Free-mo-N. BC Rail Rutherford Creek crossing.

[craigolio1]

Say it out loud 10 times fast 

SOFA KING!!  Haha. I get it now.

[craigolio1]

Psst.  Here's the secret.  Lightweight spackling. 

DFF

Oh yes.

[craigolio1]

Craig, I've waited forever for my code 55 bridge flex. I gave up and built up my own with rail, copper clad ties and stripwwod ties. You might want to start considering this as an alternative to the ME product to,avoid the frustration...
Geoff

Hmmmmmm. I had originally thought of making my own ties, as the prototype ties are a bit taller then the ME ties, but I was going for the easy solution.

Perhaps it’s time to rethink hand laying the bridge track?

I have some Proto87 stores tie plates. Would be a really nice place to try them out.

[CNR5529]

I have some Proto87 stores tie plates. Would be a really nice place to try them out.

This!! Make it so!

Just remove the regular ties on that stretch of track. No need to cut the rails or anything, just place the new ties on the span (with tie plates glued in place using a jig), and then glue the rails to the span.

[craigolio1]

This!! Make it so!

Just remove the regular ties on that stretch of track. No need to cut the rails or anything, just place the new ties on the span (with tie plates glued in place using a jig), and then glue the rails to the span.

Sounds easy enough.

[Angus Shops]

Oh no, you said it! "Sounds easy enough" and "what could possibly go wrong?" are the kiss of death. Now you'll need to sacrifice a goat in your back yard before you proceed...
Geoff

[Missaberoad]

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[lajmdlr]

Thanks guys.

With the abutments done I was able to terraform the rest of the foam. Here is pretty much how it will look with exception of a hill that I need to add in one corner.
Is the "rock debris" riprap? It would be at the base of both abutments to protect them from being undercut by the water..

[craigolio1]

Oh no, you said it! "Sounds easy enough" and "what could possibly go wrong?" are the kiss of death. Now you'll need to sacrifice a goat in your back yard before you proceed...
Geoff

Yeah for sure!!  Well turns out my P87 tie plates are for C40 and just disappear under the C55 Rail. Oh well.

[craigolio1]

I don’t know what you would call it. There is old smooth river rock in there, bits of old concrete things, and newer in-worn rock.

Maybe rip rap is the word for it?

I have beach sand which I have sifted into about 6 different sizes from super fine silt up to what I would say are boulders. 6-8mm in diameter. So I’ll use that for the glacial till and river rock.

Then for the sharper stones I’m thinking of sifting limestone screenings. I’ve used lots of it in my back yard projects. It will yield all kinds of sizes of sharp stones and 50lb bag is like $10.

For concrete I’m going to cast plaster into flat slaps and then break it up.

Craig.

[Philip H]

I don’t know what you would call it. There is old smooth river rock in there, bits of old concrete things, and newer in-worn rock.

Maybe rip rap is the word for it?

I have beach sand which I have sifted into about 6 different sizes from super fine silt up to what I would say are boulders. 6-8mm in diameter. So I’ll use that for the glacial till and river rock.

Then for the sharper stones I’m thinking of sifting limestone screenings. I’ve used lots of it in my back yard projects. It will yield all kinds of sizes of sharp stones and 50lb bag is like $10.

For concrete I’m going to cast plaster into flat slaps and then break it up.

Craig.

Looking at the original photo its definitely rip rap - mix of class 2 and 3 with a healthy dose of river deposited stone as well.  Every US stae has sizing and application guides derived from US Department of Transportation national policy manuals.

[craigolio1]

Looking at the original photo its definitely rip rap - mix of class 2 and 3 with a healthy dose of river deposited stone as well.  Every US stae has sizing and application guides derived from US Department of Transportation national policy manuals.

Well there you go! Rip-rap it is. I had heard the term but didn’t think it was an actual thing. Any idea what size I might be after for class 2 & 3?

Edit:  check out what I found.



I’m glad you clarified that it is actually a thing. This will be very helpful.

Craig

[Philip H]

I spent four years in the PNW doing salmon habitat restoration and protection work for the Army Corps of Engineers.  The civil engineers I worked with wanted to use rip rap in every instance to "stabilize" the habitat after they built it because their world view required them to keep things fixed after they were built (and they could actually loose their P.E. license if it didn't).  I kept having to remind them that the salmon wanted the habitats to move and adapt naturally and big piles of big rocks weren't natural.  It was always amusing.

[Big Train]

To address your concerns about attempting scenery, I'm a big fan of Luke Towan and his Boulder Creek Railroad and thought you'd appreciate the link. His website is:

https://www.bouldercreekrailroad.com

He has lots of information on building scenery. Luke is an Aussie bloke so a lot of his scenery has a distinctly Australian look to it, but it's the techniques you are looking for.  And with these techniques, you can adapt them to whatever geographic location you're attempting to model.

Luke also has Youtube presentations also.

The guy is a scenery genius in my opinion.

Hope this helps...

[philippe.whyte]

Some fine work there Craig... I'm following with great interest!

We both landed on the same year to model BCR!!