I am going to build a BIG trestle on my new layout, but I want to see what everyone else has done...post yer pics here! What I'm really looking for is timber sizes, and 'construction rules'. Things like, is a trestle actually MADE curved, or is it made in a whole series of straight lines that eventually form the curve? IE, is the deck curved, or just wider than the roadbed? What material sizes did they use in real life? I'm considering 3/16th timber for the major beams and 1/8th for the cross bracing (N scale). Would that be too 'heavy'. 3/16th is 30.5" in N scale btw. 1/8th is 20 inches...hmm...sounds a bit robust. 15.25" and 10" in HO would be more realistic I'm thinking. Comments / suggestions / pictures?
I'm thinking that you should buy a kit of a short one and build it. See how that goes and then plan one twice that size. Then, when you have a year of scenery under your belt, designe and build your own. Well, ok, that is what _I'm_ planning to do. Scroll down: http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/Bar-Mills/Bar-Mills_Structure_Product-Page.htm To: P/N: 304 Laser-Cut Wood Kit "Low Boy" Trestle [ May 29, 2005, 09:34 PM: Message edited by: Grey One ]
Buy the bridges book... has all that info plus a ton more! Heck, I'm done with mine... PM me and maybe we can reach a deal.
uhm........................................I need to read a book,too. I was thinking of the same thing. I have looked at different kits, and uh.........
Not in N Scale, but worth checking Trestle made curved? Paul "god" Templar http://www.cooncreek-and-tumbleweed-springs.co.uk/ http://www.paultemplar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/0n30layout/aa05.jpg
There's been a number of trestle how to's ove rhte year. The best hint is to make a single jig, and use that to make your bents, then connect them when you know where they go on the layout..
Looking at Paul's trestle on the link virtual-bird posted (g'day!), and knowing his layout is On30, it seems to me that each 'square' section of timber is about an inch square, with each piece of timber being about 3/16th (gonna ask him, but thats what it looks like). That means, of course, that my 3/16 balsa is way over spec I'm just finding it hard because I have ZERO n scale stuff here to use as a point of reference
Dis Is, I think it is time to get a couple of cars and some track. Doing track plans beyond the abstract without something physical to relate to can be very tough. I know when I draw lines on a page how close to doable in Unitrak they are.
Trestle built on HO layout back in 1970 or thereabouts. Balsa wood held together with dressmaker's straight pins. Lots of mistakes. Worst: doesn't connect with anything on ENDS of trestle, and had to stick pieces on top to get it to reach to track- which looks @#$%^*. I would suggest start with track FIRST, build trestle so it fits track and extends DOWN to approximately where ground under it seems appropriate, then put supports at bottom to fit as needed and fill in "ground". (Opposite of protyotype but less exact figuring....)
nice weathering wolfgang....looks like tiw been there for 50 years, as does yours Ken. I see what you mean about the ends too..... I intend to build the trestle off the layout, and make it far too long and high, then 'trim' and 'sink in' as appropriate, courtesy of Mr Dremel (well, Mr Craftsmans version anyway). Paul Templar has some very interesting methods of building several different types of Trestle on his coon creek website. Wonder if thats the stuff he was selling on CD?
I think I might get me some foam so that I have some scenery to attach my trestle, right now everything is on piers.
Common modeling mistakes: 1. Building curved bridges. It simply isn't done for trains. If a curve is needed, then build the bridge wide enough to accomodate it. The same goes for trestles. Trestles are a series of straight bridges held up by wooden pillars and cross-braced to hold together. 2. Inadequate track support. There is almost always a string of beams running directly under and parallel to the tracks to support them the entire length. 3. Inadeuate cross-bracing. A bridge has a lot of side-to-side forces on it when a train crosses. 4. Bad bridge design. A through-bridge is only used when clearances are tight and the alternative won't work. Trusses were mostly built under the rails. 5. Bad coloring. Remember that even a brand-new paint job looks bleached out and a bit faded when viewed from 1/4 mile away. How far away will you be seeing your bridge? I picked up an older book on bridge and trestle building a month ago and it's worth the cost. I'm anticipating building a bridge on my layout. Until the layout is farther along and the scenery is more finalized I've installed a piece of 1/2" OSB to span the distance. Presently the bridge would be 22" long and 4 1/2" wide, HO scale on a curve, spanning another track that curves as it passes under it. That's just over 150 scale feet long. Tempted to build a late-model wooden bridge with "creosote treated" lumber. The longest late model wooden bridges were 150' long, and I have part of the drawings for a Howe through-bridge, enough to make it somewhat credible. It MAY end up being a steel bridge by the time I'm through. Mark in Utah Mark in Utah
My bridge wanted to be a trestle, but the trackage underneath wouldnt permit it Plus it goes against most bridge rules - but hey, I like it
I might as well throw this in for entertainment value, though it's been shown before. Here are 3 Micro engineering steel trestle kits built on a curve with 40' straight girders making up the trackbed. It's not wood like what's in this thread but maybe the curve will show what's possible by putting straight sections together: [ June 01, 2005, 01:04 AM: Message edited by: Fluid Dynamics ]
MKT, thats one sexy little bridge...... Now to make it as long as Fluids there So, yours is all straight sections Fluid? How long is each straight? Do you bend it at every set of risers, or go across a couple? Since anything I build will be wood, whats it LOOKS like its made of is irrelevant...its the principle of 'legs and road bed' that matters
At each 40' girder joint I clipped off a little length from each of the inside girders so there would be an angle between each straight section. I built the full length deck over a cardboard template and then built in the bents and braces underneath it while it was propped up over the hillside.
