Large Scale Central

Bridge Addition

Track and Trestles
#1

Well we finally had two days of sunshine on Saturday and Sunday. My wife and I walked the back yard deciding where she could start moving plants onto the railroad, so I had to mark where the upper loop will be going. I decided to rebuild this 3’ trestle that I made over 20 years ago. It spent the first 12 years on our clubs modular layout. After a quick review of parts, I removed the center bent and the cross supports so I could add a 12" girder bridge to the center of the trestle. I then repostioned the tall bents next to the girder section and added the short support bents for the girder. A piece of 2x2 redwood was added to the bottom of the bents for support in the dirt. The clearence is about 9-1/2" which should be ok. This is how it looks.

This will now be one of the first bridges for the upper line to cross over the lower line. As soon as I get it installed I put more pictures up. Chuck

#2

With two days of sunshine it is a wonder you did not throw a party. We keep getting this large object in the sky that is very bright but have yet to determine just what it is, is that the Sun?

The bridge, very nice, a little stain to protect it would help, for structural purposes, you need to add some braces between the bents, criss crossed to keep the bents from ‘racking over’.

Paul

#3

…grinning…

#4

Looks good Chuck

#5

nice looking bridge setup…

#6

Hey Chuck,
Nice save and reuse of the old trestle. Makes a very interesting
variation on the bridge/trestle theme.
Rick

#7

Thanks guys. It’s amazing what you can come up with when you go through your scrap boxes.

#8

Well it’s been a while but this bridge is finally installed on the railroad. Of course it’s hard to keep cheep labor working in the hot sun. Still needs alittle ground work around it but we’re getting closer.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/cncrr/_forumfiles/IMG_6613_1_1.JPG)

Another view

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/cncrr/_forumfiles/IMG_6612_1_1.JPG)

#9

Beautiful! I see the cheap labor is taking a catnap nearby.

#10

It’s nice to see that you have the guard rails, walkway and fire barrels already in place. Fr. Fred will be so pleased. :lol:

Just pullin’ yer chain, Fred.

That’s a good lookin’ br1dge, Chuck.

#11

…I felt the tug on the chain, my son…!!

#12

Cheap labor or not, you can’t tell a torty to do anything. She will do it in her own sweet time. We owned two torties since we were married 41 years ago. (Or perhaps they owned us.) I write from experience, but our family dearly loved both of our torties. My younger daughter has a torty of her own now. (For the uninitiated, a torty is a cat with tortoise shell mottling in her coat. I use she because 99.9% of calico cats are female. Tortoise shell is a variant of the calico coat.)

Beautiful bridge and a lovable cat.

Best,
David Meashey

#13

Nice cat and nicer bridge. I really like the steel girder bridge piece you put in there. You have inspired me.

#14

I like the Cat! Remindes of our Black Cat who would walk the elevated trackage and then jump over the fence!

Paul

#15

Chuck,

What material are you using for your ladder roadbed? Great bridge!

#16

You’re right Dave our little lady does what she wants no matter what you say, but we love her anyway. Plus she always follows me while I’m working or running trains on the layout. She really likes rolling in the fresh dirt or the gravel. Mario the ladder roadbed is an off shoot of the original concept. I use redwood 2x6 material cut to 1/4" thick by 1-1/2" thick with 1-1/2" square blocks cut from redwood also. I make my jigs on a sheet of plywood by drawing out the centerline of the radius I want to make. I then attach 1-1/2" round dowels to the center line with screws every 6"

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/cncrr/_forumfiles/IMG_5409_1_1.JPG)

I then clamp one piece of the 1/4" material to the jig (as shown) and attach the blocks with titebond 2 glue and 1/4" stapler

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/cncrr/_forumfiles/IMG_5410_1_1.JPG)

After all the blocks are attached to the first side I then glue and staple the second side and clamp with spring clamps (as shown)

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/cncrr/_forumfiles/IMG_5414_1_1.JPG)

After this process I install another set of 1/4" sides with glue and staples. This makes a strong bond with 1/2" side rails. The ladder that you see in the above bridge pictures has been outside for over 5 years with no rot or warping. By using this system I can take the ladder outside, lay it on the ground, and either use 1" PVC or 1-1/2" pickets as stakes. I have a section I’m re-doing and I’ll try to get some pictures this weekend. BTW the pictures above are from when I made my curved trestle last year thats why the wood looks smaller, but same concept. I hope this helps. Chuck