Hello
Sorry about the late posting but this is kind of urgent. Does anyone have any information on ladder covers or locks that are used by railways? We are looking at possibly securing our ladders with these plates/covers to stop access to the tender car.

We used a piece of plywood, as wide as the grabs or ladder, about 4' tall, with a L shaped cleat screwed onto the top, back to allow it to be hung on a grab, with a couple of holes drilled at the bottom, used with a zip tie to tie it to a lower grab.

They are cheap, easily made, quickly installed or removed. They keep kids and casual climbers off. I don't think anything keeps a committed climber off.

Thanks Randy. I was told you can also have something made out of steel as well. Will talk about it tomorrow with the city works.

That's an easy fabrication for anybody with a bit of experience with steel and welding.

Perhaps a plexiglass cover would work, and leave the ladders visible but inaccessible.

Plexiglass would be a good idea but I imagine it would get dirty and fade out or yellow...?

If you've got money to spend, look at the cantilever signal manufacturers for ideas from how they cover the bottoms of their fixed ladders.

Ultra-violet rays of the sun will do in plexi-glass pretty quickly, plus it will ge tbrittle in cold weather. Sheet steel is the best idea, plywood is the next. Keep it smooth, slippery, and it'll work as well as any other choice.

Thanks Richard,
I was thinking more along the lines of sheet steel, this can be primed and painted to match the color as wel so would look more attractive.

For an exposed area, sheet metal is the best. Anyone handy with a torch should be able to make the necessary bends. As for locks, use Raco or some other high security lock.

As for canilever signals, some use hadder covers and some don't. Almost all highway cantilever signals I've seen use ladder covers. Some cantilever signal masts use them but some don't. The westbound home signal on the NS at Jersey-adjacent to TVRM does not use a ladder cover on it's cantilever mast as the ladder is internal.

The ladder covers used on cantilevers are extremely simple, and would be very easy to make. They also work well, and look reasonably nice. They're basically just a thin sheet of metal, with either a bend or hooks on the top. They lock using a small tab that sticks out of the ladder and a lock is inserted into the tab. A bit tough to explain in writing but a quick look at one will show you all the design elements you need to know.

The main cost would be materials, fabrication consists of cutting to width (have the supplier do this for you?) and bending the top to fit over ladder rung or adding a couple hooks. Pretty basic stuff.