Bridge at 69th Street

[ocalicreek]

Galen, the shoes will definitely be installed. The CV kit has them, but they are like 3 times taller than what is on the proto-type bridge. I am planning to cut the CV shoes down and use them. In the next few photos, you can see where I set the supports just a little bit lower than the bottom of the girders, to allow for the shoes when the time comes. The supports aren't glued in place, I just stuck some modeling clay in the holes and pushed the supports down to see how things are fitting together.

So here are some progress photos. Along with the supports, also got the abutments installed. This is shaping up well. Still need to add the I-beams under the concrete sections. QUESTION: on this type of bridge, are the supports still called "bents" or is that just for timber type bridges?

Gary - thanks for allowing room for the bridge supports/feet/shoes. If I had to guess, that's why more folks probably leave them off than ignorance - they simply forget to allow room and build the abutments or piers (that's what you can call them even though they're not in a river) first without planning ahead. Then they think, "Ah, nobody'll notice except the rivet counters and why should I care about them". These same modelers will count rivets on other models but skip out on basic right-of-way engineering rather than make an adjustment or rebuild an abutment. Go figure.

You are to be commended for your dogged devotion to fidelity and accuracy, sir. I know some people couldn't care less and I guess that's okay too. But to me they are an element that contributes to the 'rightness' of things, like the aforementioned ditches and culverts. Drainage is so important to the real railroads...why shouldn't we include it on ours?

Galen