For you bridge guys. I'm building the overpass on my N scale B&M layout and using the Rix products highway bridge. The kit does not include bridge shoes. Do any of you know of a someone who offers these as a detail part? I was thinking of cutting the ones off the Kato bridge, but such a waste for such a small part. I may end up scratch building them if any one has some ideas. Here is the bridge set up. Any help would be appreciated.
If you find that the ME bridge shoes are out of stock and can't wait, I've made my own shoes out of small sections of Peco code 55 track. The cross section of this rail is very similar to the profile of a ME bridge shoe given the way they imbed the rail into the ties. If you carefully cut about 1/16 off the end of the rail they are passable for a shoe. I've used this method on bridges that aren't in the forefront of the layout. Brian
If you're doing a short span of up to 60' or so, you can use a "slider" shoe. Short spans generally don't need the corbel pin shoes that you'll see on longer, heaver spans since their expansion would probably be no more than an inch or so. A slider shoe will have a base with bent plates on each side for the corresponding plate on the bridge to slide into. The friction between the plates can be taken care of in a number of ways from heavy grease pads (in older applications) to a high-strength plastic-like pad (in newer applications). In N scale, these could be modeled with a simple piece of styrene cut just slightly wider than the bridge beam it's under and about a foot long.
Excellent information Brian and Allen. I did not know about the slider shoe. Thanks for the information guys!
Looks like you are off to a great start on your layout Jim!! You should bring it to a certain show in Illinois this summer. I know a show director there who would be a willing host I bet!
W Neal, Well I should be living in Central Illinois again by then, don't know if my layout will be presentable by then though. I do know the layout will fit in Angela's van so transport will not be a problem. I'll have a few weeks of down time while I move from New Jersey back home, but Angela has allocated a spot for my layout at the house. Hmmm, sometimes a little deadline is a good thing:tb-biggrin:
Ah yes, Deadlines....Conceive, Plan, Design, Verify, Implement, Measure Progress, then hope a Miracle happens....:tb-wacky:
----The deck should be down between the embuttments and as for the shoes you could make tthem out of four square blocks tappered on the sides. where the deck is setting on now that little pier is to hold the ballast back. the shoes will adjust the height for the deck..
Jim, If you get an opportunity, there are several books that I'd strongly recommend on bridges. First (and I consider this book to be the "Holy Grail" on modeling bridges) is "Bridge and Trestle Handbook" by Paul Mallory and published by Carstens (the folks that put out Railroad Model Craftsman). It's been around since 1958 but is a timeless classic and does a better job than some more recent handbook books. The next two books cover highway bridges and are more of a regional history and I don't know if they're still in publication since I received them as a present about 15 years ago. The first one is, "Iron Monuments to Distant Posterity, Indiana's Metal Bridges 1870-1930". This book has lots of photos and early sketches of mostly truss bridges with an enlightening history of how the early highway bridges were marketed to the state and county governments. While it does restrict itself to Indiana, it could easily apply to any area of the country in the early 20th century. The next book is a companion titled "Artistry and Ingenuity in Artificial Stone, Indiana's Concrete Bridges 1900-1942". Again, lots of photos and interesting reading. Both books are soft-backs and were authored by James L. Cooper. The first book appears to have been sponsored by DePauw University, the FHA, the IDOH, Indiana Dept. of Natl. Resources and the NPS. The second book appears to have been published by the author and DePauw University.
If you had a larger bridge, you can get away with using HO scale ME bridge shoes. For some reason the N scale ones look kind of small and the HO scale ones undersized as well. I think my layout uses a few HO scale ME bridge shoes, and it doesn't look out of place at all.
Hmmm... I have to start by asking what are bridge shoes? Can anyone help with the Jeopardy script that would prompt my question? Pix might help. See my humble attempt at mainline girder bridges. How much pain should I feel that I see no "shoes?"
I agree with using Micro-engineerings H.O. scale bridge feet. they look very good for N-scale. I put them on Atlas and other bridges. It really details them up!!!
Basically, steel bridges don't normally sit directly on top of the piers or abutments that support them; expansion and contraction with varying temperature would quickly break them loose from any attachments. Instead, the bridges are set on "shoes." At one end of the span (or of each span, if it's a multi-span bridge), these will be fixed to hold the bridge in place; at the other end, the bridge will be free to move back-and-forth on sliders or rollers. Stone or concrete bridges generally don't have shoes, since they're effectively part of the landscape from a thermal-expansion point of view. "Concrete" highway overpasses are usually just a concrete surface supported on a steel structure, so they do have shoes and expansion joints. I found a thread on another forum that has a few pictures, as well as an interesting link to Google Books: http://www.kitforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5426
I worked on this Bridge If its the one just across from the old Yuma prison. That shoe there is a expansion shoe also these shoes adjust the height of the bridge by adding or subtracting steel plates between the concrete and the base of the shoe. The reason for this is because as they add ballast and tamp the ties on either side of the bridge it puts the bridge (in a Hole) so they half to add shims to bring it back up to grade. As mention before just get a block of somthing nice to look at and form and shape it to look the same as the one in the picture and then add or subtract the right amount to bring it to up grade.
Here are more examples for shoes these are the one's I engineered and installed for UP Railroad its the same concept just a whole lot smaller The one on the right is a expansion type set on roller bearings and the one on the left is a fix type which is a plate shoe notice that just extra plates were added to bring it up/down to grade because of the limited space to work in.
QUOTE=Alan C.;844359] View attachment 43737 View attachment 43738 View attachment 43734 View attachment 43735 View attachment 43736 Here are more examples for shoes these are the one's I engineered and installed for UP Railroad its the same concept just a whole lot smaller The one on the right is a expansion type set on roller bearings and the one on the left is a fix type which is a plate shoe notice that just extra plates were added to bring it up/down to grade because of the limited space to work in.[/QUOTE]
