Wood trestle plans

[Anonymous]

I'm looking for a good source of high wood tresles. Either plans or diagrams should be good. I model N scale, so as long as the trestle demensions are marked I can convert. My plan is to model a curved structure.

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My first recommendation would be to pick up a copy of the book Model Railroad Bridges and Trestles published by Kalmbach.

Are you building a single track or double track trestle?

Ed

[Anonymous]

Hi Ed
Thanks for the quick reply. I'm planning a single, upper level trestle with a very low (ground level), smaller bridge. I would like the trestle to be about a foot high.

[Anonymous]

Will there be a stream crossing or are you just planning to cross a gorge?

If you cross a stream then you should build a main span over the stream. This is because in the Spring when the snow thaws the flow will increase and often carry dead branches and logs downstream. If the trestle were built over the stream channel then the logs would beat against the pilings and at least damage the bridge.

Another thing, what radius curve will go over the trestle?

Good Luck - Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed
This is really good stuff! Once I read the info about stream, thawing snow, and dead wood I realize how much I need to research and think things through more carefully. I'm so impressed with the vision of a great trestle that I'm overlooking the obvious.
To answer your question, I'm not 100% sure yet. I really like the idea of the water and I think a deep gorge justifies the structure. I'm thinking a combination of the two will work, especially since I have little water elswhere. The radius I'm planning is 19" in N scale. My layout is only a foot deep on a shelf-style setup around an "extra" room that is 10.5'x11.5', so I'm limited on many fronts.
I really appreciate your correspondence; it's a great learning experience.
Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

The compromise structure (the one that brings all your ideas together) would include a wooden trestle approach on both ends of a deck truss made from wood. Many structures of this type were built when the UP and CP were building the first transcontinental railroad. One small problem is that the deck truss span almost has to be straight. You can curve the trestle approaches on either end to make the bend. The deck truss should be 150 or so scale feet and will need reinforced pilings (more substantial than regular trestle bents) at either end. What era are you modeling? - Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed
I'm planning to model the late 60's to modern. I would like to get a steam engine or two as a possible excursion train. I realize the legistics of mixing steam and diesel. I'm totally capivated by the UP Big Boy. This project may be the only one I get to do (at least untill I retire--20-25 years). I would like to include such impressive structures, like a comparitively massive trestle. I feel that doing the scenery just right will justify the trestle being built. So far, my biggest challenge has been getting plans to build it. Some of the pre-packages kits look nice, but for the money I could do a great deal more scratchbuilding, and I'd really like the chance to build the thing.
Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

The next question we have to answer is 'When was this structure built?' If you are going to run Big Boys over it, we should make sure we have done the research to insure it appears sound enough to carry the Big Boy.

In my opinion, this will require a steel structure. Oh, and you should observe a speed restriction when crossing the trestle anyway. I know MEI (Micro Engineering Inc.) makes some bridge spans for N Scale. They make a 'steel trestle bent' in HO Scale. You may want to find out if they make one for N Scale. If not we will have to learn about trestle load specifications.

Talk to you later. - Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed
These are all great questions and suggestions. However, we've come to a point in our correspondence that I'll need to ask you to provide the information for those questions or help me learn where to find it. I'm still so knew at this I'm not sure where to start.
With the time period I plan to model, do you think a wood trestle would date the layout to an earlier period? Are there tables , charts, or lists available that provide weight and speed restrictions? To be accurate, is there a preferable structure of a different material to be used? Research is a part of the hobby I have not yet explored, but it is starting to get very interesting. I'm open to any comments or suggestion you may have. Believe me, nothing you could say would be taken as an insult and would be seriously considered for its own merit.
Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

The problem is that I am not an authority on the UP or the Big Boy. If I had to guess, then I think we should consider only steel structures for this crossing. If you want, you could try and find someone in an UP historical society who may know of a wooden trestle on a line which carried Big Boys. Suprisingly, this may not be such a hard question for someone interested in UP history becuase as I understand the Big Boy was limited to running on specific divisions due to its weight. Are you a member of NMRA? If not you may want to consider it. It is not very expensive when you consider you get a magazine each month and access to a wealth of railroad historical information. Even after we find out, we may likely be back to my recommendation to use a structural steel trestle for the crossing.

Do you have access to a Walthers catalog for N Scale? I model in HO but I will look next time I am at the hobby store. What I want to know there is does MEI produce trestle bents for N Scale as they do for HO Scale? One interesting thing is that a 30 ft girder for HO Scale can be used for a 55 ft span and a 50 ft girder can be used for a 90 ft span. MEI makes 30 ft and 50 ft girders for HO Scale. The only problem is that the spacing between rivets will be all wrong but who would know besides me?

I will check to see what I can find out about speed restrictions on such a trestle.

Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed

MEI(Micro Engineering Company as it's listed in the N & Z catalog)does show a Tall Steel Viaduct that when built measures 15"L x 8.1" H. The description says straight and curved with bridge shoes, barrel platforms w/barrels, guard rails and Code 55 bridge flex-trak. The questions I have to answer are 1-)do I want to be limited to that height, 2-)How badly do I "need" the wood trestle compared to what I'm beginning to think would be more prototypically correct with steel, and 3-)What radius will the steel kit allow me to run? If you have any advice for these question, please respond. I'm not a member of NMRA, although I could give it serious consideration. I'm starting to realize the wealth of readily available info from groups such as NMRA is priceless.

Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

It occured to me on the way home how we can solve part of your problem. You could build both trestles and have track over the steel trestle only. This would be the case where the railroad decided it needed to replace a wooden trestle with a more substantial steel structure. What 'cho think 'bout that?

I will have to look at some specifics on the MEI N/Z trestle to determine how small a radius you can negotiate. What you do is cut the girders apart and glue them back together so they form a sort of a wedge shape. After you combine the wedges you have a series of chords that make a curve. Then you lay the flex track on top. I am quite fond of the MEI line of bridge kits and their bridge track for HO Scale is the best. I realize you may want something more than 8 inches high, but that is realy quite a distance in N Scale. That is equal to a tower 110 feet high. If you want more, I will tell you how to make nice concrete pedastles to set the steel towers. They are common in mountainous terrain to permit leveling of the foundation.

Have you had the opportunity to inquire at your local store about the Model Railroad Bridges and Trestles book I mentioned earlier? I recommend it highly and it has a section on wooden trestles. The cover photo is a bridge scene in N Scale with Santa Fe F-units in red warbonnet paint. I don't have the book handy but I remember the bridge is a large steel arch, similar to a trestle.

That gets me back to the first comment about a replacement steel trestle. The cool thing here is that you could model the wooden trestle as a bridge which has been washed out. Then your visitors would understand why you chose a fairly long main span over the stream. They would see what happens when you try and cheat nature. Unfortunately, this means alot of additional work for you to build essentially two bridges. Or you could make the old trestle appear to be burned up which would explain why the railroad went back in with a steel structure. Or you could just leave it in as the original alignment and put in the new structure as the new smoother alignment which would be used by your passenger and faster freight trains. The UP rebuilt one stretch of track near Sherman Hill in this manner to smooth out some grade and reduce the curvature.

Give it some thought. - Ed

[Anonymous]

Rene'

I stopped by the local hobby shop today at lunch. Based on the dimensions in the Walthers catalog I am sure you could build the MEI trestle on a 19 inch radius. I was surprised to see the cost of some of the other trestle model in the catalog.

Later - Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed

I hadn't thought of the duel trestle idea. This may be the key, as my dilemma was which structure to build at the exspense of what I really wanted. This way I could have both and still be "correct". I like to write and since my railroad is fictious I've begun an entire story on its history and evolution. A burnt structure would really add to the mystique of the story as to "who done it"--many possibilities there. Even though two structures would require more work, I'd benefit from the experience and wouldn't have to worry about messing up. I'd likely burn an actual portion of the trestle, just to be authentic. It so happens that I've won a two book auction on ebay. One book is about coaling in the Appalacians and the other is the Bridges and trestles Kalmbach book. I got both for $18.00. You said in the other reply that you were surprised at the cost of some of the other trestles, were they priced higher or lower than you expecte?
Keep the great ideas coming.
Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

They sounded a little high to me, but I don't need a kit so it is kind of relative.

Later, when I am not so busy at work and church, I'll send you a sketch of how the two structures could be arranged.

Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed

I've read that because HO is the most popular scale it enjoys the largest selection and available quantity of products. This could a reason for N scale being a little higher. I'd love to have any scetch or sketches that you think will be helpful. If you don't mind my asking, what church do you go to? What work do you do there? I go to Wardline Baptist Church where I teach Sunday School (and SS Dir.), sing in our Praise Team, and help in general. By the way, what part of the country do you call home? Hope I'm not being to nosey, it's just that so few poeple even admit they go to church.
Thanks for your time!!!:)
Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

I work as a structural engineer designing highway structures for a consulting firm. Sometimes I have to work severe overtime because someone on the 'team' changes the design requirements late in the game and we still have to complete the plans by the contract date.

I am a member of the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) which is essentially the US version of the Church of England. We are not connected to the Roman Catholic Church any more than the Methodists or Presbeterians or whatever. I am a Lay Minister, and the Choir Director at my parish. We have a paid Music Director who oversees the music program at the church and I am sort of the Second in Command. I actually started the choir and we later hired the M.D.

I live in Richmond, VA where once all North-South railroad movements on the East coast joined the RF&P RR. The RF&P is now part of the CSX so we see E-W CSX traffic, N-S CSX traffic and E-W NS traffic. All three of these lines pass within five miles of my house. I also see the Tropicana trains and the Amtrak AutoTrains running N-S through here on CSX track.

Yes, I regret that most people don't want to even think about church in our country anymore. That is why I brought it up. I sometimes feel compelled to remind everyone of their responsibility according to the Fourth Commandment although my son sometimes has a bit of trouble with the Fifth (and I'm not talking about the bottle).

Until next time. - Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed

Thanks for sharing all that personal info. Your work sounds interesting and challenging. I think it's awsome that you've realized a talent and share a willingness to serve the Kingdom of God. Your fortunate to live so close to such a busy rail intersection. I live within a mile of the North/South Canadian National (formerly Illinois Central Gulf). It runs parallel with I-55. Often I hear the engine horn in the morning as I wake. I'm the only one in my family that thinks it's cool, but they sleep-in anyway.
I'll try to be patient as I wait for the diagrams you offered. If you think of anything else of general interest or that specifically addresses some options for my RR, please don't hesitate to write.
Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

Let me know when you receive the book, Model Railroad Bridges and Trestles. You will learn a lot from that and there is no need for me to go into detail about trestles until you have seen the drawings in that book. If you decide to buy the MEI kit we discussed earlier, I will sketch how you can make modifications so the trestle will form a curve. I will need to know your address so I can send the sketch to you. If you want to maintain your privacy, let me know your e-mail address and you can later send me your address that way, helping to maintain some privacy.

Regards - Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed

It may take the better part of a week of get the books in the mail, but I'll study the structures when it arrives. Wanted to let you know that I'll be camping with my family untill late Sunday afternoon, so I won't be able to respond to any postings untill then. I'll incluse my address at the end of this posting. If you don't mind, I'd like you to send the sketches whenever you get the time. I was thinking that anyother possibility for me was to include both structures but in seperate locations on the layout. At least this allows me to get then where I can enjoy trains running on them, even if it's not exactly accurate. Don't really know yet, I'll most likely decide after some research in the book.
My address is: Rene' C. Petz III
46024 Kate St.
Hammond, La 70401
:)Don't forget that Sunday is Mother's Day!!!:)

Rene'

[Anonymous]

Hi Ed & Rene
I was very interested in your correspondence as I too am wanting to build a timber trestle on the N scale layout I am building. I want to take a slightly different route in that I am intending to build a wooden trestle with a steel girder bridge under construction alongside as this will provide interesting loco workings as locos are changed to use smaller motive power over the section with the timber -if you get my drift.
p.s. is the book you mentioned available in the U.K.?
p.p.s. perhaps an article in M.R. on bridges etc. would be appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Mr. (?) Booth,

The book, Bridges and Trestles for Model Railroads, is published by Kalmbach. If it is in print, I would think you could buy one with a quick search on the internet. Otherwise, I would think you could buy one through an online auction site.

I once tried to submit something to MR and it was sent back with a note stating that they were not interested in articles of that nature. I thought I would try again later, maybe with the National Model Railroad Association.

I am thinking of writing two articles eventually. The first concerns building a model railroad bridge on a skew. An article was recently published in Railroad Model Craftsman discussing how to kitbash a Central Valley bridge kit in HO Scale for a skew. The second article I am considering concerns small bridge foundations and site preparation. I find most of the kits available to be very good quality with regards to bridge superstructure but not much is understood about the piers and abutments. IMO a quality bridge model includes a quality foundation.

Incidently, when looking through the N Scale catalog for Rene', I noticed a good trestle kit is sold by Campbell. It costs more than I would like to pay, but you may find it quite suitable.

Good Luck - Ed

[Anonymous]

Hello Ed and UK friends

Ed, I finally got Bridges and Trestle in and you were right. It's great as well as extremely helpful. The level of detail is, in some cases, over my head. That's alright, I'll grow into it. I have to support your suggestion to get this book to anyone else who may be reading this forum, it's a must have if you're going to build bridges on your railroad. And how can have a railroad without bridges?
I think I've decided to go with the steel trestle, like what is displayed on page 72. I like the mass and airiness the structure suggests.I'm not sure if I should go with kit(s) or scratchbuild as per the book's instructions. What do you think will be the most economical and efficient? By the way, if you'd like to send me any of those drawings you mentioned it would be great. I'll be reading and studying till I hear from you next.

Rene'

[Anonymous]

Rene'

I knew you would like the book. I keep my copy at work unless I need it here. I draw all my plans at work where my 4-yr old won't feel obligated to help. I've even built some things at work during lunch.

I have been busy for a few days at work but I just started to draw the plan layout of a trestle for you. What a coincidence.

I recommend you use the Micro Engineering trestle because it will be more economical and the rivet detail is hard to get in a scratch built structure. My problem is that I don't know what the spacing is between the girders on the MEI trestle. This dimension is necessary to draw accurate plans for you to kit-ba***he curved trestle. I can send you a drawing and a formula to use to make the adjustments necessary, OR you could buy the kit and build a tower span. Tower spans are not modified in this technique for curving a trestle so building the tower span will not cause any problems later. Then you could measure the spacing of the girders and let me know what it is.

However, we may get lucky and someone reading this thread may have the kit and pass the dimension along to us anyway.

I'll take a look at the stuff on p.72 tomorrow although I think I know what you are talking about.

My two favorite bridges in the book have to be scratch built. I like the Scherzer (sp?) rolling lift bridge and the Glouchester Draw Bridge. The massive ones are impressive but I don't have the room to do a bridge like that justice.

Until next time. - Ed