Thank you Chris, moving on to the Plate Deck and wood section of the span next up the piers and abutments.
|
Thank you Chris, moving on to the Plate Deck and wood section of the span next up the piers and abutments.
Thanks for the exceptional photos.
Better, a post on the products used and the method and tools used to accomplish this wonderful modeling.
Erik C Lindgren posted:Thanks guys...
Johnson wants to hand lay with tie plates doing the trackwork. I agreed, I used Monster Model Works per Johnson's request. They had the tie plates that Johnson wants or meets his expectations to his custom made spikes.
I would also like to recommend Right of Way for track spikes and tie plates however Johnson could not find the square opening variety he was after at ROW. Jay Criswell at Right of Way will be supplying us with all the rest of the trackwork detailing. I will be generating a BOM for him this week.
These are the tie plates offered by Monster Model Works:
http://monstermodelworks.com/o...-138-148-8-hole.html
This is an opportunity for Johnson to bring his enthusiasm with P48 in on this project. When the exhibit is set up the viewer is close enough to the model inches at times that leaving off crucial trackwork detail such as tie plates is blasphemous, for a lack of a better word.
I hope this project will be pleasing to the viewers and history buffs.. oh and the toy train enthusiasts.
I will be back with more, the saga continues.
Products used seem to have been supplied. Any info on technique/tools used?
It's a beautiful thang, Erik.
Thank you Max!!
I don't stop in at OGR as often as I used too. Here is a little update on the bridge exhibit.
John hitting the text books with the standards manual.. again and again.
Scale lumber
before fitting the guard rails in the Open Plate Deck. Thanks to Right Of Way and Jay Crisswell for these little tidbits; couldn't have done it without you bud!
Some of the left over jewelry.. makes for great scenery additions.
Bridge feet brought to this project proudly by Scale City Designs! Marty we LOVE your stuff.
Coming up the wood section of the project.
I hope you have enjoyed riding along with this project as much as I have.
Fantastic detail, hard to tell from the real thing. Color is right on too.
Malcolm
Erik,
it looks like you constructed that better than the real thing. Great job to all who created it.
alan Graziano
Alan Graziano posted:Erik,
it looks like you constructed that better than the real thing. Great job to all who created it.
alan Graziano
Thank you Alan
Brother_Love posted:Fantastic detail, hard to tell from the real thing. Color is right on too.
Malcolm
Between Brother Love and Erik as well as others, tremendous.
Dick
CBQer posted:Between Brother Love and Erik as well as others, tremendous.
Dick
Dick, The C&S caboose is a Brother Love build!
Figures. I have one of his Milwaukee rib side cabeese.
Dick
Those photos right there are why this hobby is so darn cool! So many talented folks out there....what a treat.
WOW!!!!
just wow.....
Erik and John,
Great work, great photography, terrific project. I have been following this project from the beginning. John, I love those O scale dial calipers that appeared in one of the photos. Where can I purchase one ?
Thanks.
Ted Michaels
This work is done better each time I come to this thread; it's fantastic to follow!
true to life!
jpv in France
I almost bought one of these bridges at the March Meet after seeing this thread
teddymich posted:Erik and John,
Great work, great photography, terrific project. I have been following this project from the beginning. John, I love those O scale dial calipers that appeared in one of the photos. Where can I purchase one ?
Thanks.
Ted Michaels
I was wondering about that too...
Stunning. I really enjoy these posts. Thanks.
teddymich posted:Erik and John,
Great work, great photography, terrific project. I have been following this project from the beginning. John, I love those O scale dial calipers that appeared in one of the photos. Where can I purchase one ?
Thanks.
Ted Michaels
The 1/4" scale dial caliper was purchased many years ago at Caboose Hobbies in Denver CO. It was produced by GENERAL maker of measuring tools (scales, calipers, etc.). Sure makes measuring wood easy. Only calibrated down to 1/2", but that's plenty good for structure work.
john
John,
Thank you for your reply on the caliper
Ted Michaels
Pingman posted:Erik C Lindgren posted:Thanks guys...
Johnson wants to hand lay with tie plates doing the trackwork. I agreed, I used Monster Model Works per Johnson's request. They had the tie plates that Johnson wants or meets his expectations to his custom made spikes.
I would also like to recommend Right of Way for track spikes and tie plates however Johnson could not find the square opening variety he was after at ROW. Jay Criswell at Right of Way will be supplying us with all the rest of the trackwork detailing. I will be generating a BOM for him this week.
These are the tie plates offered by Monster Model Works:
http://monstermodelworks.com/o...-138-148-8-hole.html
This is an opportunity for Johnson to bring his enthusiasm with P48 in on this project. When the exhibit is set up the viewer is close enough to the model inches at times that leaving off crucial trackwork detail such as tie plates is blasphemous, for a lack of a better word.
I hope this project will be pleasing to the viewers and history buffs.. oh and the toy train enthusiasts.
I will be back with more, the saga continues.
Products used seem to have been supplied. Any info on technique/tools used?
Working on plate girder and trestle deck structure i came up with a trick to make laying rail easier. I glued the tieplates in place using a straight edge to align them. Just a little dab of glue to keep them from squirming around while spiking.
Spikes are cut from staples (Swingline SF-1 Sharp Point) using an old pair of 7" diagonal cutters. Grind down the closer face to adjust the spike head length. Hold a small group (6 or less) staples against the face and cut. They will be a little long for bridge work (see pictures posted elsewhere in this thread) but cutting them shorter is no issue and the cut will yield a cutting edge just like the big ones. Spiking pliers are a couple of homemade 4" long nose pliers modified with grooves in the jaws to help hold the spikes. Also use a pair of Micro Mark spiking pliers by Xuron. The grooves are about twice to large but it does seem to be a problem when using the longer spikes. The Xurons are great, now if i can just reduce the groove size a little!
I use Rust Olem Red Oxide primer for the rails. After laying rail, Joe's Model Trains Custom Flat Acrylic for rusty rails for painting tieplates, spikes and general touch up.
Spiking is done by anchoring ends, then middle, then splitting sections until all ties done. This helps avoid misalignments as the driving of spikes can move rail sideways.
Hope these tips help. The hardest part of handlaying is getting started. I speend as much time screwing around with flex track trying to get it to look and run right as i do handlaying. And that includes turnouts!
john
THANK YOU, John for the description--PRICELESS!!!
Photos are priceless....... One question How did he do the rail joiners?
Rail joiners are available from Jay Criswell at Right O Way: http://right-o-way.us/
suzukovich posted:Photos are priceless....... One question How did he do the rail joiners?
Thank you Doug!
It looks like this project has moved along very nicely. Top shelf as usual. Thanks for taking the time to post it here for us.
Thank you guys! It's a pleasure to share with you all.
All this work deserves a round of applause and a bottle of Champagne (or two! )
Great! really!
jpv in France
Thanks JPV
Erik, simply amazing. A 'real' model!
Dan Weinhold
Incredible.
Dick
That actually does look incredible.
Incredible shot of an awesome engine!
I searched for in the history of french steam locomotive but not found a cab forward; according to what I have read, it avoided the engeener not to be troubled by the smoke in the tunnels, is that right?
It's funny, this engine looks like riding always backwards!
jpv in France
Matt Makens posted:That actually does look incredible.
Thank you Matt, sincerely appreciate the kind words.
CBQer posted:Incredible.
Dick
Thanks Dick
sleepmac posted:Erik, simply amazing. A 'real' model!
Dan Weinhold
Thanks Dan!
Update.
John Johnson took some photos of the progress.
A HUGE thank you to Scale City Designs on all of this! We are getting really close!!’
Nice work John!
Can I move in with you just to gain 1% of your knowledge?
Dick
You have a huge success with this project Erik. Really, really nice.
BH
A great deal of talent in the building of !these bridges! it's fantastic! gold fingers, certainly!
jpv in France
It’s official we’re rolling the span and the entire section!
John could hardly wait to share the news. He snapped these with his smart phone last night
John is nearly ready to deliver the bridge ready for scenery! It’s been a long process and worth every effort. John and I have obsessed over every minute detail found in the prototype and the results are astonishing. A true museum exhibit quality section for the LT&N.
John’s wife snapped these images last night in his shop as both he and I are very excited for the first Trains to pass over the span!
Don’t forget to check out the Scale City Designs feet on the open girder!
It's wonderful, astounding!
jpv in France
Maybe it's redundant for me to keep pressing the like button? Incase I miss one let me say that I love your work and pictures and equipment and.....
Ooops! Did I say that out loud? Too Much?
So there's more like you? some kind of Mensa club thing? I give up!
I am looking forward to how you guys do the water. A few explanatory sentences would be appreciated!
Thank you Joe!
John wrote this earlier today:
NOTICE!
This display is a project in progress. Please limit remarks to acclamation or suggestions for scenic details.
Details of bridges and supporting structures are well researched and documented. Scene is designed to depict a river crossing by a Front Range short line that replaced a trestle used by the preceding narrow gauge railroad. The east end was washed out by a flood during WWII and wartime restrictions dictated use of available materials rather than new construction. The plate girder bridge was used to span the new channel formed by the flood. It was salvaged from a class 1 road and the trestle approach repaired. A pile pier was used on the east end for speed and economy.
Bridge deck structures and trestle follow D&RGW standards. Guard rails are fully spiked as per D&RGW standards.
The cut on the west end is narrow by Standard gauge standards, but it was excavated by a narrow gauge railroad and with no demand for oversize clearances, it was never widened. Short lines are notable for their economics.
The display breaks down into two five foot modules after the through truss is removed. The modules and legs weight appox 50#.
The structure will support a 200# load without damage.
Project progress photos can be viewed on the Colorado o Scale Modelers web site: www.coloradooscale.org
Under construction are new end curve modules of 76” radius to allow smoother operation of larger equipment. The original curves are appox. 54” radius with easements. These were an experiment to test the lightweight (less than 20# per module) construction. After 10 years and over thirty public displays the design has proven itself.
John Sethian posted:I am looking forward to how you guys do the water. A few explanatory sentences would be appreciated!
John, if I had the spare time I would be far more elaborate in my posts as I was in the past. I now have 2 little ones and they command most of my time and I spend my free time producing work rather than writing about it of late. I will in time produce articles maybe a series for a magazine as I’ve been asked in the last 3 months however in the meantime I will share what I can on here and keep it brief, sadly. I do however love your devotion John to the material you produce on OGR they should honestly pay you. Tonight I’m producing the power lines for the river crossing so I am making this as stated above, brief but not without thanking all of you guys for the appreciation and kind support. I think that’s why I participate here. It sure isn’t for the pay grade.
Awesome! Will this module be in the COSM layout at the Denver National Narrow Gauge Convention coming up?
Bill,
Our initial plan was to operate the section in the layout at the NNGC37 however we ran behind schedule a little and we are only going to display the section alongside the LT&N. We plan to debut the section in operation on the LT&N at the December Boulder Train Expo. I will have been able to finish up scenery and the river bed.
Look at all those cast details from Scale City Designs!!
Erik. Glad the module will be on display. An excellent example of what can be done in O scale for persons of all scales (all good). Ditto for your COSM modular layout and trains.
Erik C Lindgren posted:Bill,
Our initial plan was to operate the section in the layout at the NNGC37 however we ran behind schedule a little and we are only going to display the section alongside the LT&N. We plan to debut the section in operation on the LT&N at the December Boulder Train Expo. I will have been able to finish up scenery and the river bed.
Propah Modelin'
Nice looking utility poles.
Dick
Thank you Max, Dick and Bill!
Review of conceptual illustrations
Details of bridges and supporting structures are well researched and documented. Scene is designed to depict a river crossing by a Front Range short line that replaced a trestle used by the preceding narrow gauge railroad. The east end was washed out by a flood during WWII and wartime restrictions dictated use of available materials rather than new construction. The plate girder bridge was used to span the new channel formed by the flood. It was salvaged from a class 1 road and the trestle approach repaired. A pile pier was used on the east end for speed and economy.
Bridge deck structures and trestle follow D&RGW standards. Guard rails are fully spiked as per D&RGW standards.
The cut on the west end is narrow by Standard gauge standards, but it was excavated by a narrow gauge railroad and with no demand for oversize clearances, it was never widened. Short lines are notable for their economics.
The display breaks down into two five foot modules after the through truss is removed. The modules and legs weight appox 50#.
The structure will support a 200# load without damage.
Thanks for the compliments and interest in our little project. Progress has been slow because of lack of work space and trying to make the removable bridge over a module joint simple and foolproof. Took over the garage for several weeks and finally got the basics built, at lease enough so Eric can start working his magic. Ours is a near perfect partnership, I make a mess and he makes it look FANTASTIC!!
We have discussed doing some articles or a column, nothing firm yet. Meantime follow our progress here on our website: www.Coloradooscale.org
Please do an article. You work is great.
Dick
Have been using crates to transport modules but standing on edge was rough on scenery. Cart roll off trailer and to display area without much effort. Getting too old to work all that hard. Wheels are Rubbermaid cart replacement casters, 5" wheels roll easily on carpet, rated at 500#.
Bridge a big hit at 37th NNGC, it was fun but many hours.
“Many hours” is an understatement.. management put at least 5 world class layouts in a “public” space open 24 hours with one gaurd. After show closed the general public including Denver’s finest to have free roam.. and within 10’ of these layouts are doors to parking lot. Real cute, removed all valuables every night and couldn’t leave layouts unattended for 4 straight looong days. 7am - 10pm. Not happy at all however the show was excellent otherwise
The Bridge section was incredibly popular. It was nice visiting with folks like Tony Koester, David Stewart, Merlyn Lauber, and Jimmy Booth about the project. Several times we were asked to enter it in the contest. Maybe the next Convention when I’m finished with the scenery detail
The Longmont Terminal & Northern exhibited very well at this venue despite the poor security conditions. We had a nice time at the 37th Annual National Narrow Gauge Convention
Myron Cunningham was an excellent crew chief
Old friends like Fred Douge and Merlyn Lauber from Cedar Falls, Iowa
The fine gentleman on the left is a profound modeler and what a great privilege to be able to gain from his experience and knowledge.
Mr Booth of Glacier park Models
Greg Posta and Bob Meyer
Thanks Bob for helping out this week!
Crowds all week
You know, I've got to get up to one of your shows.
Ron H
Hey we even let the kids play with the 2 Rail!
Ron we will be running this fall and over the Holidays.
Hey, you can't do that!
No fun in 2 rail I was told.
Rivet counting is allowed though.
Wow, that rural farm scene is quite beautiful--well done!!
Engineer-Joe posted:Hey, you can't do that!
No fun in 2 rail I was told.
Rivet counting is allowed though.
We don't encourage counting, but checking size, shape and spacing is ok. It's a hobby everyone can enjoy!
Tuscan Jim posted:Wow, that rural farm scene is quite beautiful--well done!!
Thank you Jim
It's a shame that I'm so far to admire this wonderful bridge!
jpv in France
John p. Johnson posted:Engineer-Joe posted:Hey, you can't do that!
No fun in 2 rail I was told.
Rivet counting is allowed though.
We don't encourage counting, but checking size, shape and spacing is ok. It's a hobby everyone can enjoy!
John, I even caught a 3 trailer (railer) *iphone spellcheck.. among the Narrow minded! John Gardberg runs our local TCA venue and he is also a fan of quality modeling.
Progress report on bridge modules: Wiring and trackwork is done, bridge lifts off for transport without any plugs or rail joint fuss. Test run performed flawlessly on first try. Will deliver to Erik this week for the scenery treatment. Still shooting for Dec. BMRC train show for the big introduction. All i have to do now is built the 10' of balancing modules and carts. Are we having fun yet?
Erik C Lindgren posted:Tuscan Jim posted:Wow, that rural farm scene is quite beautiful--well done!!
Thank you Jim
Erik,
I consider Merlyn and Carole friends and been in the store several times.
Dick
I’m doing it! Started today on scenery. Johnson delivered the bridge to my workshop this morning.
John is a machine! He did it all; no corners were cut anywhere.
Heat and Cinder shields per Rio Grande standards simulated fastening in place
J hook bolts hold the deck down per prototype standards
All correctly placed and sized NBW and bolts washers and fasteners per Rio Grande Standard
Resin cast piers are exactly what I wanted them to turn out like. Hey look are those Scale City Designs feet? Why yes they are!!
Just right just like the prototype we are going for. That ever so slight wriggle in the track. John this is incredible; museum exhibit quality for certain.
Small correction: pier and abutment were cut from MDF (old treadmill base), not resin castings. Very stable material. Used table saw on slight angle to mill sides (use EXREME caution when doing this kind of stunt). Painted an off white color, applied light wash of acrylic paint to get reddish hue then used India ink/alcohol mixture for rust streaks. Found most of the color in concrete is the sand as the cement flakes away over time, thus the reddish hue (it is Colorado!). Erik has already ballasted the track and started ground textures. I just dropped the modules off at his place YESTERDAY!
The bridge is removable for transport. Installed wipers on the top of the pier/abutment and contacts on the bottom of bridge. Worked perfectly on first try. Bridge literally drops in place with no plugs or joiners to mess with. Takes longer to get it out of the box!
Next project: 10' of modules to balance bridge. Think Gramps refinery!
Sorry about that John
I had a good day of progress; it’s all timing for the adhesives to set so I’m glad I was able to get some basic ground treatments in before I begin the static grasses and dimensional work in place.
Martin, I made many attempts today over on O S T with no luck uploading. My screen goes all blank and keeps telling me to wait for 1 minute to help you avoid spam.
Far out man!
I really enjoy the progress on this diorama! great modelling for sure!
jpv in France
Looking good Erik, sorry if you already answered this somewhere else, but what did you use to weather the rail? Have a entire 9 track yard to weather in my near future at the youngstown model railroad club. Unless you just want to make a weekend trip and show us how you did it, haha.. they are only about 30ft long each...
Eric,
Just gorgeous !
Ron H
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership