Ray, a kind gentleman from this forum [via a pm] has already put me in contact with a supplier on your side of the Great Water.  Sadly the shipping would wipe away any saving.
 

Thanks for the thought, anyhow.

 

Best

 

tac

John, truer words have hardly ever been spoken.

 

Thanks, all you guys.

 

tac

www.ovgrs.org

 

 

Tac
That is why I love this site these guys are great , I had the honor and priviledge to meet alot of them this last June in CA and talk about some nice folks !!! heck if we lived closer I would say come on over and use my equipment and make the boards yourself. Good luck and take care

Tac,

 

When a modeler finds something he wants to do is impractical, he figures out another way to do it.

 

You'll build your trestle!

Terry as MasonsDad said,"heck if we lived closer I would say come on over and use my equipment and make the boards yourself." I do live closer,and,  I have a large table saw you are welcome to come over and cut your wood here anytime. Might even make you a cup of tea 

Rod

(Swanton Morley, Norfolk)

Terry, sorry to hear that your bridge project is giving you such grief.  As an out of control bridge building addict, I sympathise.  Finding materials and other solutions that are structurally and financially practical can be a challenge.  For my timber structures, I use teak because it is very durable outdoors and, more importantly, because I have a supply that I salvaged from some dismantled teak furniture (http://www.sdfr.info/images/August2006/P1000774.JPG).  Similarly, Rod has recently completed a small timber bridge using mahogany from a salvaged staircase handrail (http://picasaweb.google.com/wpandyr/QueenTruss#).  Are there any opportunities in your part of the country for aquiring second hand timber?  This can sometimes be found at no cost - or minimal cost, but does obviously invole the chore of cutting it down to the required sizes.

 

Best of luck with your project.

David - as ever, good advice from you - thanks.  and thanks to Rod as well, please PM me so we can sort something out.

 

And thanks to you all, in particular, Jim over in Bellingham WA, proprietor of NorthWest Precision Lumber, who took the trouble to e-mail me with a possible solution.  I was unable to take him up on it because of the cost of freighting a 28 pound bundle of wood to UK, but his heart is in the right place and I recommend his products and services to any and all of you, particulalry those in the NWP zone.

 

I'll think of something, and if I find a few pieces of siuitable woddy stuff, I'll prolly be over at Rod's ripping it up on his sawbench.... 

 

Anyhow, I'm running my K-27 plus three cars and my Sheridan van on the new layout now - as we write this note, in fact.  Where the trestle WILL be is a contraption made of Dexion and slats...looks quite good if you squint a lot...

 

Best wishes to all, here and there

 

tac

 

 

Terry,

I saw the picture of your railroad on the OVGRS site.  That will make an impressive trestle when done.

 

Here's another idea:

 

We use a lot of wood for packaging.  Are there any factories nearby that get shipments in wooden crates?  Often, the crates are broken down and discarded. While usually a low grade of lumber, it is a cheap alternative.  And if it is international shipping, the wood all has to be kiln dried these days.  The other thing to consider might be wooden pallets.  There was a guy on here not too long ago that built his indoor layout using wooden pallets. 

 

Mark

How much would it cost to send a  28 LB clump of wood to  England?

 

I was just wondering.  

John,

 

I just went to the UPS website - 30# to 10 Downing St in London would cost anywhere from $270-380!  And that was at the minimum declared value of $100.  OUCH.

Brian

On the straight sections of my RR I have used pieces of timber approx. 3ft.in  length x 6 ins. width and 3 ins. depth as the base on which my track and ballast is laid.  These timbers are set into the dirt, resting on 8" x 3"x 3" pieces of fence post.  The fence post pieces are treated and the pine lengths also have been soaked in a suitable waterproofing and bug deterrent.  The corner parts of my RR have building blocks as a foundation.  None of this construction has moved, in any direction, since laid two and a half years ago.  I am not too concerned about the longevity of all this as I am sure it will see me out! 

 

None of this timber, or any in fact used on parts of my RR, have I needed to buy.  Folks around here know I burn wood on my fires and I get lots of logs, tree boughs and scrap lumber given to me.  Dumpsters are a good source of lumber - usually FOC if you ask the right person and in the correct manner.  Often builders and other tradesmen will deliver to you, again FOC, to get rid of things especially as it saves them time and a journey to the nearest garbage dump/reclamation center.

 

For TAC's info (he will know what I mean) we learned the a lot of tricks from the Steptoes. 

I too am in the process of building a truss system and was going to go with cedar. Here in Eastern Canada I figured it would be easy to get and not to expensive. I was wrong as well. I experimented with PVC ripped and glued and painted. It turned out OK but the glued joints were not the strongest.

 

My big Question is if I use Pine and soak in Thompson Water stain would I get 10 years out of it? I thought of soaking in motor oil but It would be messy to work with and Not sure if glue would work well. I made a bridge out of Oak and treated it with Thompson water seal and it looks great but It has not been outside yet.