These are guard rails on a section of home-made bridge track on my layout:
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Here’s some bridge track over a trestle:
Both are code 100, made with Atlas flex track. I removed all the ties and cut off the spacers, then replaced the ties right next to one another, giving the tighter spacing of bridge track. I think only Microengineering makes code 100 bridge track, and at the time, it was out of stock everywhere. For the guard rails, I used old rails from some code 100 Atlas brass track I had lying around. I didn’t have to weather them - 40 years in the attic left a nice tarnish.
This bridge track method of “tie compression” turns a 36-inch section of flex track into 18 inches of bridge track, plus 2 18-inch pieces of rail. If nothing else, that give you rails to use for guard rails. However, I think it would generally be better to use a smaller weight of rail for the guard rails.
I would (and have) use at least one code size smaller rail for the guard rails. You can buy loose rail but generally (I believe) in quantities larger than you will need. It’s simple to strip rails from a spare piece of flex track. 70 or 55 (use n scale flex track - its easy to get and cheap).
Also bridge ties tend to be both longer than regular ties and closer together. I did exactly the same as Mr. B as far as ties are concerned on one trestle where it is difficult to see the tie lengths. It worked quite well.
Karl
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Depending on the prototype, guard rails can be the same size or smaller than the running rails, or not used at all, or used only on through girders and trusses, but not deck bridges…
Stick rail is available - some LHS still sell it by the individual length - or you can salvage rail from damaged flex track or even sectional track. Old brass rail is a good candidate for use as guard rails if you happen to have a couple of lengths of ancient fiber-tie flex track laying around. Guard rails are about the only use I can think of for the steel rails off some toy train sectional track my sister acquired at yard sales - the multiple rail joiners aren’t a problem when the rails don’t have to conduct electricity.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, )
I used Code 100 inside and out. I make my own turnouts, so I had the rail lengths. They were cut and curved by hand, including filing down the heads at each of the four ends, and weathered after they were glued in place. I just used Weld Bond white glue.
This view shows the deflecting convergence at the ends.
I had to deal with these issues in N-scale; I just used the next size smaller rail. On my N-Trak module, the flex is Atlas code 70 so I used code 55 ripped from flex track for the guardrails. On another bridge, I used Micro-Engineering’s bridge flex, code 55, which came with code 40 for the guards. One thing to keep in mind, though: If you want to taper the ends of the guards so that they come together into a fine point (like the frog of a turnout), then you need to introduce an electrical gap somewhere. Otherwise, you might have the flange of one wheel touching one guard while the flange of another wheel touches the opposite guard, and create a momentary short. On mine, I did taper my guards together, but I inserted a sliver of styrene between them, filed down to match the profile then painted. Even if you don’t join them into a sharp point, you still need to ensure that the guardrails don’t touch at their base flanges.
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