Suggestions and advice needed on a bridge segment **Pix attached**

YmeBP

YmeBP

Member
Dec 3, 2006
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Southern New Jersey
www.skyersfamily.com
So i've decided to add some vertical action to the 4x8 thomas the tank engine layout i've been building for my kids :p .. well mostly for my kids anyway hehehe. I've used woodland scenic risers (4%) to get the height i need to get over the crossing the problem is what do i do in between the risers? I've cut and sanded a piece of plywood becuase i didn't think the trestles were enough, but how do i hold up the plywood?

The other problem is the turnout. I have an odd geometry and i'm not sure how to solve it. I've taken a picture of 2 turnouts, on top of each other, one is a #6 and the other is a snap switch. the #6 looks like it would be the best fit and not do the s curve thing, but i'd like a second opinion.


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How far are you spanning with your bridges? Atlas makes an inexpensive line of bridges (plate girder, Warren truss, & deck girder, maybe one other one I'm forgetting). They each will replace a 9 inch section of snap track, so you could use a series of them with piers in between to support them.
 
Russ Bellinis said:
How far are you spanning with your bridges? Atlas makes an inexpensive line of bridges (plate girder, Warren truss, & deck girder, maybe one other one I'm forgetting). They each will replace a 9 inch section of snap track, so you could use a series of them with piers in between to support them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, about 38 to 39". I purchased a warren truss bridges from atlas, they have incredible detail and i like the way they look, I also have a bunch of second hand bridges and girders that the track slides through. I think i'd prefer to use the slide through warren truss w/ the flex track than the individual 9" sections for this layout but i can't seem to figure out what they are called as they are all secodn hand and don't have any markings on them i can get info from.

I used a 3' section of flex to span the gap thinking it would probably be best to not have gaps in the span, but i guess if it's well supported gaps won't be an issue.

Any tips soldering the joints on those brigdge structures? It seems easy to melt the plastic.

Operation update:
I've run thomas by himself first then gordon w/ a consist of 15 cars around the track. It was a sight :). It looks great but now that i've run things around the track i don't think i'll ever use a 4% grade in any of my layouts again. The bachmann thomas series are some pretty strong engines, and you should see them shudder adn jerk going up the grade, and then accellerate rocket like coming down :(.

I tried just putting a single car on the top of the 4% downgrade and it made it 1/2 way around the larger outer loop. 4% is too much .. i know i read that it was heheh but sometimes stubborn wins :oops:, i was hell bent on making a pass under bridge in the space i have. I sure will more closely heed the advice of gaugers here on out though.

I start construction of my yard module for my layout in 4 weeks when i'm finished w/ Sodor-MZL Lines (marlon zavier lucas for my sons). I have a perfect scene in mind i can use a couple of the 9" warren truss bridges for this module :). I really like those bridges, reminds me of pulling into penn station in newark going south to north. You see all the old bridges over the water in newark w/ trains on them.
 
If you are running a number of the Atlas bridges with piers in between, and would like to run one long piece of flex track through the bridges instead of rail joiners between each bridge, i can think of 2 ways to do it.

One method would be to remove the rails from all of the bridges, then remove the rails from a piece of flex track and slide the rails through the spikes of each bridge in order. If you want to solder the rail joiners to make a solid connection between the track going across the bridges and the connecting track at either end, wet an old rag and lay it across the rails at the ends of the bridges. When you solder, the water in the rag will act as a heat sink to keep any part of the bridge from melting.

The second method is to remove all of the spike detail from the bridges, and fill in between the ties to make a smooth surface on the bridge deck. Then just put flex track on top of the deck of the bridge.
 
Russ Bellinis said:
If you are running a number of the Atlas bridges with piers in between, and would like to run one long piece of flex track through the bridges instead of rail joiners between each bridge, i can think of 2 ways to do it.

One method would be to remove the rails from all of the bridges, then remove the rails from a piece of flex track and slide the rails through the spikes of each bridge in order. If you want to solder the rail joiners to make a solid connection between the track going across the bridges and the connecting track at either end, wet an old rag and lay it across the rails at the ends of the bridges. When you solder, the water in the rag will act as a heat sink to keep any part of the bridge from melting.

The second method is to remove all of the spike detail from the bridges, and fill in between the ties to make a smooth surface on the bridge deck. Then just put flex track on top of the deck of the bridge.
Click to expand...

The rail removal idea is elegantly simple :). I'm going to get a couple more of those bridges and send you an update when i put them in place. Thanks!!!!
 
If you don't actually need the space under the elevated track, you can fill it with either WS flat elevated stuff (similar to the risers) or cut your own from pink foam. Or get some trestles under the tracks. A common practice in North America was to install a trestle when the line was built and eventually fill it in with soil or spoil. There are still a lot of trestles under the embankments just waiting for the preservationsists! (Not sure what the practice was on Sodor).
 
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