Cross Members On A Curve On An L=Girder >Layout

[caldreamer]

If I have an L-Girder layout, how do you put the track suppots for a curve?  Examples/drawings would be great

   Thanks In Advance

     Caldreamer

[cuyama]

In many cases, the joists remain relatively perpendicular to the L-girders and the risers are positioned as necessary to support the subroadbed. Like this photo:

... from this thread:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/267019.aspx

... from this O Gauge Railroading Forum page

Other folks angle the joists perpendicular to the subroadbed, as shown here:

... from this web page.

But I don't think that's often necessary.

Byron

[doctorwayne]

I don't see wherein lies any mystery:  your curve will be made on some type of cut-out subroadbed, usually plywood.  Lay it atop the crossmembers, mark the areas on the roadbed and crossmembers where they coincide, then cut and install the risers at those locations.

My benchwork is open grid, not L-girder, but all of the main level's track is on risers, ranging from an inch or two, to 22". 

For the large curve shown in the series of photos below, I added crossmembers to the grid, oriented in whatever direction necessary, to give full support to the subroadbed...

If your risers aren't in convenient locations for proper support of the curve, you can move them to suit, or add intermediate ones, or even add members running from one crossmember to the next.

Wayne

[cuyama]

BTW, Google search string "L-girder model railroad images"

[mlehman]

The standard method works well and is well documented. Some times there's other stuff going on below, which complicates things.  If you use a substntal enough subroadbed, like 3/4" plywood, it can provide much of the strength needed.

Here's a variant I used because I needed to clear staging below, support a liftout "cliff" and support curves above and below. Basically, it uses a 1x3 L-girder support (in this case just a 1x2 support below for clearance reasons) with a spoke-like array of x-members resting above it. It's pretty shallow, but you could do the same thing with a more substantial curve.

This pic is just a little further to the right of the last. It's a deeper curve above and below.

Here's the liftout set in place.

So long as the benchwork is solid and supportive, consider the alternatives after you've got some practice with the simpler situations. There is no single right or wrong way to build benchwork, just the way that works for what you need.

This section was designed to need minimal support underneath to clear storage, while being as vertically compact as possible. It's supported by steel shelf brackets and utilizes the 3/4" subroadbed for much of its strength.