Bridge Track

Nick8564

Member
Has anyone found an inexpensive bridge track with guard rails? Walthers makes it, but to install it on a bridge cost double what the bridge itself cost. Looking for a pre-made or way to home make the track with the closer ties and guard rails. Thanks
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Nick, On my standard gauge I hand lay all my track. on the narrow gauge I'll build up a wooden bridge deck, take a piece of HON3 flex track, and cut the ties out of the middle, so I have the handlaid bridge deck, with a section of flex sticking out on either end.


I have also done that at our club, documented in the ,logging and mining section (Bill nar Toms excellent adventure .


There is another manufacturer that makes bridge track, I'm trying to think of the name Micro Engineering?

bridge track make a much better looking bridge.


Bill Nelson
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Micro enginering bridge track

Checking my Walther's catalog , Micro engineering sells 36 inch sections of bridge track flex track in code 83 and code 70 for $10.95 each.

One problem with using this , or any commercial track, is you will be forced into having rail joint at both ends of the bridge. that can cause problems if everything isn't 100% kosher.


When I hand lay, I'll spike the bridge deck with rail hanging way over each side, so when I spike that in place, no rail joints are near the transition from bridge ties to regular ties, and no two rail joints are directly opposite each other. that helps the track reliability ememsely, but sadly is not feasible commercial track,
 
... On the narrow gauge I'll build up a wooden bridge deck, take a piece of HON3 flex track, and cut the ties out of the middle, so I have the handlaid bridge deck, with a section of flex sticking out on either end.
...
Bill Nelson
Bill - I am in the process of doing this on my standard gauge HO layout, where I have two trestles on a curve. In both cases, I have flex track crossing the trestle, with the standard plastic ties leading to the bridge on either end. The trestle itself is fitted with balsa wood ties spaced closely, as they would be in the prototype, and the nickel-silver rails sit directly atop those ties. This looks great, and I am ready to secure the track to the trestle ties with some sort of spikes.

What spikes would you recommend? The only ones I have found so far (an Atlas product) are very large and out of scale, and will interfere with some of the rolling stock flanges. Are there any fine little spikes available?

- John
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
spikes

Micro mark small spikes are my current favorate, but they are a little long, and will stick out of the bottom of the bridge tie which looks messy unless it is trimmed off.



Micro engineering small spikes might be a good bet 225-30106. I don't have an un opened pack, and the ones I have are stuck on a magenet with no positive ID. I know for a fact that the micro spikes are too small, they fold up on the cedar or poplar I like to use for ties. they would go in to balsa fine, but I'm not sure they would hold worth spit.


I dug through my massive pile of pictures, and came up with this one, this is the narrow gauge bridge I am building on a portable layout. that is an experimental layout for me, as it is mostly foam. the whole thread is in the narrow gauge section, my home layout is documented in the logging minning and industrial section, as is our Clarksville Tennessee model railrload club (Bill and Tom's amazing adventure.
 

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I found these at Micro-Mark. Is this what you are talking about?
http://www.micromark.com/micro-spikes,10398.html

I can easily trim the spikes so that they do not protrude below the bridge deck, I expect. I would make a hole in the balsa with a complete one, then glue in a trimmed one.

I need to update my site now that I have built these trestles. I had a long hiatus in working on this, but am finally getting back in the game.
 
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