O.K. now !
Can you find a pic of what you want?
That will help us a lot.
We do have a lot of great bridge builders here.
Sean
Though I have never build a bridge, I have built several trestles. You can surely do it cheaper than buying commercially. Plans are available from several sources relatively inexpensive. $10 to $15. If not the proper scale, staples will enlarge or shrink them. Ceader siding or fench posts work well to cut the lumber to scale, assemble with a good weather proof glue and brads then coat with preservitive. Jack
If you have a table saw (or can borrow one) and if your desired bridge is of the timber trestle type, then have a go at something like this. If this is what you are after I can give you a set of sketches you can modify to fit your needs.
Tom Trigg
I build trestles similar to ttrigg. Mine are little more primitive. I use aluminium angle for the deck and I rip fence palings for the piles (as they are already weathered) on a table saw. I use real nuts and bolts from the local hardware store. Each bridge costs around $2.00 per foot.
Mick
Chief Operating Officer
Northern Timber Company - Mt Beenak
The table saw and cedar fence scrapps are the way to go!
OR you could go the PVC route!
I've seen one made of manila folders.
Here is a wikihow resource:
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Model-Bridge-out-of-Manila-Folders
This would be a lot cheaper.
I’m thinking the manila folders would not stand up to most weather patterns. Especially heavy rains. I can see where it would be a good choice for an indoor layout. As far as costs go, a $2 cedar or redwood 6 ft fence panel yield a bridge that spans a ten foot gap. Even better, when the neighbor replaced his fence I took about a dozen boards for free.
Here is a lattice truss bridge I made from cedar fence boards:
Yes the roof shakes are all hand split. It's a little over five feet long and has a planked deck inside.
Rex
Rex,
Interesting idea using fence boards. It looks nice.
Here is a simple one that I built from wood pieces I picked up from the local hobby store. I think each piece was something like $.80 for about a 3 foot section. So the bridge probably cost in the range of maybe $20 maximum, including the wood deck stain.It's 3 feet long.
For the deck stain, if you have a Lowes or Home Depot near you, check out there Opps paint. It's pain they mix up for a customer and either screw up the tint or the customer never comes back to purchase it. They sell it for $5 a gallon or $3 a pint. This year I must have picked up 10 gallons of the stuff. Now I only need to figure out what I'm going to use it all on.
Mark
Here is one I made from Square and Flat Brass stock obtained from ACE Hardware. Maybe $30 to make this one. It's 12 inches long.
M. Gilger - President and Chief Engineer MM&G web
Web Site: http://mmg-garden-rr.webs.com/
My Entry was not cheap by any means total cost $210. it is 4-two track portals by the big train backshop cut and pasted to make it 9" high by 35" long by 4 5/8" wide.
Dave
The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
Fantastic looking bridges! I am a longtime O-scaler (indoors) wanting to move outside so I can have all the room I need for bridges etc Live out in the country in Iowa so have all the area I need, and then some for construction. Love long bridges and trestles. Will come back to this post for more good info. Thanks! Rick Simonsen
Most important thing is to choose your materials carefully. Red cedar is good, and some people use cypress with good results. It's worth spending a little more on corrosion resistant hardware, like brass and stainless steel, as even zinc coated screws and nails will eventually rust and loosen, spoiling the wood around them. Some stains will wash out after a long period, so natural weathering might just as well be left to do the job; a preservative treatment slows the weathering and increases the life. Paint tends to trap moisture and rots the wood out of sight - let it breathe.
It's always good to get your ideas from real life bridges to make sure the proportions are believable and workable - I've seen a few that would make good trampolines. I make (expensive!) bridges, and a friend likes to annoy me by showing me his low cost bridges made from the galvanized steel top hat sections that are used for small road signs. They are rigid and work very well indeed, and can easily be dressed up with additional cosmetic structure - a good low cost way to do it.
Andrew
There are many fine examples of bridges as you see here. Many you can build yourself if you have the time and resources to pour into it. Many of us bridge builders have been through the trial & error stages of building thus saving you the grief. A bridge that cost's you $30 or less to build could easily consume 20-30 hours of your time or more from start to finish. I build aluminum bridges and sell them on my website bridgemangscale which I use to further my G scale addiction. If you were to research the materials, hand cut and build one like this it would be far less grieving just to commission one to be built. Many guys spend hundreds on engines, buildings and rolling stock just to cringe at the thought of a $100 bridge. Many of these bridges will far outlast any of those things. As with anything in this hobby, it's an investment.[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0]
http://our-garden-railroad.homestead.com/index.html
That's a great looking bridge
Great looking bridge!!! If (when?) I make the jump from O -Scale to G, I will definitely be in contact with you for some bridge work. Your comments about where we spend our money are right on. I have spent many $$$ on motive power that I rarely run, some of which I haven't even taken out of the box. Could have spent some of this money on bridges etc. that would be visible to everybody all the time. R. Simonsen
This one is just about 60 inches:
Table saw and some redwood fence boards. Some hardware from MicroMark for the rods. This was a lot easier than I thought it would when I first started.
Best,
TJ
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TJsTrains.com - Stop by - lots of pictures
nice!
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