Black Bear Arch Bridge

[ocalicreek]

Galen,

That is a clever use of 2X4's i will ahve to keep that in mind if I ever loose my mind and decide to build a wooden bridge like yours.
Like most everything it is always the last place you look

Please post your updates soon!!!

Thanks, Greg. I think 'losing my mind' would be building the SS Ltd version...with over 800, yes, 800 nbw's. Okay...boys are down with the neighbor, so a little free time to work on the bridge.

Galen

[mountaingoatgreg]

Galen,

Speaking of the SS ltd Bridge...I was at the "factory" the other day and he was showing me one of the "kits"

box of lumber....bag of metal castings...and a very long set of instructions...and a crap ton of drawings...

Should only take 100 hours to build

[ocalicreek]

I'll have to dig out some pictures of the timber gantry sometime...and eventually finish that kit. I have it tenatively placed on the layout over in Watson, which is Phase III. That means 5 years down the road or so if I stick to the plan.

Cross-beam flooring is in on the bridge...pictures in a few minutes.

Galen

[ocalicreek]

[albumimg]3804[/albumimg]

This gritty pic shows the floor beams in place. If I had to do it over I'd group them in threes and space them as if there were washers between them (prototype practice), add nbw's in appropriate places, then mount them between the vertical posts and angle braces. However, this looks pretty neat too. Couldn't find any prototypes with this sort of floor, but that's okay with me.

Up next...cutting and installing the knee braces. Once again the paper 'chopper' template has marks for cutting the appropriate angles for top and bottom of the braces...the trick is determining the length. It's no trick, it's measuring and marking, but I think you know what I mean. Gotta be up early tomorrow so the next step will have to wait.

After the knee braces go in I'll add final nbw's, touch up the bare wood with more stain, then lay the stringers and cross ties. Finally I'll paint the nbw's, weather the bridge (probably an alcohol/IA wash) and lay rail. More pics each step of the way.

Galen

[tetters]

That looks really good Galen!

[ocalicreek]

Thanks, Tetters! I have since completed the installation of the knee braces, stringers, and have done stain touch-up work on the cut ends. Today I will install the remaining nbw's and color them, add ties, as well as perhaps add a black wash.

Tonight is my local clinic, and I'll bring the bridge to the 'bring n brag' table for viewing, along with the jig and cutting template.

I found one 'flaw' in the kit but it was easily remedied. Cutting the knee braces using the chopper template as provided results in a knee brace that, to my eye, was too steep. Using my square and the angle braces that come with the NWSL chopper (30 deg and 60 deg), I drew my own template. This produced a knee brace I was happy with. The other obscured the nbw detail and didn't seem to reach out far enough onto the bottom cross braces.

I'll post pictures later today.

Galen

[ocalicreek]

Okay...so you may have noticed I didn't post pics later that day, or all weekend, or in this post for that matter. This was a frightfully busy weekend. Synod Assembly on Friday, a wonderful wedding and dinner on Saturday, regular Sunday services this morning and a special preaching opportunity at Elbe this afternoon. Oh, and throw in what feels like strep throat starting sometime Friday night...ugh.

Even so, I had a nice time at the assembly, an even better time at the wedding (the groom fixed awesome ribs...pastoral perks abound!) and you may recognize the name Elbe as a boarding location for the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad. Yes, that Elbe. There's a little white church across the tracks, literally, from the station and they hold services once a month and invite local Lutheran pastors to preach. This was my second time and it was wonderful.

PLUS, MRSR had run a special excursion from Eatonville down the hill into Tacoma for the first TNW swap meet and train show. I was bummed because I heard about it Thursday night at the NMRA clinic and knew my weekend was going to be packed with no chance to railfan a rare steam move over local trackage!

Ah, but fortune shone on me today even though the sun did not. I'll document that story under a new thread in a different category...with pictures once I get them resized.

For now it's off to bed to get well. Pictures of the bridge whenever I get to them...hopefully tomorrow morning....


Galen

[ocalicreek]

I'm feeling a little better today, thank you, but only a little. Still need to get well. No fever so it's likely not strep, so it's just time to make the symptoms go away and forge ahead with work, life and the rest of it.

So here's the 'final' picture of the bridge prior to installation.

[albumimg]3927[/albumimg]

I spaced 8' ties with 6" gaps down the length of the stringers. The nbw's were touched with a tiny brush loaded with a dark graphite color, only slightly darker than the castings. The entire bridge got a heavy wash of dark burnt umber to kill the wood shine and unify the color a bit more. Then I ever so lightly dry brushed a sandstone color on the corners and edges to highlight some of the details. I probably wouldn't do that if it were in the close foreground but since it'll be up next to the backdrop I thought it could use a little kick to bring out the detail.

Here is a creek like the one this bridge will cross. This one is near Glen Alton in SW Virginia.

   


I am looking forward to getting the backdrop in place soon, along with the next section of benchwork to support this bridge.

Galen

[tetters]

Fantastic work on the bridge Galen. I really like the highlights, in fact they are one added detail that caught my attention. Here is hoping to see it installed on your layout real soon.

[mountaingoatgreg]

Galen,

Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.
My wife and boy have been sick so I have been fighting getting sick for a few days now...

The bridge is really coming together and I can't wait to see it with a train rolling over the top of it!!
Are you going to place rail on in on the workbench or handlay it in place on the pike?

[Steamtrains]

Fantastic job..!!

Wherever it is placed on your layout, it will be a great addition...!!

[ocalicreek]

Gus, Tetters, thank you!

Greg - Here's how it'll probably go...plans change, naturally, but this is what I'm thinking presently. The bridge is sited a few inches away from a joint between layout sections so there are a couple considerations. First, I have to make sure the roadbed and rail on either side of the bridge is secure. All joints between layout gaps, even if I don't plan to break them except when it's time to move (years from now) will be secured using brass screws beneath the rail on either side of the gap, to which the rail is soldered.

So once I establish the rail on either side, I'll measure and cut the rail for the bridge, mark where it will be located on the bridge, then glue & spike it down to the bridge. I won't spike the rail on the 'ground' on either side of the bridge until the abutments are in place. I have not decided yet whether to make my own or to buy chooch abutments. I like the look of the chooch castings and they'll save some time, but I may enjoy building my own from scratch. We'll see. If the LHS doesn't have them in stock then that may make the decision for me!

The guardrails will be code 70 rail so that I can weather it without the weathering coming off due to track cleaning. They will be layed in situ using glue and perhaps a couple spikes here and there.

Thanks again, everybody, for following along with the build. I highly recommend these kits and I'll most likely buy another jig when the time comes to make my pile trestle across the slough/creek on the lift-out section.

Galen

[nachoman]

Always nice to see someone complete a wood kit. Nice work

[ocalicreek]

Always nice to see someone complete a wood kit. Nice work

Thanks, Kevin. Your layout needs one of these...or something like it.

Galen