First off, let me state that this reply is IN NO WAY bashing Bob @ Traincat's kit. I've got several of the Traincat UP cantilever signal bridge kits that I've used for Nate Goodman's ( Nato ) layout, and am planning on using on my Ogden to Wahsatch modular layout (with some modifications), and will use more of them if they become available, and if Bob will sell them to me. However, if Bob doesn't start up again within about four months, I am developing an etched kit for my own use, since I will eventually be needing several dozen of these U.P. specific cantilever bridges as I get closer to signaling this ABS portion of the real Union Pacific Railroad in 1951.
There were basically (with some exceptions) three different sizes of U.P. cantilever signal bridges. Two sizes were identical except for the length of the cantilever, and the third was a much larger, more massive bridge with a really long cantilever. I have all the dimensions for the first two, and I am collecting photos for the third, larger bridge (at least one of which still exists locally in Layton, UT). Unfortunately, the existing big bridge is on fenced-off U.P. property, so I won't be taking measurements with my measuring tape this time.
I scratch built a couple of N-scale bridges from measurements taken off of real bridges in Weber and Echo Canyons 20 or so years ago, and from an article in an old "Streamliner" quarterly (U.P. Historical Society) which featured prototype drawings. But, scratch building them takes me much too long, buth they're really not that difficult to make if you know how to cut .003" brass and how to solder. They have a lot of simple parts, and can be assembled basically just like the real bridge, except instead of rivets, use solder.
Also, I will state emphatically that for making a model like this either from scratch or from a kit, a resistance soldering station with "tweezers" will make the job exponentially easier. But, it can be done with a less-expensive standard soldering station, or even with just simple 35W or 40W iron, but you MUST know how to solder, because you don't want to use this as your first soldering project.
Although at a glance (a long, hard glance) the Traincat kit looks good, truth is, it is off in several measurements as well as how it's assembled vs how the real one goes together. I'm going to guess that the artwork for the etching was done by "eyeball" rather than from actual drawings or measurements taken from a prototype bridge. The rivet pattern is also not correct, and I'm not talking about "counting rivets" but rather where the rivet lines are, there being two horizontal rivet lines on the kit that aren't there on the real deal. Also, the rivet sizes on the kit are too small, both in diameter and height so when they're painted, the model's rivets virtually disappear rather than remain prototypically prominent. I had questions about the rivet sizes when I first started drawing up my plans way back when, so I went out to the U.P. mainline with my trusty measuring tape and camera to get the "right" measurements. Of course, I'm lucky to live so close to my chosen prototype railroad, and I am sure Bob at Traincat didn't have that opportunity when his drawings were created. Also luckily, in .003" brass sheet, a NWSL "Riveter" tool's smallest rivet embosser produces an embossed rivet that is exactly the correct size.
The Traincat kit comes with an expanded metal platform up on top, but depending on the era when these bridges were first introduced and even into the '80's, many of them retained their wooden platforms, so if you want these for a transition era railroad, wooden top platforms are the ticket.
The instructions for the kit are for the HO version, even though it says it's for both HO and N, and evidently, in the HO version there is a long piece of brass "Z" angle "bar", which gets cut into smaller sections in order to mount the expanded (or wooden) top platform to. This material is totally missing in the N-scale kit, but these individual "Z" angle sections can be fashioned from .003" brass sheet if you have a bending tool. The top hand rail vertical stanchions attach to the ends of these pieces also, so their omission on a very visible portion of the model is a rather big deal. Luckily, they're pretty easily scratch built and the instructions tell you how to attach them and where they're located. Their length as quoted in the instructions are for the HO model.
Down on the base of the model, the kit also does not include the mounting bolt hardware, which was used to mount these bridges to their concrete bases. These parts can also be fabricated out of .003" brass, and their addition to the base of the model greatly enhances its prototypical appearance.
Most of the smaller bridges had cylindrical tubing handrails up on top, and later, some had square tubing handrails. The kit supplies etched handrails, which effectively represent the square tubing handrails, but cylindrical tubing handrails can be easily made from brass or bronze wire, which is what I've done.
The kit ladder is a typical N-scale ladder etching all in one piece and looks okay if you don't know that the actual ladders had cylindrical rungs centered between vertical sides. If this doesn't bother you, then use it. The kit ladder also has over-simplified mounting hardware integral with the etched part, all of which I cut off and build better, separate mounting brackets. The pieces needed to do this are simple sharp-cornered "U" shapes that are easily bent up out of .003" brass, the bottom of the "U" being soldered to the bridge tower sides with the ladder soldered between the two "ears" of each "U".
As for the supplied D-type signal heads in the kit, I didn't use them at all, as their measurements aren't correct. I scratch built my own from prototype photos and actual plans. This was by far the hardest part of making either the kits or the scratch-built ones. I'm developing an etched kit for these which will be as scale-sized as I possibly can make them and have them be lit, because I'm going to need a lot of 'em.
I suppose if I can get enough interest, this will spur me to get busier and finish the art for the two small bridges, which will be more correct than the Traincat kit, and a bit more complex, but not any more difficult to build.
Here are a couple of photos of my scratch built models, with the extra-short cantilever up top.
Photo (1) - Short Cantilever U.P. signal bridge at the west end of Echo Yard on the West-bound mainline. Totally scratch built from .003" brass sheet, prototypically correct ladder, in 1940's and 1950's black paint:
Photo (2) - Short Cantilever U.P. signal bridge w/scratchbuilt D-type signal head w/ Darth Vader snow shield and .006" dia. rivets embossed w/NWSL "riveter":
Photo (3) - Short Cantilever U.P. signal bridge at 1000 Mile Tree Monument in Wilhemina Pass in post-1950's silver/aluminum:
Photo (4) - Traincat Etched Kit-Modified, at Riverside on Nate Goodman's (Nato) layout with scratch-built D-Type signal heads, in post-50's silver/aluminum, wood platform, "steam pipe" railings, custom ladder mounts, bolt attachment parts at base:
Photo (5) - Traincat Etched Kit, View two with trains:
The "Darth Vader" snow shields on the D-Type signal heads were applied sometime between 1951 and 1953, with the signal heads replacing lower-quadrant semaphores. The signal heads were painted silver/aluminim, and the towers were painted black until sometime in the late '50's or early '60's when they were repainted silver/aluminum.
Most of my reference photos are of cantilever signal bridges between 1946 and 1954 and in some you can see the small, early lens shades on the D-Type signal heads, or the later "Darth Vader" snow shields depending on the date of the photos.
Photo (6) - Large Cantilever Signal Bridge - Ogden, app 1946. Note small, early lens shades on the D-Type signal head:
Photo (7) - Small Cantilever Signal Bridge - Peterson Siding in Weber Canyon, app 1947:
Photo (8 ) - Small Cantilever Signal Bridge - Morgan in Weber Canyon 1953, clearly showing the silver/aluminum relay case & signal head and the black tower structure:
In Weber & Echo Canyons between Ogden and Wahsatch Utah, the shorter cantilever small bridge is the one most commonly in use. The older style relay cabinets seen in the photos are available as highly detailed metal castings from
Showcase Miniatures here:
https://www.showcaseminiatures.net/n_scale/n_scale_century_foundry_accessories/ For later rectangular relay cabinets I prefer BLMA's etched kit, but I don't know if it's still available. My utility poles are all scratch built from swab sticks that I get at my local pharmacy.
That's probably enough for a single post...got any questions?
Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore
