I have been wanting a defect detector on my layout and stumbled across this one http://www.bouldercreekengineering.com/.Has anyone ever purchased one of these or a similar kind and if so how well do they work?It sounds like you can have your own railroad name incorporated into the recordings.Thanks for any info.
some interesting stuff I like to run stuff with fake weights and cost on my railroad before that is just awesome and will work out great at operating sessions
I posted this on the other posting in the n scale forum. Detectors can be a fun addition to any layout. Here are what the detectors are used for: I am going to add a little to this as well. Not only do they check for hot boxes (overheated bearings) but also shifted loads (high wide Detector) and dragging equipment. High wides protect structures such as bridges and tunnels so that if a train has a shifted load they don't damage train, goods, and structures tying up the railroad for hours to days on end. Hot box keeps trains from overheating. If they overheat they can cause a derailment as the wheels come apart causing lots of damage. Dragging equipment should say it all. Anything dragging could cause track to be ripped up, trains derailed, lots of damage. When a train derails just dragging it along could rip up and break apart all the ties. Dragging equipment could also rip up switches. There are also other detectors that deal with the trackitself and not trains such as highwater detectors. These are located at bridges and culverts that are normally dry but when it rains you get flash floods. These protect trains by being activated by the high water that could wash said tracks and bridges out. Others are slide fences that protect tracks in areas where rocks have a tendency to fall on a regular basis. These fences if broken send a signal to the dispatcher and signal system that puts a red signal up stopping trains until an inspection by a qualified person such as a signal maintainer can get there to see the damage and move rocks off of the right of way. Large boulders can cause damage to trains by derailment and by stiking the rock can damage engines. A couple years ago Amtrak hit a rock going over soldiersummit in UT. Knocked two out of three engines out of service to where they had to be set out for repairs enroute.
I am not the best with electronics but it would be interesting to try to build one of these. Would put a definite twist on an operating session.
