Trains run!

Exciting day day today. Not only did I watch Ishant Sharma take 5 for 12 for Deccan Chargers against Kochi Tuskers in the IPL but I had trains running on the Knife River model. To prove it here's some film.

The layout is coming together nicely.

Meanwhile it snows outside..

Bridge comes together (layout progress 5)

Today was a grey, wet, horrible day. Hardly worth having the day off work to be honest. Then again if the weather had been nice I probably would have been out in the MGB now that it is out of winter storage. So the weather forced me on to getting the bridge closer to completion. Here's a few photos via the iPhone and Photoshop express...

...I reckon it looks the part.

One step forward...

... two steps back.

Well probably no more than one step back, perhaps just a trip and stumble but I digress.

The other day the Chooch flexible stone arrived. Just one look at it and I was really impressed. I was fired up and wanted to get it on the bridge abutments there and then.

But as things progressed with the material I began to realise that perhaps things wouldn't be all that perfect.

The finish on the material is excellent, there is no doubt about that. But the flexibility and the adhesive on the material bothered me, and as I began to cut and stick it to the styrene my worries grew. The material is flexible yes. But It didn't want to go around all the right angled corners and steps on my abutments. Then there was the adhesive. Sticky, no doubt. Tacky might be a better word. It didn't want to hold the material in place. It slid about a lot and sure enough when I went back to the abutment I'd covered the next day. This was the sight that greeted me

Not good.

Perhaps If I'd put a coat od primer paint on the styrene...

Not to worry. I'm currently building new abutments out of card. The material seems to stick better to that.

Those are currently setting at the moment I'll probably get to cover them this weekend.

At last!

Pictures!

My temperamental modem has started working again (perhaps because it knows that at the earliest opportunity we will be changing internet provider) So here's some pictures of the progress so far.
Above: This is an overall view of the bridge sans central support pillar
Above: The styrene shells of the abutments this will be clad in some embossed stone material of some sort.
Above: The deck of the bridge. The inset between the rails is some 4mm "U" channel
Above: A test fitting showing a section of the Plastruct handrail HRS-2 in place

The Bridge

The bridge, as it turns out is the most important part of the layout both as a scenic feature and the construction. I can't really begin the construction of the layout until I've made the bridge. I don't know how high above the water level the rail level will be until I've made the bridge. So I can't work on the ground contours. All construction hinges around the bridge. So I'd better get building. Tonight I took a look at it to try and work out how it will go together to suit my purpose.

Above: This is the bridge as it comes, a very nice simple kit. The sides fit on the side of the roadbed track thanks to some sturdy locating pins.
Above: This is how I want the bridge to look with the girders underneath. A slight issue is that the girders are not flat topped or bottomed. You can see in this picture that they are stepped slightly. But I can hide the uppermost surface when I fix the girders underneath the roadbed track and assume that the lower surface won't be as noticeable when it is assembled.

Add a new deck and railings out of styrene and "Bob's your Uncle!" A bridge.

Happy Birthday honey! Here's a field trip for you

'Tis my Birthday today, (you don't need to know how old) and to celebrate my wife took me away to Duluth/Superior for the weekend.

Saturday was a truly wonderful day weather-wise and after a visit to the scenic Gooseberry falls we stopped at the Knife River Bridge so I could take some photographs for the project.

Above: This shows the decking arrangement quite clearly.
Above: The Centre Pier. A nice big piece of driftwood there.
Above: The Northern Abutment, flippin' dead bush manages to catch the point of focus rather than the bridge abutment. Not to worry though...
Above: The Southern Abutment it seems essentially identical to the Northern one (and why wouldn't it be?)
Above: Overall view of the bridge. Even in the Winter this is a beautiful scene.

OK. So those pictures should be enough to see me thought the job. Being the winter I could not get the other side of the bridge for reference shots. The campground was closed. But I have found shots of the lakeward side of the bridge online.

I still think that the Micro Trains bridge might be a good starting point for the project as I could cover the bridge ties (sleepers) with .010 styrene or similar, add some check rails and other bits and I'd be sorted for a starter project. We're not going for scale accuracy here, just something that feels like the scene.

P.S....

Just discovered this bridge on the Micro trains website.
I wonder if it's possible to remove the sides, invert them, reposition them and add some hand rails and give it a spray of brown paint so it would look more like the knife river bridge...
Anyone know?