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Reply to "Continuing Saga …"

After a 2-week+ trip back East I finally have the opportunity to post the last work completed before the trip. I started the process to mount the curved deck plate bridge and ballasted the last remaining unballasted section. 

 

Since I decided to make the "city" at track level, the entire front left track area needed ballasting. Having ballasted several hundred feet of track already, this last section went quickly and without any hiccups. I had sprayed the rails brown the day before.

 Last Ballast

I next added some aluminum screen wire to the first ravine in preparation to receive the foam rocks, plaster and other landscaping material. I'm going to wait to permanently mount the bridges until after the scenery is almost completely in place, but I may temporarily hold the bridges in some way since I can't run trains with that gulch in the way.

  Ravine Landscape 01

Staples hold the screen in place. I also took some pictures when we were traveling on I-64 heading East to Washington of the various rock cuts through the Kentucky limestone and sandstone to give me more ideas about it's strata and coloration. I'll post more information about that as I get into it.

 

Next I started putting the deck plate bridge into place. I first removed the temporary bridge but left the track in place. Again, I didn't use too much Liquid Nails so I could easily remove the OSB and roadbed from under the track. I then screwed down a thin plywood plate to the two middle joists running across the ravine's bottom. I fastened the bridge to the track using cable ties and then fastened the tower to the bridge using the same thing. Since the track run is only 24", there is not much sag so the tower was almost in its final location hanging down in thin air.

  Deck Tower Placement 1Instead of measuring the gap for the base block, I just piled various thicknesses of wood until the tower was both sitting on something solid AND supporting the center of the bridge. To test if it sagged I rolled a railroad car over the bridge. It was solid.

 Deck Tower Placement 3

Three pieces did the trick. I then cut them to the size of the foundation, smeared them with Titebond and glued them together. With that step the work day was over. 

 

Deck Tower Placement 34jpg

Tomorrow, I'll spend a solid workday completing the base. I am planning on gluing the tower to this block, then building a styrene form around it with a debris deflector on one end. I will then pour Hydrostone into this mold up about a 1/2 inch onto the tower legs. After removing the mold, I should have an authentic looking cement foundation for the bridge tower. At least that's the plan. When I mount the tower, I will recheck the height and adjust with some shims under the foundation if need be.

 

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Images (6)
  • Deck Tower Placement 34jpg
  • Last Ballast
  • Ravine Landscape 01
  • Deck Tower Placement 3
  • Deck Tower Placement 1
  • Deck Tower Placement 2
Last edited by Trainman2001

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