Train Bell Repair III

The saga continues. Last Sunday we drove by the train and the wire we put on was broke. The bell wasn't upside down, but the method from preventing it to do so was done. Knowing that summer was far from over, Darin and I took time to fix things right.

After today, I'm confident that the train bell can withstand any force that the local hoodlums throw at it.

Once we crawled up the train to assess the situation and found the broken two-strand smooth wire, Darin remarked, "What kind of thirteen-year-old kids are we dealing with!"

To everyone's credit, when the bell would swing long each way, it would basically pinch the wire before it got tight. Eventually, it just broke without much force at all, probably. 

Plan B. This area over here would have been used for fancy steam engine trains that had an automated ringer. Which ran by a steam driven lever, verses the rope on the other side. The two of us devised an idea that could make this mount work as a stopper. 

Our rope guide on the other side was defunct also. Plan devised, as well. 

Back at the ranch, we scrounged up some scrap iron to make the brackets we needed.

Then hung them up to paint.

Should match.

Then went back and mounted the stopper.

The stopper has a rod on each end. Though it pivots and hits the bell too, its main stopping point is the opposing rod that hits the frame work, causing all swinging motion to cease. 

Same scenario on the opposite side. 

Then we mounted the new rope guide. Instead of the wire holding it to the fence, we installed some u-bolts that prevent any movement at all. 

Much cleaner than poly pipe and smooth wire. 

Functional, too.

Good stuff.

I should sleep better tonight. When working with teenage boys, you have to be one step ahead of them. Fortunately, I still think like one. Funny. I'm hopeful that this latest fix will allow the bell to rock and ring at its optimum, as well as prevent any unwanted horsing around. Today, we are ahead of the game. If tomorrow we have to come back, we will. But I don't think we'll need to. Ring on.