Two questions??

[Joepomp]

1. Has any one ever used real stone for rock face? I just remove an old soap stone sink from the basement and after they took it away I was looking at the small fragments left, they were flat on one side and the perfect rough rock face on the other! But, its all gone now:curse:

I just finished the double track bridge across the "Rock facless canyon" and found that one side was lower than the other. So I need a slope on the right side to meet the track on the other side. I did not make the bridge level. It is about 1/8" lower on one side to help reduce the slope on the other side.

2. Is this done, that is build bridges on a slope?
It is hard to see the slope so I think it looks ok.

 

[jim currie]

1 yes used mankas shale on one layout worked out well it even started to crumble before tore the layout down.

2 the real thing some times built bridges on grade.

 

[TrainNut]

Yup. I used nothing but real rock on this layout...
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=18970
and this one...
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=18971

 

[cidchase]

WHAT, no turntable???

TrainNut, my hat's off to you! Those tiny layouts have all the elements;
city, country, trestles, tunnels, forests, water, roads, they are terrific,
in my book! And quite pretty (pretty railroads, hmm?) enough for any setting. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[RailRon]

Joe,

real steel truss bridges have been built on a slope - BUT: Due to static reasons the vertical elements of the truss MUST always be truly vertical!

If the slope of your bridge is nearly level, then nobody will note it. But when the 'vertical' elements appear obviously oblique, then you should skew the bridge somehow. And this probably asks at least for some kit-bashing or even scratchbuilding.

Can't you lift one end of the bridge a little and lower the other end accordingly, so that the bridge itself is horizontal?

Ron

 

[EngineerKyle]

Yes,

I smash sandstone with a hammer, the push the shards into wet stucco, recreating the strata. Comes out good.

 

[Russ Bellinis]

1. Has any one ever used real stone for rock face? I just remove an old soap stone sink from the basement and after they took it away I was looking at the small fragments left, they were flat on one side and the perfect rough rock face on the other! But, its all gone now:curse:

I just finished the double track bridge across the "Rock facless canyon" and found that one side was lower than the other. So I need a slope on the right side to meet the track on the other side. I did not make the bridge level. It is about 1/8" lower on one side to help reduce the slope on the other side.

2. Is this done, that is build bridges on a slope?
It is hard to see the slope so I think it looks ok.

Joe, 1/8 inch is just slightly less than 1 scale foot in ho, 2 feet in n-scale. The prototype would either fill the approach to the bridge, cut away the high end, or do a little of both to get the bridge level. If they needed to have the bridge on a grade, they would most likely use a girder or a steel trestle. That being said, there are a lot of things we do on model railroads that wouldn't work in the prototype world. If you want to bring the low side up and you are uding cork roadbed, you could use some thin cork gasket material to shim up the top of the roadbed on the low side. you don't even need to support the trck underneath all of the way, use ballast afterwads to hide the "daylight" between the ties and roadbed and to support the ties. On a model it won't matter though, it is more a matter of what you are comfortable with.

 

[Joepomp]

Thanks all all good advice!