Rainier Great Western Const Update

First two shots of the day, got one of the diagonal end braces in, then completed one entire side of the bridge.





Now for lunch and then side two. M

 

Well good question, not sure I want to know. Plates took about 2 hours. Cutting beams maybe 4. The diagonal end beams were the hardest, two very different angles to cut, then test fit and sand to best fit. Gluing, at least 2.

 

Latest shift in the books. In this session I cut all the cross members. I cut them long and then sand them to length. Plans call for final dimension of 2-1/4", so I cut them 2-5/16". Then I use the True Sander to even up one side.



After all 7 have one side smooth, I tape them together, reset the square and sand until all the pieces are the length I want.



Once that's done, it's test fit time.



Then using a 90° block, I glued all the pieces per the directions.



I'm going to let it sit for a bit, then sand the glue marks smooth. Now it's dinner time. Cya later. M

 

Final shot of the evening, lower level all glued together and clamped until morning.



Gn.

 

Hi,
nice looking bridge and great progress on your layout. All things coming together very nice.

Regards,Chris

 

Thanks Chris. Here's how it looks this morning.





The abutment areas need some work then it will fit right in. M

 

Thanks Ken, I think so too. The crew thought I was nuts to start this project. I'm glad I did it anyway.

 

After a 9 hour power outage due to severe winds, finally got back out to the train room about 10pm. Finished adding all the top cross members, end angle cross members and all the side, top and bottom rivet plates. That's it for the day. Here's how the bridge looks:



There's still much to be done, including the center i-beams that support the rail, cross bracing on top and bottom and the side braces at each end. Here's how it looks in place, keep in mind there are no abutments in place so it is riding pretty low.





Hope to get it complete to the pre-paint level tomorrow. Thanks for checking in. M

 

Pretty cool Michael!

 

Thanks Dale, I appreciate your support of the RGW. M

 

I'm kind of a bridge buff..... I built a single lane thru-truss bridge in HO once apon a time. I even won a contest with it. It disappeared when my old club was sold-off and disbanded. Sure wish I could find it. It was nice to see the progress on yours Michael.

 

Tom, I appreciate your kind words. The true sander is so simple, but it works wonders.

 

Dale, what color did you paint your bridge? I'm considering like an engine black and use the hairspray technique to bring out deep set rust. Your thoughts?

 

Mine was a single lane county road bridge with a wood floor. It was rust brown and weathered.

The type of bridge you are doing should be black with a small amount of rusting, I would think.

 

Last night's get together was earmarked by one significant event, that being Ed's completion of the switches in Renton. That area can now be included in any operating session with full control of the switches from the fascia board.



Meanwhile, Bob fabricated and painted some concrete footings for our pipe stanchions.



He also used a rather unconventional means to set aside the stanchions while they were drying after painting.



As for me, I spent the evening running for parts and tools, but did have time to start working on the dimensions of the abutments at the Cedar River crossing. My chicken scratch...



Last time I looked Rey was working on a new boxcar kit and Doug & Scott were busy planting trees. More pics to follow on that. Thanks again for your interest. M

 

Hey Michael,

How deep are you going to drive them piles under the abutments? That looks like a pretty heavy structure to me! I can't wait to see it all in place, it should look fantastic!

Great job RGW Crew!

 

Last time I asked the crew to commit to manual labor they scurried to the corners of the train room, so I am figuring the piles will be only marginally set.