A free-moN version of the WBTR

[Philip H]

Wyatt,
Looks really good.  That cork is way too straight . . . . but looks nice.  What glue did you use?

[soo]

Phillip,

     I used Elmer's wood glue,,, because,,, well,,, that is what I had on hand.

Straight lines are a huge thing with me,, so are 90 degree angles. I guess I get that from being a welder and carpenter for living ( well not right now,, but you get the point)

     Thanks for looking!!!

See ya,
Y-it

[milw12]

Looking good, almost too perfect! As a tradesman too I know what you mean about things being straight and square 

And sorry to hear about your job. I found out the hard way that being laid off comes with the trades unfortunately.  Been there, done that, and it'll happen again, but still wouldn't swap my job for anything. Hope you get back on your feet soon, I don't know about Texas but we're getting real busy for summer up here.

All the best,
Lucas

[Missaberoad]

Know the feeling Wyatt, ive been on call back for Canadian Pacific for months now. Hope things turn around quick for ya.

Roadbed is looking good can't wait to see some Red and White on there!

[jpwisc]

Great looking progress!

Here's a winter shot I got in 2013 of the yard. CP leaves shoving platforms there all the time for switching out the local industries and for use as a yard office.


CN dropping cars in thr MNNR New Brighton yard.


Tracks in the yard at Cardigan Jct.


Some fun local power at the Jct.

[Pesto]

Nice looking plan and progress so far!  I am following this thread with interest as your prototype is a few blocks from my house 

[soo]

Pesto,

I could always use a on the scene reporter.lol

I will say..all of the people saying they are following this...I hope I do not let them down. I can build the heck out of stuff...but being artistic ( scenery ) is my mental block.

We will see, what we will see.

Laters,
Y-it

[soo]

Well it has been a awhile since I posted anything,, just been messing around with some projects.

1. Seeing that I am trying to be prototypical in this layout,, I contacted the Soo Line Historical and Technical Society to see if that had any drawings that might be of any use to me,, low and behold,, they did. So I had them send me the prints for the Cardigan Jct and New Brighton Jct depots. Cardigan prints has the elevations,, yay,, New Brighton does not..boo. But no worries I can always look at pics.

Here you can see it gives the distance from the tracks, which well be great in placing the depot in just the right spot.


Here is the Cardigan Jct print, I scaled it out to get the dimensions that would make it easier to construct. As you can see from the elevations,, it was originally built with 10" board and batten siding,, but in my era it was replaced by clapboard.



2. After getting the cork put down,,waiting a couple of days for the adhesive to fully cure,, next came the American Tie and Timber gapmasters. I used a Dedeco .009 Cut Off disk to cut for the section joint.





3. I did not want to use the large,, I mean huge caboose industries ground throws,, so reading other forums and other posters ideas, I decided to use slide switches. After reading M.C. Fujiwara's Alameda belt in box,, he tried the sparkfun 9609 and the adafruit 805. I had ordered some of both types. The sparkfuns are tiny!!!, so I decided to use the adafruits.

But first I had to make something to hold the switch to the layout surface. I just some pieces of .040 styrene and took some measurements for the area of the slide switch.


Here is the finished concept


The idea is that I going to be able to adjust the height of the switch to be inline with the throw bar on the turnout.





4. You can see from the pics with the turnout,, they have been worked on just a wee little bit. Seeing what other modelers have done with improving the atlas track,,I said I can do that,, with my hands tied behind my back,, because I am handy like that. Two fold here,, to improve the looks and operation. By using the pc tie,, that eliminates the use for jumpers to the point rails. And by using the solid rail for the points that will improve tracking.

Here you can see the point rails with the throw bar installed yet.


In the past I was using larger width throw bars,, but with the slide switch throw I am going to use brass wire to attach to the throw bar. So smaller throw bar it is!!



More to follow.

See ya,
Y-it

[soo]

Part two.

1A. The bridge at Cardigan Jct. When Karl drew the plan he mentioned that the bridge crossing over I-35 coiuld be a great scenic element,, I agree.


So,, off to google earth,, Just how long is this bridge????. Oh about 346',,wow that's long... hmm. So I came up with a plan to use 4 sections of the Micro Engineering 80' bridge girder section. 4 x 80' = 320' ,,,ehhh close enough. Now mind you I really never kit bashed or scratchbuilt anything in a scale model. In real life 1:1,, yup,, been then there and have the tool belt, spud wrenches, bolt bags to prove it.

So after looking at the bridge in google earth I came up with this for one girder section.


I used my dupli-cutter as a jig to make sure my gussets were flush with the end of the bridge beam,, flushness is next to godliness.


I used .040 styrene for the gussets. Since I did not have any 5/16" ,, I had to make some,, no biggie. After time with the NWSL chopper I was able to get going.

Here are two sections (160') glued on to a 3" bridge deck base out of .040 styrene.


Well here is a picture of the work so far.





I know no railings,, after searching beyond the ends of the earth I could not find what I wanted. This is what I need.


 I did contact a designer on shapeways and he drew up the handrail that I need,, can't wait to get it installed,, this bridge is going to rock!!



Well that be it for now,, getting closer,, slowly but surely,, I know,, I know,, quit calling me shirley!!!

See ya,

Y-it

[rodsup9000]

 That bridge will look awesome when it gets planted onto the layout. Nice progress on it too

[squirrelhunter]

That's some good (and fast) work on the bridge!

[Denver Road Doug]

Hey Wyatt, looking good!   I really like the approach and especially that bridge scene should be rocking.  Can't wait to see trains rolling.

[soo]

Well no pics this time. Sorry.

I did manage to get the railings in the mail..can't wait to get them installed. But now that I am working again time has gone away. I need to allocate time for the bridge.

Thanks for all the comments!! I will try to get more work done.

Laters,
Y-it

[Rossford Yard]

Wyatt,

Congrats on the new full time employment.....and it warms my heart to know that you will now be slowed down from about 25-50 times my normal rate of progress to a mere 10-20 times as fast at accomplishing things.

If you don't know him.....his work is truly phenomenal, and freaky fast, too.  It helps he can work about 18 hours a day on little sleep and still get it right.

[soo]

Well I am back. For awhile I did not feel like doing anything train related,, I am pretty sure we all know how that feels.

While I was in the garage staring at the bare sections,, I decided to work on the bridge area and remove the foam for I-694 and Soo Street.
While doing that and messing around I decided to place some rolling stock on the bridge and take some pics for the coolness factor.





I must say,,, this is going to be one way cool scene.

So gaining some motivation back,, I began to use google earth to research the way the terrain is formed around the bridge area and also around Cardigan Junction proper.

This view would be looking southeast at Cardigan Jct.


Here is the I-694 and Soo Street bridge looking south.


This is view looking east. The line curving towards the right is the Rock Island and the straight track at the top is the SOO main from Milwaukee to Duluth/Superior.


Looking west/ southwest from the junction. There are two roads in the prototype world here. On the left would be Cardigan Road and the right, Soo Street. I would like to stay with the prototype fidelity here,, do I squeeze the roads in,, or do I leave them out???


Here is a view of the rough layout of the roads. Two lanes I-694 south, two lanes I-694 north and Soo street ( barely visible ) to the right in the picture.


To all the civil engineers out there,, I know, I know,,bridge pilings. Those are the next project. For the road width and where to place the medians at, I scaled dimensions off of google earth.. I hope they are close. I plan on using either styrene or masonite for the roads to have a little elevation to allow for drainage ditches and other scenic stuff.

Like I said in the beginning,, scenery is not my bag.

Till next time,, cya

Y-it