and under the rails. I use Llagas Creek Code 250 track and plastic tie strip. In order to make the ties on my bumper match those of the track, I cut a pair of ties off a spare section of tie strip. Then I used a bench grinder to smooth off the cast-on tie plate and spike head detail and scratched in wood grain with a razor saw (my favorite tool). If you have shallow ballast or soft sub-roadbed, you must file a bevel on the ends of the ties before slipping them under the rails and between the last two ties on the spur. Remember to scratch rings, checks, and grain detail into the end of each tie now sticking up into the air.

A HEAVIER-DUTY VERSION
The bumpers I just described would be inappropriate for high use and high risk locations such as on loading docks or private car tracks adjacent to depots or other structures. A potential accident involving a loose car would require the protection of a more substantial bumper. The chief engineer would bury heavy bridge timbers deeply below track level, then back them up with heavy diagonal braces set in concrete. Threaded steel rods hold such bumpers together, so fit up your model with nut and washer castings of appropriate size from Russ Simpson or Grandt Line. I used scale three inch washers on my model.

Many variations of heavy duty timber bumpers exist. I have even seen a single round piling with a diagonal backup midway between the rails and high enough to catch the coupler. Twelve inch timber would be the minimum size for the heavy bumpers. A dark creosote color is typical. I made mine from half-inch square redwood and stained it dark brown. I use Olympic "Black Walnut" for new work and "Driftwood Gray" for an aged look. I use the same stains on bridges and trestles.

COMMERCIAL BUMPERS
Before I sign off I suppose it would be appropriate to comment on the fancy track bumpers available from LGB and other manufacturers with lights, bells, whistles, and various other contraptions: On a narrow gauge seat-of-the-pants short line? Ridiculous! That stuff would look dumb anywhere in America outside of Grand Central Station.

One more thing. The details I have described come from parts out of your scrapbox and the debris you sweep out from under your table saw. Get into the habit of saving all those leftover little pieces of track, plastic, or wood from major structure or trestle projects. In my next article I will look at some more traditional railroad details you may make from those scraps.