One down , one to go. I installed the 75' bridge and abutments for the Lynn river scene.
In the end I used the Walthers abutment kit rather than cast my own, this time. A bit of shimming and height adjustment happened before the bridge ties were level with the approaches.
I used Kappler wood bridge ties instead of the plastic ones in the Walthers kit, then added guard timbers along each outside edge. Nut -bolt -washer castings finished off the tops to secure the guard timbers to the ties. I'll have to add some cuts, after all there aren't too many 75' long timbers around. The bridge was painted rust colour first, then I used the salt weathering method and applied Vallejo Anthracite Grey paint over top. Brushing off the salt gives the chipped effect.
Next it was time to lay the rail.
I applied Walthers Goo to the bottom of the rail across the bridge and a thin bead on the ties where the rails would rest. With gauges in place to hold the correct width, I final adjusted the bridge and then ran a hot soldering iron along the web of the rail. You can see the heat cure the rubber contact cement Goo as you go. Still to be added are the guard rails inside the running rails in code 55.
Next in line is the mill pond trestle. I looked at the picture with the car on it, (last post), counted the bents under the car and figured out the distance from the known length of the car. It worked out to about 9 ft and a bit. I went for caution and made mine 10 ft centres between the pairs.
I made up some styrene jigs. The pilings are craft sticks from the dollar store, about 12" diameter in HO. I angled the outside pilings about 10 degrees. The inner ones are straight.
The top timbers are 12"x12" and the diagonal boards are 2"X8" HO.
Two nights work on the bents, 7-1/2 pairs. Only 19-1/2 pairs to go. The top spline pieces above will be cut out when I'm ready to lift the pond and trestle in to place. On top of these bents will be longitudinal stringers, then cross ties and rail on top of that. Stay tuned.
Thanks Dave. First the bridge is undercoated rust colour. Next spray the bridge with water, shake coarse table salt over the parts you want to show chipped. The salt sticks to the water. Let it dry, then spray the outer colour over top. After the paint dries, brush away the salt crystals leaving the appearance of rust breaking through the paint.