Glue a bridge down, don't do it ???


T

tlark

Member
Have a 150' CV truss bridge running over a 4 track main line, glue it to the bridge abutment or not. Little unsure about this, don't want to accidently hit the bridge and damage it for some reason but it will be secured by the rack leading up to it from both ends obviously.

Practical experience from those that have been there and done that and wished the wouldn't have......................perhaps I am over thinking the whole damn thing and just glue it down !!!
 
Just glue it down. Why would you be bumping it anyway? You need the track secured to prevent derailments.
 
A friend has two of these side by side, over a little creek, and his aren't glued down. The track is secured to the bridges, so that's not a problem. The reason they're not glued down is for being able to work on scenery, and the adjacent track without worrying about damaging the bridges. Since yours are going over a mainline, 4 tracks at that, one day you'll need to get to that track under the bridge. If it's glued down, there will be no way you can get to it without the possibility of damage to the bridge. I have also had bridges that went over other track, and the bridges then just sat on the abutments. One day you will need to access those mains. Don't glue it.
 
If you can keep the rails at grade sitting flat on the bridge, and if the rails are tangent, or very nearly so, you don't even need to glue the rails, let alone the bridge. Ideally, the bridge should sit flat on its supports/shoes/abutments and it should be stable. The tracks can just lie on their stringers.

However, for a bit more comfort, I put a couple of very small dabs of acrylic latex caulk (clear drying DAP Alex Plus with Silicone) under the bridge end beams where they sit on the abutments. I also put a couple of very tiny dabs of the same stuff under the rails mid-bridge to keep them in place.
 
I used a method simular to Selector / Crandal, clear silicone cement, very thin. It never really dries and can be easily scraped off a decade later. Get a tube from your dollar store and experiment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top