Lemme see your timber trestle projects..

[diezmon]

I'm about to start planning/building two curved trestles for the layout.  I'm going to be building from scratch using styrene, then painted to look like wood(I hope).

I'm basing my plans off of some images/plans I've found on the web. Roughly like this one:

[img width= height=]http://www.blackbearcc.com/drawings%5Ctjk5L_asm.gif[/img]

[img width= height=]http://www.blackbearcc.com/drawings%5Cbent_iso_5L.gif[/img]

I'm wondering about sizes though.. I'm using .080 for the bents and top cap.  then for the stringers I'm using .080 X .125.

for some reason.. they look a bit oversized.. but maybe it's my imagination..

So, my point is.. I'd like to see and hear how you guys have done it.   Feel free to post away and show me some of your work! 

[3rdrail]

The four stringers would look better at .060" by .125". I am planning on a six foot long pile trestle and will use wooden dowels for the piles.

[Chris333]

Building trestles really isn't fun, but it is needed sometimes.

I've done all mine with stripwood that was cut to length and stained before being glued. If no plans are available I would just draw one out on paper and lay all parts directly over that.

Here I took a piece of ME flex that was bent around a 9.75" radius (ME track holds its shape) I flipped that track upside down and built off of the track. This is also on a 2.5% grade so when adding the bents they were not at 90 degrees. I made a quick angle gauge out of cardboard.


Seems railimages is all different now. For photo:
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showphoto.php/photo/11551/ppuser/3174

[diezmon]

The four stringers would look better at .060" by .125". I am planning on a six foot long pile trestle and will use wooden dowels for the piles.

I don't know that one would really notice a difference of .020 in the stringers, ya think?    I was worried more about how the height would look.  Where my trestles will be located, it will be hard to look at them from above.. so it's mostly side views.

[wm3798]

I built one on an old layout using Styrene and the "Top Down" method you describe.  I was using Atlas c80 at the time, so I soldered a couple of pieces of 11"r curve together, and used that as the track template.

I built the bents based on layers of 1" foam, and whittled away the base scenery to level it when it was installed.  I still have the bridge, sans track, and plan to use it when I build the connection from the main line to the Chaffee Branch.

Lee

[diezmon]

Ok guys, I've jumped in and started...


This is my first attempt.  I only noticed after I downloaded the pics that I did the bottom part incorrectly. DOOP  Oh well, could be worse


A little glue, and a quick paint job.. and I'd say I'm on my way...


Now, I can start my upside-down work.

I'll try to keep you all posted on my progress   http://picasaweb.google.com/diezmon/TrestleWork

Just a FEW more pieces to glue up first! 

Thanks for the pics guys!

[diezmon]

Ok.. moving right along now.

Each night I head out and cut/glue some more styrene.  Things are starting to take shape.

I've been working in upside-down mode, then test fitting the general setup on the layout.









Hopefully, it'll actually BE installed soon

[dclyde]

My wife made this one:

[diezmon]

My wife made this one:

Wow, impressive!  Is that from a kit, or from scratch?

[dclyde]

She built it entirely from scratch using balsa.  She created a template for the bents and found a picture of a Baltimore Truss that she liked.  8 weeks later...and here you go.  I am truely a lucky man to have a wife that loves trains as much (if not more) than I do.

[Chris333]

She's a keeper!  ;D

[tom mann]

That is very impressive.

[diezmon]

She built it entirely from scratch using balsa.  She created a template for the bents and found a picture of a Baltimore Truss that she liked.  8 weeks later...and here you go.  I am truely a lucky man to have a wife that loves trains as much (if not more) than I do.

8 weeks?  she's a slacker!   ;D ;D ;D

[dclyde]

Yeah, I know, but it was her first try.