Black Bear Construction Co., Inc.
 Trestle and Bridge Building Supplies for the Model Railroader
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Home  > Recalls & Upgrades
Product Recalls and Upgrades

This page leads you to product improvements that have been discovered since Black Bear Construction Co. kits and jigs were originally released.   Any new tips that might have been included in the instructions are also passed along.   Believe it or not, there were even some mistakes that ought to be corrected.

You can obtain any of the upgrages by letting me know where you purchased the product and stating what you'd like.   Or, you can print the .PDF file using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Since I also designed the Midwest Products kits, I will also pass on improvements to those products.

- Mike Barrett
Assembly Instructions for all Truss Bridge Jigs have a mistake.
The drawing on the front page of the instructions and Step 10 refer to an inside clearance of 14 feet. This is not correct. The correct standard guage inside clearance is between 15' and 16', depending on the scale. These are the correct full size clearances:
The inch dimensions on the full size drawings are correct.

Assembly Instructions for all Deck Bridge Jigs have a mistake.
The directions on Step 14 should read: "Cut and glue the end panel posts (12x12) to the end panel cap."

Also, some instructions were shipped with incomplete verbiage on step 21. This is how Step 21 should read:

"Glue the bottom beams to the bottoms of the side panel assemblies. Line them up with the intersections of the angle braces. See the figure in Step 1. Use the graph paper and the lateral tension rods to make sure the bottom beams are square to the side panel assemblies and parallel to each other."

RGS (A) Trestle Jigs, Part Number TJ4RHOA, sold at the 24th National Narrow Gauge Convention, 1-4 September 2004
The wood enclosed with some of the jigs is the wrong size. Please contact me if your wood is not HO scale 3" x 12". The defective wood is 1/16" x 1/4". It isn't even close.

Alamogordo & Sacramento Mtns. Jigs, Part Numbers TJ4Ax, 19 Feb 2003
When I prepared the ASM trestle drawings I failed to describe the side bracing. I have reviewed my photo collection and made an addendum for all the ASM trestle jig drawings.  
View drawing of typical ASM trestle bracing.

Revised Instructions for Midwest Products Fox River Bridge Kit
One week I built three of these kits and figured out a better sequence for building the jig.  The revisions are contained in a small book that is free from us or Midwest Products.  You can also view the revisions with Adobe Acrobat.  
View instruction revisions as PDF File

Black Bear S Scale Deck Bridge Kit and S Scale Deck Bridge Jig
An astute customer showed me the error of my ways when we met at the 2002 National Narrow Gauge Convention in Rhode Island.  The S scale values in the table in Step 1 are incorrect.  The S Scale angle brace thickness is 1/32" and a .041" shim is required.  I'll be shipping out a piece of shim to everybody who purchased either the jig or the kit since January, 2001.  
View revised table as PDF File

All Black Bear Deck Bridge Jigs and Kits
The instructions show all the Bottom Diagonal Braces being installed in Steps 23 and 24.  Installing the endmost Bottom Diagonal Braces before installing the End Panel Assembly (in Step 34) can result in an interference between the Braces and the Shoes on the End Panel Assembly.   Experience teaches us that it is better to wait and install the endmost Bottom Diagonal Braces between Steps 34 and 35.

All TJ4x Trestle Bent Construction Jigs: Changes to the Instructions
In the instructions for building the True Frame Bent, Step 5 shows that the legs are numbered sequentially from left to right. When the legs of each story are placed in the jig (Steps 10 thru 16), consider reversing the sequence. If the heights of each story are the same, it is definitely a good idea to reverse the sequence for each story.
That is:    
    Story 1: 1, 2, 3, 4
    Story 2: 4, 3, 2, 1
    Story 3: 1, 2, 3, 4
Since the legs will not be exactly the right height, reversing the sequence cancels out the error. If Leg 1 is always a little longer than leg 4, keeping the sequence the same for all the stories will result in the Leg 1 side of the bent being considerably longer than the Leg 4 side of the bent.

August 9, 2002

Denver & Rio Grande Western Narrow Gauge Jigs
The full size drawings that were included in all the above mentioned jigs showed detail construction for a 30' tall trestle bent.  That drawing has been enlarged to show detail construction for a 60' tall trestle bent.   All jigs shipped after August 9, 2002, have the new larger drawing.

If you purchased one of these jigs with the older drawing, please contact us for a new drawing.

This web site offers full size drawings (11" x 17" up to 22" x 34") as .PDF files.   These drawings can also be plotted in miniature on 8.5" x 11" or 8.5" x 14".   Additionally, the key part of the drawing can be plotted 1:1 on 8.5" x 11" or 8.5" x 14"paper by selecting the appropriate option below.
N Scale, D&RGW Narrow Gauge     TJ4DNN, 11x17     TJ4DNN, 1:1 on letter size paper
HO Scale, D&RGW Narrow Gauge     TJ4DNHO, 11x17     TJ4DNHO, 1:1 on legal size paper
S Scale, D&RGW Narrow Gauge     TJ4DNS, 22x34     TJ4DNS, 1:1 on legal size paper
O Scale, D&RGW Narrow Gauge     TJ4DNO, 22x34     Note: The O scale drawing is so big it
won't fit on legal size paper.

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PO Box 26911
Austin, TX 78755-0911
(512) 467-8400 FAX:(512) 985-5110