Central Valley 200 Foot Double Track Parker Truss Bridge Build in HO Scale
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- Опубликовано: 25 дек 2020
- Watch as I build the 200 foot double track Parker truss bridge from Central Valley Model Works in HO Scale.
For those interested, Rob Bennett has a more video details series on this kit at • Central Valley Double ...
In the video, I incorrectly state that it is Stephen Bennett that has the video series. Sorry Rob. 
Хобби
I have 2 of these bridges and on both had to exchange the included steel straps for 1/8" x 3/8" flat stock. I also had them long enough to extend them through the end cross braces. That was done to place those supports on the piers. I spoke to CV after the 1st build using the stock straps and having the bowing when running die cast steam accross it., nd they were gracious enough to send me a 2nd kit of bottom parts to redo it this way. It's a great model! I also purchased a piece of flat steel to use to build the side structures. Made it easier to build them using magnets to hold parts true, I used the drawings under wax paper to layout and build them on.
Yes, this model, as well as all model bridges, need bridge shoes. Bridge shoes are what actually hold up the bridge. There should be 4 of them, one on each corner. Look at the corners of the single-track bridge you showed; the shoes are under the truss ends to transfer the loads to the abutment. To be prototypical, one end should be fixed or have a pin for rotation while the other end should have 4 to 6 rollers of about 4 to 6 inches in diameter to allow for thermal expansion and contraction. Greased plates have been used instead of rollers. New bridges of prestressed concrete usually have rubber blocks for expansion and contraction. The bridge in the photo is a pin-connected truss with eye-bars. There should be about 2 to 4 inches between the end of the truss and the back of the abutments to allow for slight movement.
I have the single track bridge. In addition to your video, I watched the video build from Central Valley ..... they break the build into 14, yes, FOURTEEN videos HA! Still I am looking forward to my own build. Watching your video has given me quite a bit of encouragement to do so. THANKS and keep the videos coming!! ;)
Thanks, I tried to keep the video as fast paced as possible, but also helpful to anyone who actually tried to do the build. I am glad I did this one. I still think it looks great.
I have one of the single-track 150' Central Valley truss bridges. It will go on the 2nd level, which I haven't started yet. It's great to watch you do this one, providing some excellent suggestions for building it. I will save this video for when I actually start building. Thanks.
Thank you for this vídeo I have to build one soon but single track
I think that with the track glued it will become more ridgid
That did seem a little fiddley especially for HO scale. Turned out very nice. Thanks for sharing. Dave
Awesome bridge, I couldnt click on this fast enough. I have a couple of these in the box, to be built some day. I really appreciate you honest and detailed videos, I know I learn a lot. You give some fantastic tips on assembly in this video that I would have learned the hard way. One thing to add is Bridge shoes. They are an appliance that the structure rest on that transfers the weight of the bridge to the Abutments. Micro engineering makes some. A bridge this size would have some pretty big ones. you can image search for HO scale bridge shoes to get an idea. Cheers Rob
Thanks for the comments. I think the kit included bridge shoes but I forgot to put them on for some reason.
It's probably too late now, but a much easier way to cut the girders accurately and at the correct angles is with a razor saw in a miter box. It's also best to cut them marginally too long and them finish them up with a sanding block.
Thanks for the comments. That is a good tip which I really didn't think about at the time. But I don't think I would have bought a variable angle mitre saw just for this kit.
@@asdasx392 No, not a variable angle miter saw; just a basic razor saw and miter box (a few dollars and very useful for many projects). The miter box allows for perfect 90-degree cuts and after marking the girder, it can be held at the correct angle with a spacer pushed in behind it at one end.
Built that in N Scale . But I Combined 2 Singles side by Side
Nice work! I’m currently building the #1901 200 ft. Parker Truss single track version and your video helped answer a couple questions I had. Thanks!
Oh, do have any thoughts or experience with the Walthers bridge track? I was thinking of just buying that because it looks nice and seems to be pretty simple setup.
I never used the Walthers bridge track so I don't know anything about it. I do use Micro Engineering bridge track and I am happy with it. However for this kit, I recommend that you first try to make it work with the track in the kit and only use third party bridge track as a last resort. I think you will get a better appearance. I used kit track here and I think it really helped and was not that difficult.
Bridge looks great. When you put on your heaviest locomotive Did the bow straighten out when you put the bridge all together? secondly do you have a problem if you have two heavy locomotives on the bridge at the same time/
Thanks for the comments. The background on this is that instructions state that the truss does not provide any support to the bridge, but that clearly is not true. Even without gluing the truss, it provides some support, particularly against the twisting that happened with the heavy loco. As shown, I could run the loco across with no problems and with nowhere near the deflection that happened without the truss. I don't know what would happen if you had a long consist on both tracks at the same time. I think it would be OK with the truss, but not sure about without the truss. As one commenter pointed out, gluing the track to the floor should add some support. I have not done that yet as I have not finished painting the track. Even so, it seems you could generally use the bridge without the truss as the instruction state, but you would have to be careful about the load.
Wish id of watched this before ordering.
Would welding or some other way of joining the overlapping metal strips stop some of the deflection due to the weight of the locos?
Hey, thanks for the comments. I think once you get the bridge deck squared up, you want to make sure to glue all the joints. However, the most strength came when I actually glued the track to the deck, which happened after I posted the video. It took me some time to get the track just right on the approaches. Anyway, once I glued the ties and track, the bridge stiffened up nicely and really has no deflection issues that I have noticed. I have not yet parked a multi-engine consist on it though.
nice
Possibly bridge shoes
My problem is that I don't think these bridges look capable of carrying a train. If there was a way to beef up the supports, I might be interested.
Hey, thanks for the comments. Since I made the video, I got everything glued in place and have not had any problems with it (the truss is still removable, but it adds strength anyway). I have not run a full length consist across, but it handles the DDA40X with no trouble as well as a 2-6-6-4 steam loco. However, getting the approach track just right and getting the abutment levels just right was a little bit of a challenge. At first, there was a sag on the bridge, which caused 89' cars to uncouple in one direction. I think that was cause by an abutment at the wrong height. Since I redid the approach track, I have had no trouble with the bridge. This thing is not easy to build and get in place, but it does look good. At some point, I will be releasing a video of how I did the scenery around and under the bridge. There is a single track version of the 200' which I am sure is stronger. Also, I have one of the 150' single track bridge and have never had any problems with it and it was much easier to build.
I have no doubt that the model holds the weight. I was musing about building a much beefier look to it, like the massive bridges that the NW built... as well as other RRs.
Check out the bridge that rcgrabbag built. ruclips.net/video/hsEn_eOJ-ic/видео.html
@@redbarnz Not every bridge was designed for heavy mainline traffic like the N&W or ATSF. Even those roads used different sized bridges depending on when the bridges were built and where.
When I built this bridge I had the same sagging problem. The steel strips are what does most of the support, not the deck, the truss or the bridge ties. But think about it, how can those metal strips support it when they are only half the length of the bridge, unless they are mechanically joined in the center, which really isn’t practical as designed. When I encountered this I emailed Central Valley. They assured me the bridge would support two trains simultaneously. But they also sent me a box of truss parts and in that box were steel strips that were THE LENGTH OF THE BRIDGE. Long story short, I think the early runs of this kit had strips that were too short. Once I got the longer strips I removed the “half” strips. Then I doubled the number of full length strips in each slot (CV had sent extra strips). Now the bridge is plenty stiff with no detectable sag (even with truss not installed). I have since built a second bridge, which I modified into a swing bridge. And guess what, that kit came with full length steel strips. Final tip: file the ENTIRE length of the edges of the steel strips before installing. I discovered there are burrs you can not see or feel along the edges. If you lightly file the entire length, suddenly they slide in easily, even if doubled up. This is a great kit, just build it on an absolutely flat surface and make jigs to make accurate angle cuts of the truss pieces and you will have a phenomenal, reliable model!
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