Looking for Advice: Elevating Gargraves Track

Do you plan to build your own trestle or are do you want to buy a trestle set off the shelf?  John in Lansing, ILL

rattler21 posted:

Do you plan to build your own trestle or are do you want to buy a trestle set off the shelf?  John in Lansing, ILL

Excellent question. Looking to do an off the shelf type for now. I'm now thinking that I should put thin plywood under the track anyway.

There is a good bridge thread active today. (My copy/paste is having fits)

  The biggest thing to remember would be the height of the trains you run on the bottom level if it crosses over. My worries were raised pantographs, loaded Evans Autoloader and a raised rocket launcher car.(7inch for me{height+track} So to make the 5"-ish PW trestles taller, 2x4 painted as cement. Putting a beveled crown  on top of each  for shedding rain water for realism) 

 I would for sure construct support or use a whole lot of tressel piers on any brand track if elevated.

  On a shelf you want the train as visible as possible. Being right on the edge of a shelf helps. Clear support, by plastic, glass, or stringers("rods", etc. Run parallel to rails), will ensure it is seen best,and allow a wider shelf to catch a derailed train to be used. With GG's track, the many ties will help hide the undercarriage some too.           Two tracks? Switches increase chance of derail and the line close to the wall will need to be elevated more to be seen well.

I would have went narrow shelf or plastic, but the shelves were already there.

 Find a place nearby for the ladder or folding steps too

I'm doing the same thing as the OP. I'm also considering i/4" plywood as a sub-roadbed, then cork, then the GG track. Cutting the plywood won't be easy, but I think necessary. I'm also considering the use of 1/2" or 1" dowels to support the roadbed. I'm not sure how to make the dowels look realistic. Maybe diagonal cross pieces between each pair of dowels. I'm also not sure about the spacing of the dowels. Maybe every 24". No switches. Any thoughts from those who have done this?

George

suggestion

 Minimum 1/2 plywood for under track !

It depends on the look that you want. More EL-like city train systems or more of a wooden trestle look.

The wooden trestle look using the MTH or Lionel bents, or some that are made from wood could be completed by using the horizontal stringers on top of the bents for the track ties to sit on. The stringers could be attached to the bents and the track to those. 3/8" x 3/8" basswood can be curved and used for the stringers.

Look at the different type of trestles (clickety) and decide which style that you like and go from there.

Build your own trestles.  OGR recent issue had information.  Or, if you elevate use the surface as it rests on as the support "cookie-cutter" method, and use scenery technique to cover the "gap" or a brick wall side, stone wall, endless possibilities.  I personally do not like the appearance of any of the ready-made trestles or piers.

I recommend basswood and balsawood.  It's not expensive and allows you maximum flexibility.  

These three levels use basswood 1 X 1/2 inch supports and  3 X  3/8 inch roadbed, trimmed with balsa sticks and painted in Santa Fe colors.   The corners are 1/2 inch plywood cutouts.  Far from prototypical, they give you a lot of leeway and room for different scenes and structures.  They're toy trains, after all.

Crossovers and shelves need different methods.  The blue trolley line in the foreground is supported with 1 inch dowels and clamped to a water pipe.   Bridges, custom and not, are used wherever possible.  Jim at Bridgeboss is very helpful.

In the basement, I have to work around and over pipes, an oil tank, a refrigerator, etc.   I like running as many trains as possible.  Currently, 8 at the same time. As you can see, it's never finished, and that's the good part.

Hope these pics give you some ideas.

Jerry

Dont elevate one way. For interest try elevating several ways. Because typically elevations occur stages. So use the same type of elevation for 3 feet of track and change it for the next few feet.

AlanRail posted:

Dont elevate one way. For interest try elevating several ways. Because typically elevations occur stages. So use the same type of elevation for 3 feet of track and change it for the next few feet.

I like this idea a lot! At first it will probably be one way, just to get this layout powered. But the future project can be to make that elevated track truly my own.

Thank you all for the great discussion and great ideas. My replies can sometimes be sparse depending on my work schedule.

Here are a few ideas for Elevated.

jim r

I made mine from scratch! Basswood, artist plywood, and some mitered 1X2's... its all good. Try it and have some fun:

I used mostly Gargraves so I could vary my radii as I needed an not make them sharper than a O 100 in radius.

The double S and the switch cross over on a radius proved challenging .... but I can run Atlas passenger cars and a scale Big Boy at speed!

There seems to be a recurring theme here: basswood. What's the advantage? 

thanks

John

Nothing here about basswood...rather if I correctly remember, maybe a year ago good ol' Jim Barrett put in useable trestle templates in one issue of OGR  magazine. The pieces were dimensioned, I recall.   Even so, I think using 1x6 stock and some creativity would get you some handsome trestles....especially with a large beveled "concrete block" looking base.

Basswood is a bit stronger and harder than balsa, but still easy to cut and work with. Also readily available in your bigger hobby shops such as Hobby Lobby. And yes there is a template out there of both the face and side view.

The LIONEL "A" trestles included in the elevated trestle set were easy to adapt to GarGraves sectional 031 track a couple of years ago for a Christmas lay-out.  Zip/Cable ties (6"); a small hole in the trestle recess for the ties; and, a couple of wood screws at the base provided a very stable platform.

These were gray PW elevated trestles gifted to me by the generous Harmonyards (Pat with elipses) and spraryed with Rustoleum gloss Apple Red and Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel.

I used the Lionel trestles from the 50s-60s.

I used a Dremel tool to drill through the wooden ties to attach the track (via screws), into the predrilled metal plates that slide into the tops of the trestles.

To decrease the steepness of the grade, I used two sets of trestles. For every two sections of track I would use the next highest trestle. For the middle of the two tracks, I would use the same trestle size, but shim it slightly.

This made for an easier grade and it works great.

The trackwork is very sturdy.