Trestle sets?

MTH has a great set made for Fastrack.

I have a elevated track using Fastrack works for me but is probably not the best. If I were to redesign my layout and didn't mind spending the money, I would contact "Trainwox",(traindame@traindame.com) they make a great looking trestle set .

Brent

Andrew,

I have an elevated line on my layout and I searched for a long time for a more reasonably priced trestle set. Due to the fact that I wanted my elevated line to cross over the top of a hill feature I needed a non-standard height. This drove me to make my own.

I made a simple trestle set from wood dowels and MDF for the column bases and as a base for my Fastrack. I spray painted it primer grey and it looks enough like concrete for me.

For the cost of a single piece of MDF, 2 4ft dowels and a spray can I had an elevated line that works well for me. Sorry thesearen't the best photos, but I'm not at home. If you zoom in you can get a good idea how I did the columns.

Jay in Ottawa

Also take a look at www.bridgeboss.com. We have an ELevated bridge system made specifically for subway sets available in kit form and assembled.

Andrew,

I traced the Fastrack onto the MDF and built a roadbed and then screwed the track down onto it after I placed the roadbed onto the columns. I cut squares of MDF to make top and bottom bases for the columns and just screwed them onto the dowels.

Jay

For whatever its worth and that probably isn't much you might want to look into buying some of the old Marx metal elevated trestles. Both the old Marx trestles and the new U.S.A. made reproductions are offered on E-Bay quite often.  They are incredibly easy to install; are very durable and sturdy since they are made of high grade metal; widths are adjustable and they look pretty good as well.  I think they look great for subway running.  Anyway here are a couple of photos of the trestle set I have on my small all tinplate layout.  

The problem I encountered with trestles like that is they were very short in height for any engines to go under(even with 027 track), only small size freight cars could go under like hoppers and gondolas or a motorized track repair vehicle.

So I used mine for storage purposes.

Lee Fritz

This is a graduate MTH Trestle set.  I believe MTH also does the elevated trestle set.

The black wood blocks are a fabrication with a dado attachment for a table saw.

What's interesting about most modern trestles being offered today is that they can not and are not intended to span tracks. If you have a layout with some loops and want to create an upper level, often, there is not enough space between tracks or along side tracks to create an entirely new track space. So it would be good if you could buy trestles that can span an existing track like these Marx do.

And except for some very expensive custom trestles like for elevated trains, there are no mass produced reasonably priced products available.

The MTH trestles I mentioned which are available adapted for Fastrack are solid piers and also the Lionel trestles for Fastrack are see thru structures that you cannot span a track with.

The nice thing about cutting your own from 3/4" MDF (medium density fiberboard) is that you can adjust widths to fit in and around tracks and structures, etc. on the lower level.

This upper level was added long after the lower level was completely scenicked and detailed. It took some custom fitting to find places for the trestle legs to sit.

That is nicely done. Professional. I was looking in Hobby Lobby to see if any of the big alphabet letters would do...like a U upside down . But no joy there. I might have to make them with MDF or maybe wood. Maybe make an L upside down and glue them together or span the top of the two L's with a strip.

You could also take a traditional Lionel trestle and cut the top piece (and bottom strip) in half. That would give you two nicely detailed legs. Then, just add a new crosspiece on top (3/4" square pine or similar) to widen the trestle as needed. Blocks of wood for footings of the right height could also be added under each leg to adjust the height.

Jim

On a related note, whatever happened to the tooling for the K-Line trestle sets?

They worked perfectly with Atlas-O track.

If you want a realistic looking elevlated line,  Bridgeboss.com has the best I have ever seen that you can buy built or kits ....anywhere

That's an good idea. Thanks.

What you say is absolutely correct but improvisation is the key in this instance.  I have seen several layouts using Marx Trestles where the operators used small blocks of wood at the base of the trestle legs to add more height and clearance to the trestles.  The blocks were either painted black or the color of the surrounding scenery.  Traditional size post-war engines were able to run underneath the modified trestles but I'm sure today's scale sized monsters wouldn't work.  I just run small Marx Mercury or CV engines underneath mine and they fit perfectly into the toy like appearance of my little layout.

When I had an elevated loop on my layout, I just used Lionel "A" trestles. I found it to be beneficial to put trestles under the middle tie of curved tracks (031). Otherwise the curves flexed under the weight of the heavier locomotives. Straight tracks did not need extra support.
I put four trestles under 022 switches: one under each leg of the track, and a fourth underneath the end of the switch motor. I ran the wires for the switch motor down the legs of the trestle.

If you want to make your elevated track system look realistic for a Chicago El style subway system, Jim form Bridgeboss is probably your best bet.