# Bumper (?) question



## Josh_Br (Mar 18, 2020)

Hi,
I am a complete novice when it comes to model trains and know very little. A model train club puts a display up each Christmas in our local mall, with lots of different landscapes and scales. It got me thinking that I would like to make something, hopefully with the involvement of my kids, to display in our house at Christmas.

We have a good sized fireplace mantle; it's probably 4' or 5' wide and 1.5' deep. I was thinking of using N scale, and making something that just went in a straight line. In the display in the mall, someone had a track setup that was just a straight line. The train would go from one end to the other then back again; it would just keep going back and forth. As I understand it, the things at the ends that the train runs into are called bumpers, and somehow they tell the train to reverse and go back the way it came. I'd like to make something like this - just a straight line where the train goes back and forth.

Could someone help me out with how all of this works, and what all parts I would need? I appreciate the help.


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## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

this is only automatic reversing one i know of

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079235MW?tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1


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## Josh_Br (Mar 18, 2020)

That actually looks perfect - thank you!


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## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

Be warned: look at the reviews for it.


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## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

There is also an electronic reversing module, which take a bit more skill to setup, but it does not rely on the bumpers or a special purpose engine/trolley.

For example
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Auto-Rever...HO-N-O-S-Scale-Train-or-Trolley-/283621284244


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Azatrax makes an electronic unit that you can use
with N scale to control the direction of a trolley or
train. It is available as DCC or DC and you use
your own track and trains. It can be set to stop
at 'stations' along the route.

http://www.azatrax.com/automatic-reverse-loop.html

Don


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