Cattle Guards

This was a very nice article that was informative and straight to the point. I have several now under construction. Thank you. I do have a question for Lew... What did you use for ballast as shown in the pictures that accompany the cattle guard article? It's just what I've been looking for. Thanks again for a great article.

Rick Bell

katmedia@live.com

Cattle Guard Humor

It has been said this has been circulating around since the 1950s, but I thought for you that may have not heard it there may be some appreciation for the humor. Some forms recently circulated on the internet have had one or another politician involved in the story (including firing subjects because there seemed to be a surplus).

Here is a rather bland version that was said to be given by a former Texas State Senator:

Brought back memories

Growing up in arid, cattle-infested Eastern Washington, cattle guards were everywhere. Not only on the railroads, but on gravel roads and smaller highways. Especially in free-range areas.  I'm not sure if I've ever seen one modeled before. But reading this, it was kind of an "oh yeah!" moment, and reminded me how common these once were. Lew's model is a very good example of what I remember.

Material

A fair number of cattle guards on rural roads in eastern Idaho, in the 1970s anyway, were welded up out of lengths of surplus rail. Quite a bit of it was traceable to the original Utah & Northern narrow gauge of the 1870s and 1880s.

Great article

This was a great article, Lew.

Like the other posters, I remember (now I do!) the cattle guards all over Ventura County, CA back roads.  Here they are frequently constructed of old oil well drill pipe, as oil is one of the two major industries here.

ship planking tool?

Can you provide more information on the ship planking tool in figure 5?  Who makes it?  Who sells it?

Thanks,
JT

Nevermind.   Google found it at micromark..."Wood Strip Cutter with Micrometer Accuracy"

What color uniform will that cattle guard be wearing?'"

Blue stripped with a gray hat.

Tool

That wood stripping tool is for sale in the MicroMark catalog, and web site.

Column - Lite&Narrow: On30 cattle guard

The ballast I used on the cattle guard  diorama was graded and washed limestone sold in Lancaster, PA by several local quarries.  The material is prepared to USDOT Highway specs as both a top coat on chip and oil roads and as the gravel or sand used in elevated sand mounds for on-lot sewage systems.  I am a retired Soil Scientist and used to issue permits for sand mound sewage systems in Pennsylvania.  I always took a cubic foot of the "sand" and a copy of the quarry's receipt for the stone and filed it for two years in case the sewage system malfunctioned in that time.  If there was a malfunction of the sewage system, I subjected the sample to tests used to determine its USDOT qualities to see if it does indeed meet specs.  Since I retired, I now have a small quantity of the limestone on hand and have begun to use it for my railroad after rescreening for size.

If you Google search for the stone, look for: "USDOT graded and washed limestone gravel used for elevated sand mounds in Pennsylvania."  The stone is cheap, but shipping is very expensive.

Happy railroading!

Lew Matt