Another great success!
Good job Mark. They look perfect!
@Mark Boyce posted:Here it is! May we have a drum roll please! First two runs over the lift up bridges. Yes I got the contacts in to power the bridges when down. There is still more to do, but...I had to post these tonight-check that, this morning.
One of three Premier H9 Consolidations that I have pulling a short coal train.
Great job, and what a milestone!
Watching the videos made me wonder how a real engineer felt when taking a train on the first trip over a new bridge, especially one of the old timber ones. He had a bit more skin in the game than we do.
Great stuff, Mark! Those bridges are awesome and I loved seeing that steamer climb the grade in the back.
What are the next projects on your list to tackle?
Thank you Bob, Jay, Palallin, Bill, Mallard, JD!!!
A couple of you asked what is the next project. First, I have to finish permanent wiring for the linear actuator. I have the limit switches and toggle switch mounted, but I thought I should first paint the wood support for the lower bridge that had to be put in place for the linear actuator to connect to. I bought a small can of black paint like Mike used on his, but thought it might stand out too much against the dark gray bridge. I have seem many modelers stain their benchwork and it always looks good. I have a number of cans of Minwood stain here, most were left behind from my father-in-law. I thought I would at least stain the support for that bridge first, then finish wiring to the limit switches.
I do have to find where the two TIU outputs of my TIU are connected. I am sure they weren't connected when I wired all the blocks. I also need to add the cross members to the middle of the top of the lower bridge that Palallin was kind enough to send me.
Those are two smaller projects to actually wrap up what I have done. I would like to start some scenery work, but I'm not sure where. I do need to complete the backdrops, so maybe that should be done before I proceed with scenery. I have spent so much time on the bridges, I haven't thought much beyond.
Mallard, you have a good point. I'm sure some trestles caused some trepidation for the engineers crossing for the first time.
JD, an exciting climb up the rear grade is what I have looked for. I hope it looks even better once scenery is completed.
Hey Mark,
I'm super late as it relates to Bentley. You got one beautiful dog matched up with some beautiful people...nothing beats it! Also congratulations on what looks to be a successful maiden voyage across them there bridges. Smooth running trains is where it's at. Pat yourself on the back for another great milestone.
Dave
Thank you Dave!! We are learning some of Bentley’s quirks built up from his sad history. He is learning our quirks too, like neither of us can walk as fast as he can when he is on his leash.
I’ll do a Pat on my shoulder do I don’t aggravate the bursitis! 😄
Mark, Great work, thanks for sharing the video. Enjoy that feeling of "accomplishment!".
Thank you Chris!!
Mark, outstanding work! Things really look great and like others have said smooth running trains. I am glad you got everything up and running! I knew you could do it and the best part is now you dont have to duck under! LOL Once again wonderful work!
Mike, as you know I have you to thank for the concept of how to put this together. I do recognize I had to adapt your concept to my track plan, existing benchwork, bridges, and materials. You are so correct, I no longer have to duck under. Even on the rolling seat, I had to duck my head a good ways to clear the temporary lift out and the lower bridge until I got this working. Thank you for the photographs and drawings, the encouragement, and the complement on the finished product!
Nothing like taking a victory lap! Great job!
Thank you, Bill! I needed the white flags flying!
Fun to watch! Great job! Also fun to see the variety of benchwork underneath before it gets all covered up! I’ve proudly continually included over the years in my layouts some big pieces of my brother’s 3/4” plywood layout board from our childhood. I enjoyed the trip around the layout - it really helps to ride the route. I liked the wye into the engine house - very prototypical. When Amtrak came across the Mississippi River from Quincy Illinois into West Quincy Missouri, the train turned around on the wye to head back to Chicago. There were servicing facilities in West Quincy also. It was a pretty rickety rocky ride over the Mississippi - yours is much smoother!
Good looking bridges. I really like your setup.
Wow! Just saw the bridge crossing videos! Very nicely done, Mark. There's a ton of progress there and those trains moved out smartly and ran smoothly. 
Well done!!!! 
George
Thank you Dan, NeophyteMRR, and George! It has been a challenge for me to get that part of the layout done.
Dan, I have one section of plywood I found when cleaning out my dad's shop in 2019 that was from my HO layout I built as a teenager. It still had the gray paint right on the plywood for a road and green and brown sawdust for ground cover. I did all that about 50 years ago. Thank you for the compliment on the wye. It was discussed here, but was not in the final plan. When I had the opportunity to buy the Carolina Craftsman Kits built up prototype of the Thomas West Virginia engine house, I decided to put it in that location, then I thought maybe I could fit in the wye. It just fit. That's saying a lot that my bridge ride is less rickety than the ride over the Mississippi.
Hi Mark:
Great layout !!! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Thank you & congratulations on your adoption of rescue Mr Bentley.
We have three rescue dachshunds.
We adopted piebald short haired Miss Lily when she was just 8 weeks old (she was born while her mother was in rescue) while our black & tan long haired Mr Pal was 13 years old. Lily was a handful. Although Pal loved her, he often would hide in his crate from her puppy energy.
When Lily was 18 months old, we adopted Miss Panda, a 7 month old short haired red dapple. While Lily & Panda would wrestle & play, Pal could come out of hiding to watch them.
Pal crossed over the rainbow bridge when he was 16.5 years old. It is so hard to lose a dog. However, Lily & Panda helped us recover.
A year later, our daughter talked us into adopting 4 year old rescue red chiweenie Miss Jingle, who she met at vet school during a rescue spay. Chiweenie is a dachshund & chiauau mix.
It's hard to say if we rescued the doxies or if they rescued us.
Dachshnds are fast, sleek, muscular, long, & low to the ground. They are the Streamliners of the canine world !!!
Great looking layout plan Mark! Those h9's from MTH are hulking little locos and they look good on the radius you have chosen.
I'll be looking forward to more pictures and video as you make progress.
Thank you, Bill and Rick,
Bill, so you are an old hat at rescue dogs. IT turns out Bentley is a Shih Tzu mix like Annie was. Annie was a rescue also, but not full grown when we got her. Bentley is 5 and evidently had a rougher start. The vet who rescued him did wonders. We are learning about Bentley's quirks, and he is learning ours. I did not know that Dachshunds were anything but low to the ground. Streamliners! 
Rik, The H9s are great. I have three, all used. One has some problems and is sitting on a shelf for now. I don't even remember what all is wrong, since I have been so busy with the bridges. They do look quite good on 054.
Mark:
As H. L. Menken stated,
"a dachshund is a half-a-dog high and a dog-&-a-half long".
Auf Deutsch, dachshund literally means "badger dog".
Bill,
Our younger daughter and her husband have a dachshund-rat terrier mix. That is one interesting little dog. Short legs and long body like a dachshund, but has long ears and is extremely hyper.
I finally finished wiring my limit switches for the bridges. I have to thank Mike again for sharing the ideas and helping me so much along the way. Also many thanks to Stan2004 for the wiring diagram. For some reason, I couldn't quite get the proper connections to the limit switches.
Here is a very messy terminal block for the connections to the two limit switches, the linear actuator and the DPDT toggle switch.
I decided to use the fixed 12 Volt DC terminals from this pawer pack I bought in the mid-1980s for HO and N scale layouts.
Here are the bridges from the aisle and the center of the layout
Here is a video of me testing the limit switches so the longer bridge doesn't hit the ceiling and stop as soon as the lower one hits the bottom stop. Please pardon the phone camera movement. There isn't room in this layout to set it up and video hands free.
Many, many thanks again to Mike for the initial design and helping me along the way though he is 2500 miles from me. Also, many thanks to Stan2004 for the wiring diagram he shared with Mike when he built his version.
Attachments
I just remembered, I wanted to mention I started the lift up bridge project on January 28th. So it took just over two months. Actually that isn't too bad considering the challenge at hand. Thank you everyone who has followed along.
That is really slick!
Mark, Great job! I knew you would get it all ironed out! Stan is a great guy and I knew someone would step up and help you out! Thanks for the video.
Thank you JD and Mike!!
Mike, My thinking was slightly off, and I needed Stan's schematic to get my brain out of the rut!! I'm sure glad I don't have to do electronics for a living any more! 
You know that linear actuator is really powerful. Yesterday when I had something crossed up, I ran the bridge into the bottom stop. The actuator kept on pushing and actually lifted the 2x2 section of Mianne benchwork that is bolted to the around the walls section that is bolted to the studs. Once I had the bridges back up again, I tried to lift the benchwork and it would not budge. The thing is stronger than I am for sure, and it really was rather inexpensive I thought.
Yes, I thought a video with me talking was in order now that it is working properly. I'm glad you liked seeing it.
Hey Mark, WOW!! That's just too cool. Really nice job. Nice job on the limits. On the layout my son & i will be constructing, we are planning on having a lift up bridge; but i never thought about motorizing it. I think when the time comes, i'll be hitting you up for some details / tech info. Like you said, the guys on this forum have so much talent. What a great group.
I like both those bridges. Who's are they. MTH?? Plastic? Metal?
Tom
Thank you, Tom! Both of the bridges are Atlas. They are both plastic, but the larger one has some metal in the frame. Initially I was not going to motorize mine either, but seeking Mike's I thought this would be good since there are two bridges to handle. I hope you and your son get started on the layout soon!!
Mark !!
Yeee! Fantastic automatic the bridge !!! Congratulations, you did working !
Mark, I knew they were powerful, mine says its rated for 250lbs! LOL
Looks great Mark. I think you missed you calling in life. Voice over or radio work would have been perfect!
Bob
Thank you Leandro, Mike, and Bob!!
Bob, it's funny you said that. Lee P51 said he liked hearing my voice over on "What did you do on your layout today" I have never liked the sound of my voice on a recording. To my ear it sounds a bit higher and a bit nasal compared to what I hear in my head when speaking. Maybe I could have been the next Wolfman Jack! LOL
... or at least a long distance dedication from Casey Kasem ...
Lookin' good, Mark.
Casey Kasem announcing The Locomation?
Thank you, Richie!
Mark,
Nice work on the bridges and lift mechanism! I have a similar situation, but only 1 bridge, albeit a big one (See Run 317!) . What are the specs on the linear actuator you purchased? I've made some measurements, run a calculation, and think I know what to buy. But I'd like to see if my theory and your reality agree!
Chris
@Mark Boyce posted:
... I decided to use the fixed 12 Volt DC terminals from this power pack I bought in the mid-1980s for HO and N scale layouts.
Seeing that made me smile. I still have mine from about 50 years ago, and it still works.
@lehighline posted:Mark,
Nice work on the bridges and lift mechanism! I have a similar situation, but only 1 bridge, albeit a big one (See Run 317!) . What are the specs on the linear actuator you purchased? I've made some measurements, run a calculation, and think I know what to buy. But I'd like to see if my theory and your reality agree!
Chris
Thank you, Chris. mike g. got me onto this linear actuator. I bought this item off Amazon 10'' Stroke Heavy Duty Linear Actuator 12V 225LB/900N
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
So that was you who spliced Menards truss bridges. You did a great job on it and wrote a great article. I was going to use on Menards single track truss bridge for bridging my gap. After babying it for a couple years in the corner, I moved it and dropped it on the concrete floor. If it hit the metal base, there wouldn't have been much damage. However, it hit my halogen shop light stand on the way down and did a flip. It became kindling wood. As you can imagine many of the glue joints came loose, which could have been fixed, but several of the main supports shattered. I have it sitting off to the side now for parts. 
@Mallard4468 posted:Seeing that made me smile. I still have mine from about 50 years ago, and it still works.
The Model Rectifying Corp has made lots of wonderful power pack models over the years. They are really made to last.
Mark,
Okay, we are on the same page. I've been talking with Mike as well. But you provided the numbers I'm looking for. I had actually spec'ed out one with a 6" stroke and 300# rating, which is massive overkill. But even your 225# rating is far more than is required, according to my calculation. At least we won't be putting anywhere near a max load on them! I'm going to mount mine a bit differently due to certain space constraints. But the end result should be the same.
Thanks for the comments on the bridge build. Bummer about yours. You are right: The superstructure looks strong, but is not. You can always save the pieces, buy another, a cobble everything together!
Chris
LVHR
Chris, I thought I had replied to your last reply. I'm sorry. Yes, I had to arrange mine a little different from Mike's as well. About the Menards bridge; I don't think I'll need another truss bridge, but I'm saving the parts for a project to be named later.
Last weekend and today, I started putting in the foam base for the scene for the Black Fork to run alongside the canyon grade. In this small space I can't even begin to do the prototype justice. If I have to rip it all out and start over, that's okay. I thought it would be easier to start with the scenery that will have no roads and buildings.
Bentley kept checking on me every time he heard the shop-vac running.
I also staged a meet of sorts.
