Width of the bottom of viaduct piers?

[6029 King Stephen]

Hi,

 

As part of my Tavistock North layout in N gauge, I am hoping to model two viaducts; Tavistock and Shillamill.  There are plans and some dimensions in the Irwell Press book of the viaducts but there is no scale on the drawings and no details provided for the width of the bottom of the piers for either viaduct.  The top of the pier, i.e. where it meets the underside of the arch, has a dimension of 5' 6" and this dimension is shown on the plan as tapering from the base.  Does anyone know how wide the viaduct pier is at the bottom, preferably on Tavistock and Shillamill viaducts, LSWR/SR viaducts or stone/granite viaducts generally?  I don't live sufficiently close to Tavistock to be able to measure for myself and don't know of any viaducts near me that I could use as a comparison.  From the drawing, I am guessing about 11' - does this seem right?

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[Joseph_Pestell]

Depends what you mean by "bottom".

 

Not all the piers will be the same height above ground level. But the taper will usually be the same.

 

For such a tall viaduct as Tavistock, 11' seems a bit slender for the taller piers.

 

If only you had asked a couple of weeks ago, I could have measured them while on my way to St Austell.

[6029 King Stephen]

On the contrary, the video allows views that are not readily accessible because there are barriers at each end of the viaduct that prevent access. Thanks for sharing.

 

On the subject of what is considered the bottom, looking at Shillamill viaduct it would be the part of the pier that is just before the wider section at the bottom. Tavistock doesn’t have this wider part on all piers, depending on whole high the pier is - please see pictures below.

[N15class]

If you know the measurements at the top you can work out the measurements at the bottom, with a little arithmetic. I know you should not scale from drawings but needs must sometimes.

[6029 King Stephen]

That might be the only answer but I did find myself trying to count stones on photos of the piers found via Google that might provide the answer. Comparing the number of stones at the top with the number at the bottom would allow me to work out the ratio.

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[N15class]

Counting stones or bricks when hand made products. The mathematical way is probly more accurate. You only need one dimension, don't even need a scale on the drawing.