Thanks Charlie

Another fine article.  The scene came out very nice.

Just out of curiosity, what time frame would you see this style of bridge being used before something more modern - concrete pilings - came along

Steve

Amtrak is only now replacing wooden trestles on the surfline.

Amtrak bought the surfline from Fullerton to San Diego from the Santa Fe a few years ago.  There are a bunch of low wooden trestles carrying the right of way over inlets and wetlands all along the coast, and they are only just now being replaced.

Time frame

There are still a number of wood pile trestles in use on the Portland & Western's former Southern Pacific and Oregon Electric/Burlington Northern lines in my area.

In searching my files to fill a recent photo request, I couldn't find any wood trestles on the Union Pacific lines in the Northwest -- most of the survivors seemed to have been replaced in the '60s and '70s.

The answer is, it depends on what you are modeling, where, and when.

Thanks Guys

Not wanting to hijack Charlie's thread but I was trying to see if I could justify a bridge like this on mainline that was new in 1970

Steve

To all the rivet counters

It's Called Model Railroading and There are many Timber Bridges on main lines throughout the USA. The main CSX running through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia Has a number of these Timber Trestles on the Main.

Just because they have replaced all the Trestles in the north in the 70 doesn't mean the rest of the stated removed them.

There also is a thing called It's My Railroad and I Can do what I want. Charlie built this Trestle as a instructional article for the numerous requests on how do you build Timber Trestle.

Yes it's a fact that most wooden Pole and Timber Trestles were built as Temporary Structures to cross ravines and rivers when in the rush to cross the continent and a good many or should I say most were replaced with concrete and steel. But none the less there are still many Heavy timber trestles on main lines that have lasted longer then some of the steel and concrete bridges that have fallen into rivers after rust and vibrations have caused then to colaps.

Dan

To all the rivet

Dan,

I'm looking back at the questions, and I'm not seeing any rivet counting, or any questions other than this simple question

So I'm wondering a bit about your response.  It's almost like someone had the temerity to honk after a reasonable amount of time while you're blocking a public thoroughfare for no identifiable reason.

I'm a big believer in the "it's my railroad, and I can do what I want", but folks need to bear in mind that itself isn't a one size fits all blanket. For some folks, that may mean running high-rail, for others, it may mean working to make their layout as accurate as they want possible - maybe even asking simply questions, such as when a trestle like this would be appropriate. Because, after all, it's their railroad.

Charlie, an enjoyable article series, as always.

Scarpia

Late night actually 4:30 A.M. there were two posts making a big stink about Charlies article how he didn't know what he was talking about and everything was wrong and who let him put that article in the magazine as the construction was all wrong and would never exist in the real world.

I thought the posts were totally out of line But now those two posts have been removed so my post makes no sense as the rivet counters deleted there posts. I guss I should have quoted there rude comments about how his bridge didn't belong where it was and that his construction was shabby and unprofessional.  I was speaking about them but the cowards deleted their posts and it may have been that both comments were from the same person. I didn't know  the names so I figured they were out to cause trouble eighter new to the forums or spamers. Some one else may have deleted the posts I don't know except that the comments are gone. Had you read those Scarpia posts you would have made a bigger stink than I did.

Dan

Had you read those Scarpia

You're probably right, that I would. I'm 11 or so ahead of you, putting that right in my afternoon - not sure how I missed them.

So that being the case, I'll retract some of these statements, (my thoughts on it's my railroad still stand), but I'm not going to do the same and remove them. Hopefully folks will continue to read all the way through this thread.

This trestle is located in

This trestle is located in Camrose Alberta on the Canadian Nationals mainline between Calgary and Edmonton. There has been a trestle here for about about 100 years and as far as I know the CNR has no intention of replacing it any time soon: at least not with anything other than another trestle. One of the big issues with wooden trestles is the fact that they burn: which this one did about 15 years ago. It's obviously a curved structure but what the photos don't show is that it's also on a grade. In fact it's on one of the steepest non-mountain grades in Alberta. Four engine lash-ups hauling unit hopper trains are common over this bridge.

Addendum: Russ makes some good points in his post below. Maintenance on these trestles is continuous which is actually their biggest drawback for the railways. Watching work being done over the years on the trestles in the picture I can imagine that every part will have been replaced over a relatively short time period: twenty years maybe.

I think part of the answer lies in when your prototype was built

A railroad or branch line that was built after the middle of the 20th century, probably would not use a pile trestle for a bridge.  If you are building a brand new modern railroad in th eprototype world you would use the latest, best engineering practices to build it.  On the other hand, railroads don't spend money to go out and tear down old structures that are still in use and serving their purpose just because someone has invented something new.

The wood pile trestles on the Surfline were built by the Santa Fe around 1890-1900.  I don't know how much maintenance or replacement of piles they required in the years following; but Amtrak, who subsequently acquired the Surfline from Fullerton to San Diego, has just announced a plan replace the wood pile trestles with new bridges.

Brian Those are some great Pictures

Did you take the photos? Thats a good shot of the Timber head frame on the low bridge and a very nice Trestle.

Thanks for posting these.

Dan

Thanks Dan

Yes I did take these photos. My house is just behind the condos you can see on the edge of the coulee. Is anybody interested in a photo essay of these structures? The trestles that is, not the condos

I'd be interested, Brian

Having lived in central Alberta for many years growing up, I really know very little about the railways that are here.

Definitely

Go for it, Brian. You can bet I'll be watching. The prairies are full of interesting rail structures.

Roy

Trestle photos

Depending on how much snow is still in the bottom of the coulee I'll try and get some more photos this weekend.