Free-moNebraska

[wcfn100]

The show still took place with the craziness going on?

It was 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Jason

[Cajonpassfan]

Very very nice. Dig those long, flowing curves. Taking good advantage of the Freemo format.
Otto K.

[Mark W]

Back when building the new curves, we saved some of the extra material for an ambitious project this summer.  The Plattsmouth Bridges crossing the Missouri River.

Two separate bridges, each nearly 1700 feet long, and each with a massive 400 foot through truss. 


https://bridgehunter.com/photos/34/02/340268-L.jpg

Each bridge it's its own unique wonder.  The CBQ bridge on the right (below), built in 1903, the BNSF bridge on the left, built 110 years later in 2013!


https://bridgehunter.com/photos/34/02/340270-L.jpg


https://bridgehunter.com/photos/34/02/340271-L.jpg


Here's the module plans for the 4 section set.  The 2 to 1 module on the right is already functional, the curve is built without track, and I just finished framework on the middle two. 


https://i.imgur.com/AL1foLF.jpg


So this week I decided to get a mock-up of the first bridge.  I roughed out the uprights and did a quick 3D print.  2 and a half feet long, this span is going to look awesome!


https://i.imgur.com/1aLPvrn.jpg


And that's less than 1/3rd th the whole bridge!  Add in 7 more spans and.... well...  here's a dog for scale!


https://i.imgur.com/2jdawUD.jpg

[Mark W]

More bridge building experiments.  I originally had 7 short spans plus the long 400' span in my plan.   After taking a trip to the bridges over the weekend and making a quick drone flyover, I counted 5 spans instead of 7.  Not sure how I came up with 7 before, but oh well.  In any case, the overall length remains the same, so 5 slightly longer spans it is. 

Here is the first functional(ish) mock-up.  Truss sides are 3D printed, with the main girder made of hardboard.


https://i.imgur.com/XtALlP9.jpg

I'm still debating if I like the hardboard or should do styrene there instead.  As I type that, I think styrene is going to be t he clear winner. 

I'm also still stuck on the lattice box beams.  I want those in the final bridge and the 400' span is absolutely getting them from the start.   However I might just print these other spans 'quick and dirty' as they are here in the mock-up, with an option of going back and replacing them with the proper box beams later.  There's one more experiment I have in mind though, which could help make that decision.

[Philip H]

Unless you intend to use really thick styrene, I'd think about laminating styrene to hardboard. That way you get rigidity over a longer span . . .

[Mark W]

I think strips of .08 or .10 styrene should be enough.  I don't know how well styrene would laminate with hardboard. 
By the time all the cross bracing and the rest of the bridge is built, it should be plenty sturdy. 

The one area I am concerned about is the module joint.  It's designed specifically so that joint lines up with a pillar.  The idea is each module will have half the pillar so the bridge comes together with a butt joint.
Alternatively, I could shift the bridge about an inch one way or another and have whichever span splits the gap be removable. 

[basementcalling]

Where do you store all these modules when not in use?

The bridge design looks awesome. I would go with all styrene so you don't have different expansion coefficients possibly impacting the materials in the inevitable temperature swings your modules no doubt experience in trailers, on the road, in Midwestern winter and summer conditions.

I'd think a pillar sticking up on a module end is just begging to be whacked during set up or tear down. But the trade off sounds like two alignment points on the drop in span versus just one.

[RBrodzinsky]

Mark, what about making the interior of the pillar be wood, which extends up from the end plate, to support the track, and create a removable casing that encloses both sides when assembled.  I would have each piece of the casing be an L, so there is no seam along the section line.

[Mark W]

Where do you store all these modules when not in use?

Garage, basement, living room, kitchen....


For the split pillar option, I was thinking I would bolt a strip of steel flush with the front of the end plate, and shape it to be the actual truss support itself.   That would be a solid anchor for the butt joint.

I like Rick's idea for concealing the seam on the concrete pillars and base.  I can further conceal them via distraction, by adding this mangled camper frame we spotted this weekend!  Must have been lost during the floods last year!


https://i.imgur.com/WHTd1vi.jpg

_{(No, I'm not planning to model the road bridge.  Though I am open to adding it down the, heh, road.)}

[milw156]

are you going to model that rather large cut on the Nebraska side? I used to curse the highway engineers for not following the tracks thru that cut every time I had to ride my bicycle up that hill that the Hwy took to get from Plattesmouth to Glenwood.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This is all so inspiring. I really wish we were doing something similar locally.

[John]

This is all so inspiring. I really wish we were doing something similar locally.

Ed -- Isn't there a Freemo group in the area?

[seusscaboose]

John,

negative... although Tim, Martin, Dave Betz and myself toyed around with updating the local Club OneTrak standard... nothing (that i m aware of) ever came of it.

I currently have 30 feet of straight as well as 180 of curve and 4 wyes ready for a MA & Pa project... but i seriously doubt at this point it will get done anytime soon.

EP

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ed -- Isn't there a Freemo group in the area?

John,

negative... although Tim, Martin, Dave Betz and myself toyed around with updating the local Club OneTrak standard... nothing (that i m aware of) ever came of it.

I currently have 30 feet of straight as well as 180 of curve and 4 wyes ready for a MA & Pa project... but i seriously doubt at this point it will get done anytime soon.

EP

There's a guy up in Delaware that I've talked to but that's it.

I think we just kinda need the "spark" at this point but I've got enough going on that I don't want to be the guy.

[Mark W]

There's a guy up in Delaware that I've talked to but that's it.

I think we just kinda need the "spark" at this point but I've got enough going on that I don't want to be the guy.

Lately I've been mindful of the quote from Lemony Snicket: "If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives."

I started off with one module set, Marsland, that I based on an HOn3 module by Wolfgang Dudler.  The idea was it could be a stand alone switching layout until more modules were built.  Of course, becoming instantly obsessed, it didn't take long before the rest came together!

But point is, you CAN start small in Free-moN!


Side note, we're hoping to setup a layout at the Springfield/Amherst show, probably in 2022.  So there's your deadline.