Hello all, Its been a while since I posted anything but I browse the forum almost everyday. I have seen on a few YouTube videos of a curved pier girder that is made for the Atlas code 80 track. I'm familiar with the straight sections that come with the sets. However I can't find them online. I always wondered why Atlas didn't produce them from the start. Maybe this is not an Atlas product I'm seeing? Thanks Paul
Those were produced in the earlier years of Atlas. I know they existed because I had some... wish I knew what I did with them! I'm thinking maybe mid 1970s or so but I could be wrong.
If we're talking curved steel bridge sections, I had Faller's 2500 set seen here. It could be used with anyone's N Scale track. The problem with the Faller and some other sets is that they appear suited to light rail transit lines, not heavy railroading.
No definitely not a Kato product, I‘ve seen those. Similar to the picture above but with nothing fastened to the sides. It’s a curved flat girder section that has the “wings” on either end to mount to the bridge pier. Thanks for your help guys
This is interesting stuff. I've been in N for 55 years and have never heard of them. Here's a guy who 3D printed some. Did Atlas' look like these?
Yes, they did! Wish I could find mine. I've looked on that Internet Trading Community for them, on and off, for years.
Is there such a thing in the real world? I've seen concrete overpasses that are curved but no plate girders. The Kato version looks entirely unsound. Even if the girder box is somehow monolithic, an engine mid span would cause tension instead of compression on the bridge shoes that are on the inside of the curve.
There are mid-span intermediate inclined pier sets available for Kato Viaducts, to reduce the spans between piers. Not that the viaducts aren't plenty rigid to avoid sagging without them, but on the longer curved viaducts, they look better with an intermediate pier. But I use the intermediate piers to reduce the grade, not add mid-span support, on prototype layouts. That said, I will have a level section of 13.75R45 viaduct that will take an additional pier mid span on the finished layout, just for appearance. I use the viaducts and incline piers to mock up the layout and actually run trains before I commit any terrain under the track. Layouts are a lot easier to adapt before you add terrain! I will use WS incline risers under ground level Unitrack for the layout, except for short, level spans including curved viaducts and bridges (including a 19R15 bridge).
The short answer, I believe, is "no," but then again, there's probably no such thing as a mainline with the prototype equivalent of 9 3/4 inch radius either If I recall correctly, "curved" bridges are actually a series of short straight bridges linked together. The exception would be the concrete structures you describe.
Obviously what I need to do is start researching this... I wonder if it made any of the catalogs I have. Might have to dig into the Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman ads too...
Circa 1973 - 1975 production Atlas Stock Number 2544 Curved Pier Girders which were blister carded in packs of four.
Thanks @pmpexpress. Sure enough, there it is in my 1973 JMC catalog priced at $0.50 PK. Found an Internet photo too.
What is the vertical thickness of those pieces? They seem pretty thin for a railroad bridge, with no superstructure above.
I think the general idea of the Atlas Pier Girders was to make the track between the piers look less like they were just hanging in space between them. It still didn't make things look exactly prototypical...
