Guardrails

[bbeegle]

Does anyone have a cheap way to make guardrails? I need quite a bit and it is expensive to buy.This is for a highway.
Thanks,Brian

[Ian MacMillan]

I know exactly where you are coming from. I was going to use the Noch ones ( I did pick up a set ) and figured that it would be easier to use fine "grooved" styrene and just cut them so that I have 3 ridges and then use my own wood, styrene or brass support posts.

[bbussey]

Either Plano or Gold Medal makes etched ones.

[CoalPorter]

What time era and what style ? Most typical wood and steel construction, you could make with styrene and wood and
get close enough. Fancy concrete or  stone will be tougher. I really like the Rix highway overpass rails because
they work good for my time era.

[MichaelWinicki]

Either Plano or Gold Medal makes etched ones.

I can vouch for Gold Medal's-- outstanding.

[DKS]

The trouble with GMM guardrails is that they're not cheap, especially if you need a lot of it. Quite a long time ago I made guardrails with plain strip styrene that I shaped by scraping with a blade, and just bonded it to square strip styrene posts.

If you are modeling an earlier era, then cable guardrails would be an option...



These were made using ship stanchions and thread.

[bbeegle]

Thanks for all of your great suggestions,I was thinking of trying 2-.030 half round fastened to .060 H-beam.Does this sound like it might look OK?
Thanks,Brian

[Hornwrecker]

I've made some highway guardrails by using some old code 80 rail, annealing it, flattening it with a planishing hammer (any flat faced hammer will do) on my anvil, and then sanding/filing it to finish it.  Solder it to un-pounded upon rail for the posts.  If you want to get fancy, grind an angle onto the top of the posts.  I've seen some real guardrails like this, mostly around old railroad facilities made all out of rail.

[Alaska Railroader]

Like this?

[nkalanaga]

If you want the "modern" metal variety, how about Plastruct "metal roofing", which is a thin plastic corrugated sheet?  It's oversized for N roofing, but could be cut two corrugations wide for guardrails.  That would be about 16 inches on the sheet I have, but I've never measured a guardrail....  One sheet would do a LOT of road.

[rail and tie]

My dad has been wanting some N Scale Guard Rails as well. Corrugated sheet is a good idea. I need to try that!  From what I can find, a 2 flute guard rail is 12-14" high and the top is 27 inches above the pavement with 8X8" wood posts on a 8" wood post backing the height of the 2 flutes.

I tried laser cutting some a while back, but the finish of the 3D engraved channels were too rough to simulate the smooth steel. Will post some pics when I find them.

[jimmo]

If you want the "modern" metal variety, how about Plastruct "metal roofing", which is a thin plastic corrugated sheet?  It's oversized for N roofing, but could be cut two corrugations wide for guardrails.  That would be about 16 inches on the sheet I have, but I've never measured a guardrail....  One sheet would do a LOT of road.

I was going to recommend the same thing. After a frustrating search for commercially available guardrail, I tried several things like everyone else suggested. Cutting the over-sized Plastruct styrene "metal" roofing material into strips nets quite a lot of guardrail, plus you can curl the ends easily and you can cut it into the double "W" type as well. Simple styrene or wooden posts complete the job. If you do a Google or Bing image search for "Highway guardrail specs" you'll see everything you need. I used to have an official California State highway spec book and one of the instructions on placement was priceless. It read something like this: "Install any place where cars tend to run off the road." Simple enough.

[peteski]

The corrugated metal roofing material I worked with in the past seems way too delicate for guardrails. Sure, it is probably scale-thickness, but if you accidentally brush against it (during layout cleaning or while installing vehicles on the road) the soft aluminum material will buckle and distort.  Especially since it is only 2-corrugations wide. Also gluing the posts to it will be challenging. The glue joint will be either over a very small area, or you'll have to flood the glue into the corrugation.

[DKS]

The corrugated metal roofing material I worked with in the past seems way too delicate for guardrails. Sure, it is probably scale-thickness, but if you accidentally brush against it (during layout cleaning or while installing vehicles on the road) the soft aluminum material will buckle and distort.  Especially since it is only 2-corrugations wide. Also gluing the posts to it will be challenging. The glue joint will be either over a very small area, or you'll have to flood the glue into the corrugation.

+1. I've tried this very thing, and had to abandon it owing to the reasons Peteski cites. Also: the corrugated material curled as it was cut, and straightening it was the very definition of tedious. Aluminum is notoriously difficult to bond, and even worse when being bonded to a different material such as wood. Just try getting the posts all lined up so that the guardrail touches them all--good luck! While visually superior even to the GMM etched SS, it wasn't worth the effort, and was far too easily damaged. This is why I ultimately went with strip styrene. I used plain square strip stock for posts on some guardrails, and Evergreen I-beam for others. To simplify installation, I bonded the posts to the guardrail first, then secured the assembly to the layout before surrounding it with scenery material.

[wazzou]

The corrugated metal roofing material I worked with in the past seems way too delicate for guardrails. Sure, it is probably scale-thickness, but if you accidentally brush against it (during layout cleaning or while installing vehicles on the road) the soft aluminum material will buckle and distort.  Especially since it is only 2-corrugations wide. Also gluing the posts to it will be challenging. The glue joint will be either over a very small area, or you'll have to flood the glue into the corrugation.

+1. I've tried this very thing, and had to abandon it owing to the reasons Peteski cites. Also: the corrugated material curled as it was cut, and straightening it was the very definition of tedious. Aluminum is notoriously difficult to bond, and even worse when being bonded to a different material such as wood. Just try getting the posts all lined up so that the guardrail touches them all--good luck! While visually superior even to the GMM etched SS, it wasn't worth the effort, and was far too easily damaged. This is why I ultimately went with strip styrene. I used plain square strip stock for posts on some guardrails, and Evergreen I-beam for others. To simplify installation, I bonded the posts to the guardrail first, then secured the assembly to the layout before surrounding it with scenery material.

Maybe I missed it, but where did anyone suggest the use of Aluminum corrugated roofing?   
What I read was this...

If you want the "modern" metal variety, how about Plastruct "metal roofing", which is a thin plastic corrugated sheet?