John- Thanks! You are too kind!!! I’ll be sure to give you a tally of the final cost of material.
Fr. Fred- Forgive me, for I have sinned… No bridge ties or guard rails (yet). At the moment I’m using stock sectional track (Aristo and AML) on my layout. I’m not sure if it’s possible to add guard rails to sectional track? Maybe someday I’ll try hand laying some track with correct guard rails. 'Til then, I’ll have to stick with what is on hand. Thanks for the tip, though.
-Kevin.
Doug - the guardrails between the running rails were usually made of lighter rail, probably discarded because too light for the railroad’s traffic anymore… Usually spiked upright, but I’ve seen guardrails lying down on their sides as well, with a timber under the railhead to keep the guardrail level and the flange adjacent to the running rails, all spiked or bolted in place that way. Why they were done this way, I have no clue… If your line is really far backwoodsey, say a logging line, they may well have made guardrails out of timbers. Or maybe had no guardrails at all. There’s bound to be a prototype somewhere for a guardrail-less bridge, Fred’s fixation notwithstanding. (Oh, brother, Oh Father, I’m gonna’ get mail now…!)
Now, if you’re talking about handrails along the walkway, for personnel walking across a wooden trestle or hanging out around the waterbarrel, where your beercan is going to be, then in the 19th c. those guardrails were usually made of wood. I bet there were exceptions, but I’ve never seen any. Metal (pipe) guardrails came into use in the 20th, and that’s what I’d expect to see on non-wood - on steel or concrete bridges.
Looks good Kevin…
Thanks, Nick!!!
-Kevin.
Another step (or two) closer to completion…
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/dieseldude/_forumfiles/IMG_3348.JPG)
It’s kinda starting to look like a bridge. -Kevin.
I really like the milk crate for details…
Thanks, Bob.
Got some paint on the bridge. I used the Henry Ford theory- I can have any color I want… as long as it’s black. Kinda “ties” everything together…
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/dieseldude/_forumfiles/IMG_3352.JPG)
-Kevin.
Looks awesome!
Great looking bridge Kevin. How much does it weigh and what are the dimensions? I want to make sure I send you a large enough box and enough money to cover the cost of shipping to Idaho.
:lol: Chuck
Outstanding!
Thanks, Guys!!!
Chuck- send a large box… oh, and lots of packing peanuts!!! LOL!!!
-Kevin.
Had a little time this weekend to make some walkways and railings. If you look real close, you can see me standing on the bridge in the lower right hand corner…
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/dieseldude/_forumfiles/IMG_3388.JPG)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/dieseldude/_forumfiles/IMG_3393.JPG)
-Kevin.
Oh, thats nice. What’d you use for the walkway?
Thanks, Bob. I used some plastic canvas for the walkway grating. I found it at a local Hobby Lobby craft store. It came in wide or narrow spaced grids. The narrow spaced stuff looks more in scale. It’s usually used for some kind of needle point or something (I’m not very craft savvy!). I spray painted it grey, but it kinda looks a bit white in the picture. I glued the canvas to a narrow strip of black plexi glass. The railings are made of wide spaced hardware cloth. I drilled some holes through the grating and the plexi, then poked it in.
-Kevin.
Amazing, imaginative use of materials throughout this project! Thanks for the thread, Kevin!
John Le Forestier said:Yes, I'll say that too!
Amazing, imaginative use of materials throughout this project! Thanks for the thread, Kevin!
I hadn’t even noticed the black plexi under the cloth until you said something! Great project, I’ve enjoyed your thread, thanks for sharing.
That bridge is a great example of creative use of materials.
And you are right about the walkway material. It is plastic canvas.
Did you have a nice view from the bridge?
Great looking results from an unusual choice of materials. Great thread.
