Login
or
Register
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Home
»
Model Railroader
»
Forums
»
General Discussion (Model Railroader)
»
beginning bridge
Edit post
Edit your reply below.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
Michael, <br /> <br />I had to read you message twice before I understood what you were trying to do. Let me make sure ... <br /> <br />You are going to have a section of HO scale track 24 inches long over a section of scenery about two inches below which represents a loading area to transfer gravel from hoppers to trucks. <br /> <br />This is similar to a railroad operation where they dump coal to be used at a power plant or transferred to a ship by conveyor. It may seem efficient to load trucks this way, but it would probably beat up the trucks pretty much. The railroad would probably build a trestle of twenty foot spans across your site using wood. If you look around you will see an example of this done for a coal operation. The trestle will be open to allow the gravel to flow through and there will have to be baffels to control the gravel (sort of like a funnel) into the trucks and to keep it from free falling into the trucks. <br /> <br />Another way of doing this would be to build a sloping ramp under the trestle and to one side. The gravel would be dumped onto the ramp and it would accumulate in a long pile next to the trestle. Then a front end loader could scoop it up into the trucks when they arrive. A large crane could be used if you think that is more interesting. <br /> <br />I recently saw a 'yard office' and a 'guard shack' which would be nice for this kind of scene. I would also put 'chain link' fence around the whole site with a 'No Trespassing' sign every 100 or so scale feet. Then I would 'pave' the entrance and a few feet of the area inside the fence with Scale Crete to look like a parking area. Cover the balance of the parking/loading area with stray gravel, and you will have a nice scene indeed. <br /> <br />To get back to your question about bridges ... <br />A railroad span of 200+ feet would be quite a substantial structure. Certainly they would have to use a truss. The cost of a truss like this is staggering when compared to a multi-span trestle of wood. That is why I think you should use the trestle. <br /> <br />Central Valley makes a 150 ft truss span for a single track bridge. I think the Walthers truss is about 200 ft but it is made for a double track situation. Plastruct has a set of plans for a truss which could be modified for your situation, but I am not sure how much it would cost to build the Plastruct version. <br /> <br />Good Luck. - Ed
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag
Update Reply
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Users Online
There are no community member online
Search the Community
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter
See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter
and get model railroad news in your inbox!
Sign up