Hey Joe, Hard work pays off, and a great job on your bridge! Also, many thanks to Eric for the tooling $'s. Next? How about that re-railing section we heard might be coming. I wouldn't waste too much on bridge weathering, since that's not a hard job for most. Hope you get a supplier for the rail you need. Thanks again! Uncle Guido:tb-biggrin:
Something I'd like to see is a curved feeder track. I don't know if MTL would consider making items with a short piece of plastic "track". Then you could make sections with bumper posts, service pits, etc.
Dear Joe, I think your bridge is "cute". Nice job on the tie spacing. The price certainly seems fair. Can't wait for you to surprise us with more. Go for it!!! Donna:tb-biggrin::tb-biggrin:
Great job with the bridge, cant wait to get mine. The track piece that i would love to see, is one that you can attach feeder wires to, that would not be visible. I solder feeder wires on the bottom, and I always warp a few ties. If you come up with pre wired or track piece, i am sure they would sell light hotcakes to.
Honestly, just having too much fun with this MTL bridge! Need to do more weathering on the deck but it's really been a fun project. Making abutment molds today and look to begin building a small scene featuring this bridge by Monday. John Ztrains: Z Scale (1:220) Model Railroading Information
Thanks Lajos, No guard rails on this one. Since I'm building this bridge scene for the Z Scale Basics series I really wanted to keep the scene completely stock and without any of the tools that new users may find a bit intimidating, like an air brush. That's why I went with straight Krylon spray paint for the silver color. I like the idea of showing this bridge stock, with a bit of color, then seeing what mods others do to their bridges! John Ztrains: Z Scale (1:220) Model Railroading Information
Hey Joe, you can still put a creek in easily enough. I do it all the time. Just pull out a section of track, cut through your board where you want the creek to go, hiding it behind some trees somewhere, then glue a piece of foam underneath, and carve to shape! This is the kind of project that is best done with a Woodland Scenic's River/Waterfall Learning Kit: I picked up one of these kits a couple years ago, and took it over to Jeff's, then carved up and made a convincing river on my end module with it. I paid $12.99 at my LHS, and the one kit has just enough stuff to do about 16-20" worth of river in it. I also added a few rock castings on the side of my creek, but I am happy I added a creek and bridge, and am sure you will have fun doing one too!
Wow John ! really creative use of simple materials. You're on the right track. So many are intimidated by everything from 'how to do it', where to get the 'one time' tools or materials or cost. Even the fear factor of messing up there already done layout that they wish they had this or that on but live with it as-is. When I started, I was really good at track but never made scenery since I was a teen ager. Rob Ray said just do this, do that. So I nerved up and I swear, 45 minutes later, I had 3 modules with basic scenery (ground cover of various colors, 'weeds' and shrubs). Now I teach it at the shows, when I can. .
Thanks Jeff, I really am a great believer in just jumping in and doing it, or trying it! This bridge project is such a good candidate for this kind of thing. It's a good bridge that is just begging to get beat up, weathered, aged, etc., etc. I'll be building a small scene for this bridge and abutments and I'm thinking of making the whole thing abandoned. This makes it easier to incorporate into a layout that doesn't really need a bridge and it gives a scene a sense of mystery and history. Just another layer of depth. John Ztrains: Z Scale (1:220) Model Railroading Information
Not all the bridges had guard rails...the proto we used had none. I also felt it best not to add them because they extended beyond the bridge. Maybe when I can do some track sections with the leaders I can go back an offer one with the rails too. We are working on some other bridges now and I am noodling around the idea of a short leader track or possibly doing the whole thing 220 mm with the bridge making up 110mm of the length. But, I know some folks will not want something that big...another decision to make on a monday morning and my head already hurts!!! ) Joe
Yes, it's correct, especially on shorter bridges. Also, newer track construction methods make the rails more "solid", so the installation of guard rails are not necessary.
Dear Joe, Guard rails are important, but correct me if I'm wrong; wouldn't they be more common on deck girders? Around here we don't often see them on your type of bridge. A deck bridge (110mm) would be great with a 220mm length of track. Just wishin & hopin...Donna
