Has anyone used a flatcar for a highway/road bridge?
I did not know until recently that this has been done many times in the real world. Here is a picture and article describing them:
https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/autumn-1995/californias-temporary-freeway-bridge
Yes, on my three layouts back, on a washout at the Kringle mine.
In real life they have even used a passenger car as a walk bridge.
I’m guessing it would be a one lane bridge unless two flatcars were used side-by-side. In my neck of the woods, one lane bridges aren’t all that uncommon although I’ve never seen one made from a flat car. There’s a one lane covered bridge nearby that I replicated on my layout using the Walthers Willow Glen covered bridge.
Flat car bridges are quite common in the backcountry in B.C.
Don’t know about highway/road bridge, but Union Pacific uses them along their route in the Las Vegas, NV area.
Terry
These are very common in the Pacific Northwest by private landowners who’s houses are across a creek from the main road.
I did a structural analysis of one years ago. A fire truck had been responding to a call when it crashed through one of these make-shift bridges into the creek a few feet below. After that insurance companies began requiring structural certifications on all these bridges - they didn’t want to buy any more fire trucks!
I’m going to see if I can incorporate one of these into my switchback logging line.
It is an interesting concept. Who knew to use a flatcar for a bridge. What a great idea for an MR article (hint, hint).
Check out the first few seconds of this video.
7:41 and 16:50 show railcar bridges.
Hello All,
There are several abandoned flatcar bridges here in the mountains of Colorado.
Many have had the abutments washed out and just look like abandoned flatcars in streams.
Tanker cars have been repurposed as water or fuel storage by placing them on “stilts.”
While hoppers have been repurposed at quarries and grain elevators as loading chutes.
Hope this helps.
In Frankstown, Pa. there’s a bridge made from a former turntable, flipped downside-up:
171226_2_frankstown by lmyers83, on Flickr
171226_4_frankstown by lmyers83, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
One not far from me is part of a driveway, as mentioned above.
Have fun,
Richard
Somewhere in my photos on my computer I have a picture of such a situation. Basically a covered Bridge over a creek.
It looks like the flatcar bridge is alongside the actual railway bridge, and is used for MOW trucks.
Also in Utah at the Park City/Canyons ski area, they used a UP flatcar for a ski trail bridge across a creek.
The bridge that prompted my post was a 4 lane interstate hightway, I5 in CA. It was temporary to get the road back in service quickly after a washout while a permanent solutution was developed (think red tape.)
Although there is a picture above of a turntable bridge being used in PA these seem to be more common on the west coast. I wonder if there was a product (logs?) from that area that used flatcars at one point but moved to another transport method, leaving many flatcars unused and in need of a new application.
I think the answer is inherent in the description of the problem with the original California ‘system’ decking. Remember those ‘plates’? These were all the original flatcars used for TOFC, replaced first by ‘fuel foiler’ skeletons and the 89-footers and then by spine cars and COFC in lightweight well cars…
This is the car that comes up when you google this subject. There are multiple different pics on the internet, but they are always of the same car. And this car has nothing to do with the French national railway company, SNCF. The bridge is located in Georgia (the country in the Caucasus, not the US state).
A quick Google search came up with several companies that make and install bridges made out of old railroad “flatbed”(sic) cars so apparently it’s pretty common. I would think it would be ideal for someone in a remote area needing a strong but not all that wide bridge for a private road going over a creek or some other type of depressed area.