# need plans for a trestle/bent jig



## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

Got new table saw and itching to make some dust! Needing lots of different size trestle bents and would like to have some plans on how to build a jig please? Including proper dimensions for thescale lumber would be appreciated...I need a HOW-TO on trestle building!


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## JE21 (Apr 25, 2009)

I just google'd "Garden Railroad Trestle" and a bunch of stuff came up. Most of it on these forums.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

what scale are you working in? Standard ga or narrow ga.? Modern or early? 

I'd suggest leaving the 'garden' off your search, find a trestle you like and go from there. There are many styles, most had 4 -5 legs, some more. 
For narrow ga, it's suggested to use slightly undersized wood for a spindly look. Reflects the cost-cutting image of penny pinching narrow ga roads...


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## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

Standard 1:29 
Modern and Early 
I saw a jig at a show once and would like to build one. I think you could use as many legs as you wanted...


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's a couple of photos of the jig I built for my trestle bents. The first is the jig itself... 










The second photo shows a section I had to cut off the bottom of the bents (I made them too long) fitted into the jig... 










The gaps along the top and bottom allow screwing or nailing the legs to the cap and sill while still in the jig, as can be seen in the second photo. 

For material for the jig, I used a piece of plywood and some sections of the same 1/2x1/2 redwood I used for the bent legs. Strips of wax paper at appropriate places prevents gluing the bents to the jig during assembly. 

The finished trestle...










I came up with the design for the trestle after studying prototype practices in *Bridges and Trestles for Model Railroads* from Kalmbach.

Hope this helps.


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## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

Now this is what I am talking about! What are appropriate width measurements? i.e. at 1' or 6" from the top the width should = ... 
thanks! 
Do you have pic of finished trestle to post?


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## rhyman (Apr 19, 2009)

For in-depth information about building realistic trestles for narrow gauge, see my on-line clinic at:
http://members.cox.net/sn3nut/index.html

Go to the "Clinics" page and click on "Trestles - RGS Style"

Bob


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Off the top of my head I don't remember. That layout has long since been torn out. However, here's a web site[/b] with much info on how the RGS built their trestles (including dimensions) as well as how to build a model trestle. One thing you'll note is that prototype practice has the cap timber (top horizontal member of the bent) *sitting on top of* the piles/posts. I've seen many people put two horizontal cross braces instead - one on each side of the bent flush with the top of the posts - upon which the stringers/track sits. While this works okay for a model, if done this way in real life, the entire weight of the train would be supported by the bolts tying these cross braces to the posts instead of having the weight transferred by the cap through the posts to the ground. These bolts would shear off with the passing of the first train and the entire trestle would collapse. Just one of my pet peeves. 
Do you have pic of finished trestle to post?

See the last photo in my previous post. Additional photos are also on my website under *Bridges and Trestles*.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow Bob - we were posting at the same time. I also linked to your excellent reference pages.


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## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

thanks guys!


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## silverstatespecialties (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice trestle, Dwight, thanks for sharing!


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

John: I was looking thru some books on Google Books and found interesting trestles. They are somewhat unique and should be easy to do:

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/xo18thfa/calcentral.JPG

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/xo18thfa/Figure%20Typical%20Construction.gif

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/xo18thfa/ohioconnecting.JPG

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/xo18thfa/oregonandpacific.jpg

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/xo18thfa/sfandnpacific.JPG


For all my modeling, I use the following table as a standard for scale lumber. Dimensions are to the nearest 1/32". It's for 1:20.3 scale, but you could modify it for a different scale.



http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/xo18thfa/Scale%20Lumber.JPG

Looking forward to seeing pics of your projects.

Bob


EDIT!! One of my pics comes from Bob Hyman's website, not Google.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Dwight: What are you doing to assemble your bents. Looks like nuts and bolts.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Dwight: What are you doing to assemble your bents. Looks like nuts and bolts.

4-40 threaded rod and some special "small pattern" 4-40 stainless nuts left over from a project at work. I used the same stuff to fasten the stringers and spacers together (three stringers under each rail spaced a scale inch apart with staggered joints - four bolts per joint).


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dwight Ennis on 06/27/2009 8:13 PM
Dwight: What are you doing to assemble your bents. Looks like nuts and bolts.

4-40 threaded rod and some special "small pattern" 4-40 stainless nuts left over from a project at work. I used the same stuff to fasten the stringers and spacers together (three stringers under each rail spaced a scale inch apart with staggered joints - four bolts per joint). 

Trestle/bent construction in our scale sizes is best done with full sized practice. Good, solid mechanical fasteners are the way to go. 

John: McMaster-Carr has 4-40 stainless steel threaded rod and small pattern nuts for very reasonable prices.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Agreed Bob. All joints were also glued with Titebond II (Titebond III hadn't been introduced yet). Cap and sill timbers were glued and nailed to posts with 1" long brass nails.


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