I’m just about to start building a very easy pile trestle bridge. But I don’t know the size of the lumber used. I also wonder if there are scale bolts to buy somewhere, very small as in the following picture?
I’m going to build 2-3 of the following:
I need to know the size of the lumber used to build the piles, cap and transverse bracing. I also need the size of the lumber used to build the stringers as in the following picture:
There was no standard size for any of the timbers or piliings used for trestles. Each railroad used whatever they could find.
Scale lumber and Nut-Bolt-Washer castings are available from several sources, in many different sizes, so you need to either get a Walthers catalog or use Google to search the Internet for suppliers.
I greatly admire someone that goes to such lengths to make something so realistic. I personally just don’t have the patients anymore, but recommend you try some of your area hobby shops. Some of them may carry just exactly what you’re looking for. In the past, I’ve used both round and flat tooth picks that I had to cut, sand and file to get what I wanted, and it worked out real well.
Good luck. Send us some pictures when you get it finished.
Tracklayer
Ok, if that’s the case, what lumber do you guys think it’s used in the first picture?
I found some nut-bolt-washer castings at Kadee.
I think it’s so exciting to make things realistic, it’s more work but it’s worth it in the end. Yes I will post some pictures when it’s done.
Electrolove:
I used Kadee NBWs on my trestle and they look very good. Grandt Line has a very good selection to choose from.
Older trestles, as already stated and my research shows, there wasn’t really any standard on the size of the wood used nor was there a standard on how the trestle was built. Some railroads had some basic designs, but were meant to be a starting point only and were usually built as it would fit the terrain and as the local engineer would determine. Another fact is that most trestles ended up being over-built way beyond what was actually needed for the required strength. So, you have a lot of lead way in how you build yours.
I measured a Walthers kit bent and came up with my dimensions.
The basswood I used are the following sizes:
Bent Poles: 3/16" dowels
Cross members and etc.: 1/16"x1/8
Top Stringer: 1/8" x 3/16"
http://www.midwestproducts.com/scale_lumber.htm
This might help with the scale lumber.I was going to say KD for the bolts too.
I forgot to add, you can find dowels of assorted sizes at Wal-mart in the crafts area. Once you decide what diameter you want to use for the pilings, that would probably be the cheapest and easiest source for them.
rexhea:
Thanks for telling me the sizes, it really helped. Your bridge is awesome. How long did it take to build it? What’s the size of the KadeeNBW’s?
Thanks guys for all your help. You are all so nice and helpful.
[bow]
Here is a shot of an “almost finished” trestle that I built for the OMRS layout. I used a diagram from a John Rendall Scale Model trestle kit ( JV Models in Artesia, CA) and cut it down to the size I needed.
You can view more of the OMRS layout at:
www.RailImages.com/gallery/JohnNelson
The only caution that I could provide, since each trestle is so individual for the given area you are spanning, is to double and triple check your measurements before you start cutting lumber. I also used 3/16" dowels and the same size lumber pieces mentioned above for the diagonals and cross pieces. I only used two 1/4" x 1/4" pieces for the stringers that the track was laid on. I had purchased the wrong sized lumber and didn’t want to wait to get new pieces in order to do as the kit called for. I stained my lumber with a mixture of medicinal alcohol and india ink ( 40 drops of ink to 1/4 cup of alcohol) to get a creosote-looking hue. It starts out pretty black, but as it dries and ages, it seems to “weather” itself and comes out looking greyish brown. Looks ok to me.
It all worked out in the long run. The trestle is up and trains going across, so hey, it works!!
Electrolove: I forgot the scale size for the Kadee NBWs, but they look right and that’s the important thing. They are metal and you cut them off a metal sprue. Drill a pilot hole and using tweezers, dip the end of the NBW into CA glue and then the hole. It doesn’t take long once you get a rhythm going. Make sure you put the NBWs in place on the completed bents before you assemble your trestle (much easier).
My trestle is 40" long and 6" high at the highest point. The time it took is hard to say in man hours, but the bents were made in about 2 weeks, NBWs 1 week, and then assembly and staining took another week. It is not as hard as one would imagine, but you need to build you a jig to assemble the bents if you are going to make many.
Just glue wood strips on a flat scrap board each side of where each vertical pole will be located and also 2 for the top plate. Mark where all your diagonal bracing will be on the flat board. Lay your cut dowels between the wood form and glue to the top plate and then glue your diagonals to the poles. I used yellow carpenter’s glue.
Also, buy “Super Easy Cutter” made by Midwest to cut your wood. It is in the Walthers catalog, # 472-1128, page 911 of the 2005. This will make the work fun because it is so fast and easy compared to other ways of cutting your wood.
Have fun, REX [:)]
JohnT14808
I just visited your photo album. Very impressive layout and looks like loads of fun. [^].
REX
Not mine, rex…I just get to work and play with it!!!
Your trestle looks really great. I also looked at your layout at railimages for some inspiration. It’s very nice looking. Thanks.
.
“…work and play with it” That’s what counts. [:D][:D]
Electrolove: I meant to say that I only used 3 stringers on my trestle. I noticed on your diagram that there were more which is ok, but as far as the strength and looks go, 3 is plenty and the rest may be more prototypical even though you won’t be able to see them.
REX
Thanks electrolove…my first scratch building try. I had to rebuild it when I discovered that my first edition was too tall ( I DID NOT CHECK my measurements). Imagine my disgust when I set the trestle in place only to find that the track was 5/16" too high!!
Other hints that I was given…keep your stringers 14 scale feet long, or shorter. I made mine two inches long and ended up with a bent under each stringer joint. (One of the club’s prototypical members gave me that one…). Stain your lumber before cutting and assembling. It’s a lot easier to touch up the cut ends after assembly then to try to stain the whole trestle after it is assembled.
The biggest problem I had solving was how to get the bents glued to the under side of the stringers AND keep them perpendicular. The answer came from one of the forum members when they mentioned that they had used 1"x1" blocks on either side of a bent to keep the bent standing up straight. I used several pairs of blocks with the bent gripped between with rubber bands to support the outer most bents and one bent in the middle. I applied the glue to the top of the bents and laid the assembled stringers along a marked path. After drying, I moved the support blocks to the next bent and went from there.
A lot of frustration and work, but it’s in. On to the next project… I’ll try to get some pictures of the finished trestle posted to the RailImages site. I haven’t had a chance to get back to the Clubhouse since 8/18, but will take more photos when I do.
Standard engineering practice at the time was followed by almost all railroads when desiging and building wooden structures. You can get an idea from the Carsten’s publication “Bridge and Trestle Handbook” by Paul Mallery. It is currently avaliable from Carstens, also known as the publisher of Railroad Model Craftsman. I believe tha Kalmbach books also has a book on bridge and tresle construction.
The dimensions of the lumber or timber involved varied, based on the expected load on the trestle. In other words, if you’re going to send Atlantics and Prairies over that trackage, you build a much lighter trestle than if you’re running Big Boys over the division.
So, although the answer is to study the prototype, an approximate answer would be 12" by 12" beams for the verticals and the topmost sill, and 3" by 10" for the bracing. These would probably look heavy enough to be believable, and come from some of the diagrams in the Paul Mallery book. More specific information can be found from finding a book or article on trestle construction. Model Railroader has had a couple of these articles in recent memory. Copies of the articles can be obtained from Kalmbach, or the NMRA library.
-Ed
I just found a very nice webpage about trestle construction.
http://members.cox.net/sn3nut/trestles%20part%201.htm
Look at this for example:
Updated picture with all major sizes calculated (HO).
