Rail Bridges--- to bend or not to bend

[davesnow]

Is it really so important that bridges are able to be curved (bent)?? In my whole state I can't think of any bridges that are curved. They are all straight.

 

[Christopher824]

Is it really so important that bridges are able to be curved (bent)?? In my whole state I can't think of any bridges that are curved. They are all straight.

Down in Floida, we have plenty of curved bridges, mostly over water though. Also think about highway entrance and exit ramps, single lane flyovers, they are almost aways curved

 

[wreeder]

My experience is that NG trestles are often curved to fix locations that would not allow for the run up to a straight bridge. But in modern railroading curved bridges seem rare. Maybe a matter of safety?

 

[Christopher824]

My experience is that NG trestles are often curved to fix location that would not allow for the run up to a straight bridge. But in modern railroading curved bridges seem rare. Maybe a matter of safety?

Did not even think about railroad bridges, probably right most are straight, I immediatly thought of roads

 

[davesnow]

I was talking about Rail Bridges in particular.

 

[JCitron]

Bridges are custom built to fit the location I thought. Some bridges may be curved if they need to be in order to access whatever is on the other side. I've seen this kind of arrangement with small wooden trestles that cross over canals because using a straight bridge from one side of the other would make the connecting track too sharp a curve. I've also seen large Pratt trestles curved to fit into a wye that connected lines across a river.

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

In the context of Trainz, a Kind track bridge is (literally) a more flexible asset than a Kind scenery bridge, since users can make a spline straight or curved, long or short, be horizontal or have a gradient. They do require an LOD system with single-digit poly counts at the final low-detail level to avoid high poly-count by repetition. So it’s more demanding than creating LOD’s for scenery assets. Of course, if you’re one of those creators who don’t do LOD, splines are probably not the way to go.

 

[Forester1]

In central Idaho the Camas Prairie Railroad had several trestles, one of which was long and curved and called the "Half Moon Trestle". In Northern Idaho the Northern Pacific Railroad had an "S" shaped trestle.

https://flic.kr/p/2ksR1My

Unfortunately, the best photos I see of the S trestle are postcards on ebay. They can be googled if they haven't sold.

 

[JCitron]

In central Idaho the Camas Prairie Railroad had several trestles, one of which was long and curved and called the "Half Moon Trestle". In Northern Idaho the Northern Pacific Railroad had an "S" shaped trestle.

https://flic.kr/p/2ksR1My

Unfortunately, the best photos I see of the S trestle are postcards on ebay. They can be googled if they haven't sold.

That photo looks like an HO model with the clean and shiny diesels.

 

[Forester1]

Unfortunately, it is all empty now. Sometimes the larger railroads like UP or BNSF store long, long lines of center beams and hoppers, but there is no longer any rail traffic. I have seen a simulation on YouTube of this line between Lewiston Idaho and Grangeville, Idaho and it is marvelous with all the trestles and the half-circle tunnel, but it is not done in Trainz. With the closing of the sawmills in Grangeville, apparently the seasonal wheat harvest from the Camas Prairie was not enough to keep the line open, and now the tracks are gone. It would have been a great tourist line, but alas, we can't save them all.

 

[JCitron]

Unfortunately, it is all empty now. Sometimes the larger railroads like UP or BNSF store long, long lines of center beams and hoppers, but there is no longer any rail traffic. I have seen a simulation on YouTube of this line between Lewiston Idaho and Grangeville, Idaho and it is marvelous with all the trestles and the half-circle tunnel, but it is not done in Trainz. With the closing of the sawmills in Grangeville, apparently the seasonal wheat harvest from the Camas Prairie was not enough to keep the line open, and now the tracks are gone. It would have been a great tourist line, but alas, we can't save them all.

That's sad to hear. It's too bad they couldn't attract other business to the area and of course ripping up the rails is the easy thing to do. Without making any assumptions, this is now a rail trail, right.

 

[pware]

The new Sydney North West Metro has a 270-meter curved, cable-stayed railway bridge which is unique in Australia.

 

[Forester1]

Without making any assumptions, this is now a rail trail, right.

Maybe? It would be fun to explore but I don't think the trestles have been made safe for pedestrian use, and with the railroads still using the bottom end by Lapwai, Idaho for storage I think it is just abandoned.

 

[MountE]

The curved Thomas Viaduct in Baltimore Co. is on one of the oldest routes in the US still in use. It is stone so don't know if that is considered a bridge in Trainz.

Rob

 

[1996]

The US is not alone there is also the

the soon to be completed HS2 Delta Junction
Charlton Viaduct on the Somerset & Dorset Line
Hewenden Viaduct in Yorkshire
Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle & Carlisle Line
Brusio spiral viaduct in Switzerland