Garden Railway Forum

This timber truss bridge on the Sandstone & Termite has served for 25 years, and is still in great shape.

BUT, what was a small gum tree when I built it, has now grown so large that it is leaning on the bridge. It was fouling the top of the back truss, but the track level was still OK. Over the last few years I have cut into the tree bark to get clearance, but that’s no longer possible.

So I decided to replace it with a through steel girder type. It’s made from some aluminium (from an old screen door) and some 65x65mm x4mm thick PVC angle shape.

This is the finished bridge
….. and this is the new clearance to the tree. Let’s hope that will last a few years and see out my GR hobby time.

I had always considered re-using the truss bridge I removed from under the tree to the replace the very rotten truss at the end of Melaleuca baseboard

And within 3 weeks of the above replacement, the Melaleuca bridge was destroyed by a tree branch!

The old tree bridge was about 100mm short so I cantilevered a bit out from the baseboard. The other end of the bridge was supported by a double trestle bent arrangement that was damaged and rotten too, so I decided on a ‘ modern’ concrete pier type (because I am lazy). So two 75mm plastic pipes were concrete into the ground at the correct distance. The old bridge was repainted and is now in place. The track was also damaged so a 1.8m length of that was also replaced

Great results there Greg, perfect timing too!
They do say things happen in 3's, so we wait in anticipation.

Peter Butler wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:56 am Great results there Greg, perfect timing too!
They do say things happen in 3's, so we wait in anticipation.

In this case, they happened in "trees" .......

Rik

ge_rik wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2026 12:28 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:56 am Great results there Greg, perfect timing too!
They do say things happen in 3's, so we wait in anticipation.

In this case, they happened in "trees" .......

Rik

GROAN!!!!!


Seriously though, I'm so glad it was "only" the bridge that was destroyed and not that beautiful curved trestle viaduct. That really would have been a tragedy.

It seems I only post about bridge repairs and Peter Butler was correct in his post back in March - there is a third repair.
This time the timber trestle on the big rock shelf was damaged by a clumsy person??
So I had to replace some timbers etc. A 2 day job. These days I don't bother about how it looks - more like what is the minimum work I can do to make it last another 10 years - that should see out my involvement in the garden.
A couple of pics of the completed work - the new timber is obvious from the lighter colour. BTW the trestle was built in 2000 so has lasted pretty well.

I think it looks great, Greg, and very much in keeping with the original. In a short time the new timbers will weather nicely. In the meantime, I'm sure real trestles had timbers replaced over the years.

Must have been hard work, given the location and, let's face it, we aren't getting any younger.....

Rik

gregh wrote: Sun Nov 01, 2026 8:51 am It seems I only post about bridge repairs and Peter Butler was correct in his post back in March - there is a third repair.

I once thought about becoming a clairvoyant but had to stop due to unforeseen circumstances!

ge_rik wrote: Sun Nov 01, 2026 10:04 am Must have been hard work, given the location and, let's face it, we aren't getting any younger.....
Rik

It sure was - I must have climbed up and down dozens of times to get a forgotten tool or screw or drill. Too old for all that.

gregh wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2026 12:09 am

ge_rik wrote: Sun Nov 01, 2026 10:04 am Must have been hard work, given the location and, let's face it, we aren't getting any younger.....
Rik

It sure was - I must have climbed up and down dozens of times to get a forgotten tool or screw or drill. Too old for all that.

Having seen your railway in the flesh, I know how inaccessible that section is. Presumably, you either had to abseil down the cliff or squirm under a bridge to get to it.

Rik

You've not been having a lot of luck recently Greg, lets hope you are through the rough patch and can now enjoy playing trains again!