I am getting ready to start building bents for the new outside layout and have a (hopefully not stupid) question…
Should I build the bents to one size and trim the height as needed? Or does one typically know exactly how tall each bent should be prior to building and build them accordingly?
Thanks!! 
I’ve done both, and the easiest is to make them all the same height, level with the track, and then backfill/concrete in place.
I made my all the same size and then the ground were the bents go I just dug it out and filled with small stone. Rather then cut the bents to fit I just burried them in rock. It helps keep everything more stable.
That’s pretty much what I did too…then back filled around them…
Shawn said:You made all your bents??
I made my all the same size.
Still waitin on my $37.50…LOL
Ken Brunt said:
That’s pretty much what I did too…then back filled around them…
… which is exactly what the prototype did. Not everywhere, but where they had the fill from a cut nearby. Gradually as the fill was added over tme, maybe over years, the trestle would get smaller and smaller. The idea was that eventually the gap’d become just all fill with the old wooden trestle rotting under the earth there. At least that’s what I read somewhere. How far such projects actually progressed at any place is a mystery to me. Begs the question of what exactly they did for drainage from one side to the other, though… Interesting to see how some modellers have adapted the idea…
For my first trestle, I made each individual bent to fit the uneven topography beneath the trestle, but I also stubbed the ends on buried brick foundations. After a few years, the ends rotted but worse, I had glued all the pieces with Elmer’s outdoor glue, so that eventually everything fell apart. What a mess. So I rebuilt the trestle and made a second, even longer one for another part of the layout. I made just 2-3 sizes of bents, nailed everything with brass escutcheon pins, and propped the bents upon bricks ABOVE ground level, and I adjusted the height of the bricks to compensate for the fixed height of the bent. Now I have two strong trestles that I don’t expect to rot in my lifetime. As far as drainage from one side to the other, they - and I - put in a culvert when needed.
Just make it out of steel and paint it brown. Will outlast the layout. all bents are same size but the ends. just dur a hole set in place and filled with concrete to hold it.
Daniel. that’s the best trestle I’ve seen! Way to go! D’ja weld all that or what? I really admire it. Where do you buy yr steel and how do you go about all this? All advice appreciated, from a guy who builds his outdoor bridges from sticks and just sews them together with wire!
All the bents are 1st welded in a jig with the cross bracing and then the the trestle is built upside down using a square to keep the straight then the stringers are add last. All my steel comes from a 2 different steel yards in town. Going to Lowes or place like that COST WAY TOO much. the trestle was built out of 1/2 Soild Square and the cross bracing was 1/8 by 1/2 flat stock.
Thanks Daniel. I’ve been thinking about buying a little electro-welder for awhile now. I think you may have just talked me into going ahead with it. If there are any slipfalls to avoid here let me know! I’ve never welded in my life… I do appreciate your voice of experience, and I still love that trestle you made!
@John. The best thing I ever did was take a continuing ed welding class at a local community college a few years ago. Taught me that, technically, welding is VERY simple, its all practice practice practice. Even a cheap MIG welder from Lowes can be enough for hobby use. Also keep an eye on Craigslist, very good Lincoln welders show up there occasionally for very reasonable money.
Here in NASCAR City you can get them cheap from the teams when they get thier new ones in every 2-4 years… About 1/2 price and a lot of them just sit and not used.
