A Bridge Over Troubled Waters...HELP

[Raistlin]

Hey all...it's Raistlin, the anti-handyman needing some bridge help.

Here is the situation. I have a 4% grade going up to 3 inches high, to a gap where I plan to put a bridge. The bridge will connect to the other side which is also three inches high.

The bridge that i have is a 9 inch plate and girder bridge, with the stubby feet.

Attached are two pictures, so you can see the situation more clearly.

The first picture is the space, blank...the second is with my lines drawn in. The red line is where the bridge is supposed to go, the green is the 'under' track. It is on an angle compared to the bridge. No matter how I move the foam, track combinations, and bridge, I have the exact same problem, the legs are too close to the lower track and the train and/or cars rub against them.

I have seen a cool longer bridge here...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6043325663&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Since this bridge is 15 inches long I could have both end rest on the foam, not use legs and avoid this whole issue, but I was trying to come up with a solution using my existing bridge.

Does anyone have any ideas looking at what I have now? I can answer any questions relating to that section of the layout of the picture isn't giving the full ummm...well picture.

Thanks in advance

Raistlin

 

[yellowlynn]

I "think"'ve got the idea of what you want and/or are trying to do. The question I have is, do the piers for the bridge HAVE to be perpandicular to the bridge? Or could they be angled to be more parallel to the bottom track?

Lynn

 

[jim currie]

your having trouble with cars hitting supports no matter where you place them ?

 

[Raistlin]

I "think"'ve got the idea of what you want and/or are trying to do. The question I have is, do the piers for the bridge HAVE to be perpandicular to the bridge? Or could they be angled to be more parallel to the bottom track?

Lynn

Well that is the main crux...the I have tried the piers at several different angles, but at most angles, to the raised tracks can't meet the bridge. To have the tracks meet the bridge, it limits how I have the bridge placed, and ergo, the piers are placed. As can be seen in the picture, the bridge is disassembled to the right...the piers are very stubby at the base, and really take up a long of the available real estate. If the bridge were longer than 9 inches (say 12 or 15), it woudl give a lot more room for the piers. Hope that makes a clearer picture.

 

[doctorwayne]

You might be able to use your bridge and piers by putting part of a curve into the elevated track at the far end of where the bridge is to go, then another curve at the near end of the elevated track. This will let the upper track cross the lower at more of a right angle. In other words, take the "ess" curve that you have on the lower level track, and duplicate it as a more-or-less mirror image on the elevated track.
The other option would be to cut out the floor of the bridge and scrap it, then make a new floor and reassemble it with the sides to make a skewed bridge, although, if you did that, you'd need different abutments.

Wayne

 

[jim currie]

Doc's idea is good the only thing i could think of is to cut the supports in half the long way and butt them up to the foam.

 

[Drew1125]

I don't know if this will help, or if it would be feasible for you, but it looks like to me the upper track needs to curve over the lower one...If there is a way you could build the bridge as a deck girder, instead of a through girder, (track on top of girders instead of between them) this would possibly allow you to curve the track across the bridge (bridge remains straight, only track curves)

 

[Raistlin]

Thanks

Thank you for all of your help everyone. I will try using the S-Curve above and S-Curve below and see what happens.

I will post new pictures once I have tried some stuff.

 

[viperman]

If you have some shorter strait pieces of track, I'd move the lower s-curve down a little bit, so it would be centereted a little better under the bridge

 

[Raistlin]

I got it going...but then found another issue I hadn't anticipated. The train couldn't make it up the incline haha. Figures eh?

Well I did some fanciness and have it all working perfectly. I will post some pictures shortly in my Double J&B thread.