Curved Bridge

[Jay]

I have a small river that I need to gap.  I have a Wye that curves over this river for about 10 inches.  Any suggestions on a bridge?  Thanks

[Jake]

Believe it or not, curved bridges were actually "curved!" They were made up of multiple straight section on which the curved track was lain. But then again, trestles (by that I mean the bent structure trestles) do follow the curvature of the track. The CMR team (www.cmrtrain.com) does custom laser cut kits, maybe drop them a holler.

[SteamGene]

Jake, you left out a "not." 
I'm currently building a Micro-Engineers steel viaduct bridge.  It's quite a project, but the end results should be fantastic.  Check them out in the Walthers catalog.
Gene

[ebtnut]

In general, any railroad bridge built before about 1980 was not curved--it was a series of straight sections joined together.  Now, the ties laid on top would follow the curve of the track, giving the appearance to the casual observer that it was "curved".  The advent of computers has led to the successful design of curved bridges, because the programs could compute the odd stresses introduced by the curved members.

[rollerbearing]

What about that long curved bridge owned by the IC.

[Jay]

This has been great information from all.  Thanks!  I am looking into the curved bridge recommended by Gene and see if this will work for my application.

[SteamGene]

Jay, do be prepared for a lot of work.  A lot.  Did I mention the kit has a lot of pieces and may of them are small? 
Gene

[Jay]

Thanks Gene,

I will keep it in mind.  I am just beginning the research process for this bridge and have many other projects that are in line ahead of this.  But you have given me a place to begin.

[SteamGene]

One of the German model companines like Heljin has a curved stone bridge, but it apparently has only one radius, listed in cm and I was just too lazy to convert cm to inches.   It appeared much to tight for my needs and the Micro-engineering one can be built as tight as 18 - all the way to straight.
The sub-assembly that took me 45 minutes to put together yesterday only took about five a few minutes ago.  Only ten more to go. 
Gene

[Jay]

What is the length of your curve to be?  After looking at the bridge I think it may be a bit more than I need in that area.

[SteamGene]

The bridge is 150 feet, which comes to a bit over 20.5" on the layout.  Some of their others might work better for you, if you can get them to curve.  Call and ask - they don't have a website or e-mail.
Gene