Well after 30 years and alot of luck on my part to get a Howe Truss bridge for a rock bottom price off an auction site, I finally got one of these bridges. I have always wanted one to build but with the high prices of these kits now I have waited. I should have gotten one back when I had the chance to pick one up for 14.95. I have built several Campbell kits and enjoy them but never had a bridge to build.
Well nows the time and was wondering if any of you have built one, have any photos of yours or advice on building one? I assume one would paint or stain it first before putting it together. I guess thats my main concern on what color or stain works and looks best. And easy to apply would help too.
Would love some advice and maybe color photos to go by.
Thanks,
Mark
I built one of their small pile trestles a couple years ago. I pre-stained all the wood parts using Minwax Ebony stain. Most of the parts were small enough that I just dipped them in the can of stain and laid them on newspaper to dry. I think the dark color looks a lot like creosoted wood. However, because the major components of a pile trestls are under the tracks, they would not be exposed to the sun very much and would probably retain their dark color over time.
With a Howe Truss, where much of the structure is above track level, many of the components would probably take on a lighter color fairly quickly when exposed to the sun and other elements. I guess I would stick with ebony, but either apply the stain in several light coats, or plan to dry-brush the components with a lighter color of paint after the stain has dried. The best answer would be to buy some stripwood (I assume the Campbell kit is mostly basswood?) and try out several staining techniques/colors to see what looks best for your modeled locale and under your layout's lighting conditions before you start in on the kit.
Also, I believe Minwax sells most of their stain colors in applicator pens (for touch-up jobs). You might try one of those out, too.
Good luck and have fun!
Tom
Thanks for all the input guys, anyone have any good photos to share?
Also, what is a quick and easy way to stain the wood? I was thinking maybe in a paint pan and fish them out and let dry on newspaper. Seems faster than brushing. Maybe using some kind of strainer to do more pieces at once.
I like Febings shoe dye. Get either med.brn. or black and thin it to suit with denatured alchol. Play around with some scrap to decide what shade you like. Reason? Color is realistic and dry time is minutes. Dye all the wood by throwing it in a container with the dye then fish it out and dry. SIMPLE! BILL
PS save the leftover dye in a tight lidde jar for your next bridge, water tower or coal tower.
fwdguy Thanks for all the input guys, anyone have any good photos to share? Also, what is a quick and easy way to stain the wood? I was thinking maybe in a paint pan and fish them out and let dry on newspaper. Seems faster than brushing. Maybe using some kind of strainer to do more pieces at once. Mark
Get a stain pen it saves a big mess when you upset a can of stain
Don't ask me how I know !
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
A pink bridge??? Looks great, what did you use for the steel rods? thread???
I built the Howe Truss 10 years ago or so before I even had a railroad to put it on. I believe at the time someone made stains in small bottles for modelers. I used two--a gray and a tan--along with washes of black,etc. in an attempt to create an old, weathered, no-longer-in-service look. I also distressed the individual pieces with an X-acto before assembly. I think that I tried various staining techniques (like piece by piece and dunking several at a time) which contributed to the color variations. Here are some photos:
Railz,
Your scenery (land forms, coloring, water, etc.) is outstanding; however, the apparently-abandoned bridge (no rails are present) is much too pristine. Or are you modeling the 1870s and the railroad is still under construction, but then what's with the rusted metal pieces?
PS -- I'm giving you a hard time because your skills exceed mine....Why aren't you "more perfect"?
Mark, I was out of the hobby for 20 years or so when I got motivated to build something. I started back in by building some structure kits. The Campbell kit is an example, but I did not have a long term plan for what I would do with it. When I finally jumped into building a small railroad, I decided to model the early 60's and did not think the wood bridge would fit in. However, before sticking the steel bridge in place, I decided to take a few shots of the Howe Truss. My pretense for the scene is that the wood bridge is on a section of torn-up mainline that has been converted to use by trailriders (hence the horse and rider). This explaination may be a little shaky also. I think the rails to trails phenomena is more recent than the 60's and I doubt that a bridge on a public trail could be so starved of safety railings, etc. In any case that is the best story I have to justify the 1/2 hour photo shoot. Unfortunately the bridge is back on a shelf waiting patiently for me to build the next railroad and figure out some way to incorporate it.
Any ideas?
Railz Unfortunately the bridge is back on a shelf waiting patiently for me to build the next railroad and figure out some way to incorporate it. Any ideas?
Unfortunately the bridge is back on a shelf waiting patiently for me to build the next railroad and figure out some way to incorporate it.
I have the same sort of problem. Half of the structures filling my bureau won't have a place on the anticipated layout.
Unless one's modeling the 19th century, it is hard to find a place for a wooden Howe on a layout. My impression is that railroads mostly replaced these bridges with steel bridges/viaducts within a decade or two, not only because of rotting wood but also heavier trains. The Howes that survived the decades had been covered for protection from the elements. One idea is to add roof and sides and make it a covered bridge. If you also replaced the ties with a solid wood deck you could use it as a highway or bike/horse/foot-trail bridge, the most common use of covered bridges. It would be good to place the bridge so one can view the interior.
Thanks. The covered bridge is a interesting idea.
By the way, there is some comfort in knowing that I am not the first person to build a bridge that goes nowhere.
I'm just starting a Campbell Howe truss bridge right now. I stained all the wood with Minwax dark walnut. I'll probably weather it a bit with some lighter grey to make it not as dark. I'm using Elmer's carpenter's glue. It actually sets rather quickly and is very strong. Much better than CA and less messy. The big trick will be to make sure the music wire representing the iron rods end up straight and true. I plan to pre-drill the holes for the wire before I actually make the trusses. That way I can install the wires with everything framed up on the board prior to gluing and getting things lines up. It helps in addition to the T-pins to have some small weights to hold the stripwood flat to the building board (old trick from building stick and tissue airplanes)
-G-
I finally finished my Howe truss last week and fitted it to the layout (temporarily) I made a video of the first train going over:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQlwd6Ni554