I designed and 3D printed some trestles for my Fastrack layout to get the outer mainline up to the extended truss bridge. I wanted more flexibility than the Fastrack trestles offered. It's about a 3" rise over about 80" of track with extra spacing at the ends for easement. Each trestle is 1/4" higher than the previous, but obviously this is completely configurable. I'm pretty happy with the results, so I thought I'd share.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Nice!
Great idea, definitely increases your flexibility!
When I saw the title I wanted to see how you reinforced the posts. After seeing the pictures, I prefer your way of making the vertical supports. What a great idea and it looks great too..
they're nice but if you are 3D printing where the world is your oyster; why not create a more realistic support?
google trestle see what's been done and make a variation,
They're likely not the most realistic - I modeled them loosely after the Fastrack trestles as I liked the way they looked in general. My 3D design skills aren't top notch, so I try not to bite off more than I can chew 
Nice! I would possibly suggest adding diagonal bracing attached to the pylons. But only if you can add them to what you did already.
Design Skills will increase with increasing challenges.
A few years back I could only do cubes and spheres. Now 
@Mike0289 posted:They're likely not the most realistic - I modeled them loosely after the Fastrack trestles as I liked the way they looked in general. My 3D design skills aren't top notch, so I try not to bite off more than I can chew
They look good. You can't get overly realistic especially when the fastrack ballast is literally floating in mid air! Are the pylons separate pieces you just cut to height?
Brendan
I had that same thought about floating ballast and realism 😂
I work full time, have a young family, and ultimately just enjoy running trains, so modular bench work and Fastrack were the right choice for me at this time 😁
With the exception of the first couple trestles (1/4” and 1/2” which are a single piece because the regular base is 1/2” tall) they are all multiple parts glued together - base, 3 pylons, and top. The pylons are printed separately - its a single design that I can vertically scale, copy, and paste in the slicing software to get whatever heights I need.
I’m happy to share the Fusion 360 or STL files if anyone is interested
Great! OGR HAS a 3D print forum to share.
Nice work.
To quote Ray, “Nice!”
Larry
Looks good. Are you going to print any other items for your layout?
@NeophyteMRR posted:Looks good. Are you going to print any other items for your layout?
I've been working on getting some ore load inserts put together for a set of UP die cast ore cars. I wasn't happy with the fully 3D printed version, so I'm going to 3D print a base and then glue some woodland scenics iron ore ballast to the top. That one's still a work in progress
Attaching the .stl files for the trestles here while I work on getting them added to the 3D repository. Everything was printed with 0.3mm layer thickness and 20% infill using PLA. The lowest two trestles (1/4" and 1/2") are a single piece because I chose 1/2" for the height of the base. The rest are multi-part consisting of 1x base, 3x pole/pylon, and 1x top. I printed the base, top, and all-in-one pieces in grey and the poles/pylons in brown. I glued mine together with gorilla super glue and they are quite sturdy, even when they're not screwed to the table. They're rock solid when running my die-cast semi-scale Big Boy over them!
I printed mine with 1/4" height steps and spaced them 5-6" apart with 7-8" spacing for the first and last to create easements into and out of the grade. There isn't a built-in spacer like the Fastrack trestles have but the length of the base is 5", so it works great as a spacer if you decide to go with that
I'm willing to generate .stl files for other heights of the all-in-one trestles if anyone needs them. Thanks to everyone for all your kind comments! I hope this can be a useful tool for whoever uses it!
Mike,
Which semi-scale Big Boy do you have? I have the Lionmaster 4011 (6-11208) and, I have 10 of the UP Die Cast ore cars. ~~~~feeling warm and fuzzy~~~~
@Dennis-LaRock posted:Mike,
Which semi-scale Big Boy do you have? I have the Lionmaster 4011 (6-11208) and, I have 10 of the UP Die Cast ore cars. ~~~~feeling warm and fuzzy~~~~
I have the K-Line one with TMCC and Railsounds - K3790-4015S. I upgraded it with an ERR Cruise Commander M after the original DCDR board died and then had to do a lot of work to get it back up and running properly as the CCM was causing too much load on the R2LC serial output. I added an amplifier circuit based on GRJ's design and it runs ok now (chuffs are a little skippy but everything else works fine). I have all 9 of the K-Line PFE reefers and the caboose that go with the Big Boy. I'd love to pull the trigger on one of those LionChief Plus 2.0 Big Boys but I've spent a lot of $$$ on trains this year, so I think I need to wait for a bit
I have the 10 UP die cast ore cars as well and usually mix them in with my Erie Mining set for a longer ore train
Yeah... that spending thing ...the wife got a little soar 
when I was in Die Cast mode... 10 ore, 15 tanker, 12 boxcar, 8 hopper and a dozen or so one/two offs. They sure run nice... and, do not derail.
They do run nicely! You need a serious lash-up to pull lots of die cast though! Especially if grades are involved.
My wife OK'd the Big Boy purchase without even asking about the price! Trainworld had a 10% off code - fingers crossed it applies. Happy Black Friday to me
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
