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Like I said, this is my first time with image hosting. I don't think it's working like it should. How do I get the photos to post directly in the thread?
OK, I figured it out. Now I have to rewrite my text...
I thought I would share some photos and share my techniques and also figure out how to insert photos on this site. I went the extra mile as this is one of the first things a visitor sees near an interlocking on my layout.
The bridge is a brass Overland, HO, Camel Back, through truss. The bridge was painted with a Scalecoat weathering color--engine black. I used Micro Engineering code 83 bridge flex track with their supplied code 70 guard rails. They do not provide frogs, so I scratch built those with Fast Tracks frog helper tool and solder. (ME also provides code 70 bridge flex with code 55 guard rails.) Lighter rails for guard rails is prototypical and also keeps your track cleaning car from rubbing off the paint on the top of the guard rails.
In my opinion the timber guards provided by ME are weak, so I scratch built those with strips of styrene and over 900 Grandt Line nut-bolt-washer castings. If I had to do it over again, I would have made a master and duplicated it.
I did not put guard frogs on all four ends to replicate what the prototype would have done in my era with non bidirectional track with right-hand running. The bridge abutments were cast in Hydrocal with molds built with individual planks of basswood with some sheet wood backing. The concrete color was stained on with a diluted mixture of soy sauce and water.
The walkway was made from individual strips of styrene distressed with a fine razor saw and contorted by hand to replicate warping. I painted the ties and rails a Floquil rail brown from a spray can and the weathered gray was hand painted with Star Brand weathered gray paint from P-B-L. After it was dry, I washed it with black India Ink diluted in 70% rubbing alcohol. I think that another gray paint might work such as Floquil's L&N gray. Some may chide me for using the rail brown for the ties and the rails but, in my opinion, in some scenarios two different colors blend together, especially with our model railroading lighting conditions.
Wabash2800:
WOW! I'm really glad you figured out how to post your pics. The bridge is a work of art but I am more impressed with the warped walkway boards. I will look forward to more pictures of your layout as it progresses. You should approach Model Railroader about doing an article on how you did the boards as well as the other details like the track.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
That is excellent, great work!!!
Very Good indeed! Yes the walking boards add to the realism. Well done!
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
One comment I will make relates to the timber tie spacers. The staggered pattern of the bolt heads looks great, but MAY not be prototypically correct. I will explain why.
There are two types of bolts used to secure the tie spacers to the bridge ties. Some are lag bolts, just fastening the tie spacer to the tie. Others are hook bolts, which go through the tie and hook under the top flange of the steel stringer that supports the deck. On CPR every third tie used a hook bolt instead of a lag bolt. The hook bolt serves two purposes. Obviously it holds the ties (and track) down on the stringers. More importantly, they also stop the ties (and track) from shifting sideways under a train. Since the stringer is a straight line, all the hook bolts have to be in a straight line, and from a strength point of view, are centered in the tie spacer. The tie spacer must line up with one side or the other of that top flange. The tie spacers are usually pre-drilled for the standard tie spacing and for installation ease there is little benefit to have any of the holes staggered.
Note I said "may" in the first paragraph; other railroads might have differed. I used the term tie spacer, but they do also serve as guard timbers for some roads. In general, though, the Jordan guard rails between the running rails are more reliable for guiding a derailed car until it is off the bridge. A derailed car going sideways into a truss member will be catastrophic to the structure!
Timber trestles don't have a steel stringer so don't have hook bolts, and the situation there does vary.
John
Thanks for the constructive criticism John. However, I went by photos of an actual truss bridge to make sure I was OK. That's the best insurance when modeling.
Hence my use of the word "may". I have long since learned (to my embarrassment) that different roads could have their own standard practices, not to mention that old adage of "the exception to prove the rule". I wonder if in your case the railroad had a hook bolt (or equivalent) system separate from the guard timbers. Perhaps the hook bolts were every second (or fourth) tie.
I had dithered whether to post anything but then decided to, mostly to provide the greater community with a little more background on how the various bridge components interact.
Another interesting difference from what I have experienced was the walkway in the center. Some roads prefer to put walkways only on the outside of the tracks, against the trusses. A center walkway is not a good place to be when there are trains on both tracks, even if one is stopped. Usually their primary purpose is to allow train crew to walk the train, either inspecting after an unexpected stop or for a switching move. On the outside they don't have to worry about a train on the adjacent track. But of course that requires two walkways, and bean counters and budgets have been known to prevail.
wabash, I think your bridge is awesome!!! nice job! Thor,
John:
I noticed you qualified your answer and I appreciate your constructive criticism. Feel free to comment on anything you want, anytime. I do the same and some modelers don't like it but, hey, they won't know if I don't tell them (in a constructive way).
I have seen a walkway on the side as you mention, and, of course, some with the walkway in the middle. This Overland bridge is modeled after an N&W prototype and did come with a brass walkway btw the tracks as a separate part but it did not do justice to the bridge. Note there are escape platforms on both sides of the bridge.
I am modeling the Wabash in the 50s and have printed a couple signs in HO scale from official Wabash standards that say: "DANGER Railroad Property No Thoroughfare KEEP OFF, one for each end of the bridge. I have yet to add the bridge numbers too.