A new truss bridge for the South Bucks Light Railway.

Martino

Martino

Photography, The GWR, Aviation, Travel, Cars.
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I have a problem in a part of the garden where the embankment for the line is becoming a dam during wet weather. The resultant boggy bit is killing (has killed!) the lawn in that area. So I need to remove part of the embankment to allow the water the flow away - into the neighbour’s garden. To bridge the gap I’m building a four foot long aluminum truss bridge.
The first side is complete an all the components for the second side and the top and bottom linking parts are cut.
Sunday promises to be a day of drilling and riveting.
BB7C7376-3868-4F04-A12B-EE68F26F3635.jpeg96C54107-56C7-4288-AC70-E40F3F5539BE.jpegBB7C7376-3868-4F04-A12B-EE68F26F3635.jpeg96C54107-56C7-4288-AC70-E40F3F5539BE.jpeg
 
Just to prove the new bridge works. Peckett ‘Betty’ with a short mixed train. This weekend the bridge goes into the paint shop.
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Great build and solves the problem of the water build up too,:clap::clap::clap:.Also food for thought for me too,I have a lift out section I want to replace with something more sturdy,something like yours may be an answer?
 
My railway has a duckunder that's in full sight so I want to grace it with a truss bridge. Following with interest.
 
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The truss bridge is now finished and in place. Plants also put in, hopefully they’ll spread as they are supposed to be ground cover with small blue flowers in spring, early summer and autumn. A couple of trains run today to prove it all works.2446D8A0-0FA8-4FF7-920A-D423D3453336.jpeg86899B8F-CD47-4358-B0E1-C188F873F0A9.jpeg
 
What's the little wagon behind the green Hudswell loco? Tool box for the track gang?
 
Jasper said:
What's the little wagon behind the green Hudswell loco? Tool box for the track gang?
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It’s a take on a GWR shunter’s truck or ‘Charriot’. Created from a Swift Sixteen wagon.
 
Martino said:
The truss bridge is now finished and in place. Plants also put in, hopefully they’ll spread as they are supposed to be ground cover with small blue flowers in spring, early summer and autumn. A couple of trains run today to prove it all works.View attachment 281975View attachment 281976
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You do well in Florida to get the moss to thrive, must be in a shaded part of the garden?
 
Martino said:
It’s a take on a GWR shunter’s truck or ‘Charriot’
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Until today I'd never heard of shunter's trucks, but then I don't live in Britain. So I asked Google, and found this to be quite informative:
www.rmweb.co.uk

Shunters wagons - when were they used?

Hi all Now both Hornby and Bachmann have provided us with Shunters trucks cold anybody say when they were needed? Some GWR goods yards seemed to do without them completely and others had several. Why? I can remember Tyseley Goods and cannot remember ever seeing one there whilst the ubiquitous 57x...
www.rmweb.co.uk www.rmweb.co.uk
 
dunnyrail said:
You do well in Florida to get the moss to thrive, must be in a shaded part of the garden?
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Well, we’re in Northwest Florida which is closer to New Orleans than Orlando. The area is often called Lower Alabama. We’re seasonal up here, with four distinct seasons. It gets humid and in the shade (we do have trees in our garden) the moss thrives during most of the year. Need to water it in summer if we have a dry spell.
 
GAP said:
A possible solution to your issue
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Thanks, but my "issue" isn't the duckunder. My issue is the bald and uninteresting look of the most visible part of my railway.

I will keep the duckunder as long as I can, because I'm vain. Whenever I duck it, it makes me go "hey I can still do this. I'm not THAT old." :D
 
Jasper said:
I will keep the duckunder as long as I can, because I'm vain. Whenever I duck it, it makes me go "hey I can still do this. I'm not THAT old." :D
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Believe me..
The novelty will wear-off! :(:nod::nod:
 
Chris Vernell said:
And the aches will wear on :oops:

And back on track, I must make a bridge like Martino's to replace a plain ol' plank.
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Dunno about supplies in your part of the world, but I ordered aluminium section from a greenhouse company - angles and flats.

Unlike Martino's, I've only joined the two warren girder trusses at high level at either end. Obviously they're tied more frequently at track level to support the track :rolleyes:

In reality, if you make the girders so that they do the work, you only have to link the two sides to keep them together, not for intrinsic strength.

PICT0001.JPG
 
Rhinochugger said:
Dunno about supplies in your part of the world, but I ordered aluminium section from a greenhouse company - angles and flats.
Click to expand...
We can find alu sections at various hardware emporia.
In reality, I suspect that an impecunious (but not piratical) branch line like mine would use basic plate girder bridges (probably second-hand), but there is something about trusses.
 
Chris Vernell said:
We can find alu sections at various hardware emporia.
In reality, I suspect that an impecunious (but not piratical) branch line like mine would use basic plate girder bridges (probably second-hand), but there is something about trusses.
Click to expand...
In 1:1 terms, a small railway might use plate girder for a short span, but the downside is access. A girder bridge could be supplied as a kit of parts where access is difficult. Come to that, the world's most southerly suspension bridge was supplied as a kit of parts.

Bodie Creek Suspension Bridge - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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