I really do not know where my time goes. Progress on the bridge has been glacially slow
on the modelling front, partially
because some indecision on my behalf on the best way to proceed, although I have been able to continue with
some rollingstock acquisitions, a brass loco repair, and more research.
Now that I had a dimensioned sketch, (see part 1) the first part was to
locate a suitable piece of pine. My
desire was to include both bridges on a single section of timber plank. Whilst
I did have some chipboard, and some 9mm thick ply, these materials were either
too heavy, or too bendy. Sure the ply
could have been re-inforced, but a trip to Bunnings located a 1 metre or so long
pine plank, with enough width to fit the bridge wing abutments. The width is also in keeping with my future
plans to minimize the width of the upper deck benchwork.
Solid pine was used for the subroadbed “causeway” between
the two bridges. This also assists with
stiffening the pine plank.
The two bridge openings were marked on the plank, and the
pine subroadbed was glued between the 2 bridges. 3mm MDF board (also obtained
from Bunnings), was cut according to the sketch, shaped, and glued into
position for the Kyeamba creek bridge.
Gaps were filled with Aldi brand filling compound
The unnamed creek will have traditional timber
supports. One thing that I assumed,
was that the water level in the unnamed creek, and Kyeamba creek would be the
same, as the railway is fairly level between these 2 creeks (confirmed by
looking at the railway gradient diagram), however, the water level for the
unnamed creek is higher than Kyeamba creek by at least a metre, which might
look a bit odd on the model. To get
around this, the unnamed creek may be modelled as a dry stream
Next step was to attack the Ironbark trestle bridge that I
recovered from an earlier layout. The
only thing wrong with the trestle, was that the timber piers were the wrong
height, so needed to be removed. The
bridge deck though was perfect for reuse, so I didn’t want to damage it.
My original trestle bridge segments |
My glue of choice back when I constructed the trestle, was
white glue. White glue is normally not
waterproof, and I hoped that this was the type I had used. Carefully, I applied water to the joint, and
waited, applying some more water as soon as the first lot disappeared into the
wood. After around 5 minutes, the glue
started to “go white” at the join, and with some careful pressure, the piers separated from
the bridge deck.
2 timber piers removed. The plastic squeeze tube was ideal to get the water exactly where it was needed |
All timber piers separated from the bridge deck. Now the construction can start |
Ironbark Models suggested and provided plans for a jig to make up your own timber trestle piers. |
Nest stage is to complete modelling the concrete abutments,
and this will also set the rail height.
The subroadbed will then be built up to this height, prior to
fitting the unnamed stream timber abutments.
Once the first one is in, then I will know the positioning for the other
timber abutment.
Hopefully my next post will show a lot more progress. Happy
modelling.
Hi Rob, the bridge is coming along nicely. An example of modifying the kit to suite a particular location is very useful.
ReplyDelete