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Using VW Camper Vans to judge height of a viaduct.


londonbus

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blog-0315128001438786118.jpgA little bit of actual progress to show. But mainly I have taken the track plan and accurately measured everything out. The best thing is that now I can mock up the actual height of the running lines and then measured, I gain space for another 2 x storage sidings.

 

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The "duck under" for the cupboard is more a diplomatic gesture to the wife as one of the conditions of using this rooms was that I didn't rip out the built in cupboard. I'll use it for storing things I never use, like instructions.

 

I have looked a lot at the large availability of pics on the net and spent some time doing some calculations on heights of the viaducts etc. I counted bricks (there are 64 brick layers to bridge clearance) As I don't know the height of a brick though I used the VW camper van in one of Nigel Tout's pictures. http://www.gcrleicester.info- it's an excellent resource as has been pointed out numerous time on this forum. By the way, I requested permission to reproduce his image(s) which he most graciously granted.

 

The vehicle is 1.96m high. So by putting 4 of them on top of each other I calculated that the clearance of the bridge is about 5m, (66mm) The track level is about 6.5m (85mm). I noticed that Slaters bricks are 10 brick courses to 10mm. So their bricks are either a little bit on the small side (64 bricks would give me an actual height of 4.88m, or my abscure method of measuring is wrong, Either way i'm easy. It just goes to show how easy I am at getting distracted. It reminds me a little bit of the old locos and carriages stacked up at Vic Berry's yard.

 

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I think this is All Saints Road, if so the bridge restriction plate shows a height of 15'9". Possibly you could scale from this?

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Thanks Big D, 15'9" is 4.8m so comes in at 63mm at 1:76. Three mm out on my calculations. I always wondered if those signs gave the actual clearance or whether they have built in a little bit of extra. It is all Saints Road.

 

So the Slaters brick sheets and counting brick courses are actually a reliable way of scaling. 1 brick course = 1mm in OO.

 

Some research into brick sizes suggests that a "standard" imperial brick size with 9.5mm mortar is 76.2mm - OO gauge exactly! So Slaters are spot on. Counting Bricks is the way to go.

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The height allowance isn't spot-on. There is a safety margin, not sure what it is though....

Doubt it'll be too much so shouldn't affect things too much.

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