Baton Rouge Southern - Chapter 2

[Philip H]

I'm also contemplating how to deal with the bridge tie thing in back where the turn out is.  It strikes me that I would need some sort of tie insert between the existing ties, but to get a little daylight through it (like a real bridge deck) the inserts wold need to be slimer then the existing ties but as tall . . . . hum . . .

[davefoxx]

Are you feeling brave?  Are you afraid of damaging turnouts that likely cannot be replaced in the near future due to the Atlas Code 55 track shortage?

If not, consider soldering something temporarily across the top (yes, the top!) of the rails to hold everything in alignment, so you can then cut off the Atlas ties and apply something that resembles bridge ties.  Obviously, you will need to save the points' hinge area, but I think you could camouflage the look of that area.

Just a thought,
Dave

[Philip H]

I'm always feeling brave - and I have to confess that handlaying the bridge did cross my mind. But unless I can convince myself that your proposed approach won't add too much time to the equation, I may do a temporary tack and go as a proof of concept and see what I feel like after the first of the year.

[wm3798]

Phil, put the bridge tie track on the front trestle and forget about it.  The foreground trestle will be more prominent in your pictures, and it's more important, frankly, for the turnout to be functional than to be all pretty like.  The other thing you could do to minimize the appearance of the rear trestle would be to put some "wood" stringers along the top of the ties outside the rail, and maybe even deck in between the rails to provide a walkway there.

I suppose it could be argued that having the bridge track juxtaposed to the turnout would emphasize the difference, but I think that if the rest of the scene is properly executed, and you use some weathering and other tricks for the eye, you'll be fine.  For instance, you could weather the hell out of the switch track so it looks like it's been there a lot longer, and have the tidy bridge track on front look fresh and new... or vice versa.

The only other solution would be to look at the spacing of the ties, and remove some of the stock turnout ties and replace them with the closer spaced bridge ties.  This will be tricky because the the longer ties at the frog end will need to be fabricated from styrene and somehow attached.

I think if you look at the project based on the amount of time and complexity required in relation to the overall visual impact and operability of the track, you'll quickly come to the conclusion that it's not worth the effort to "fix" the bridge track issue.

If it still bugs you, then only post photos of the bridge when there's a cut of cars sitting on the back trestle to block the offending view...

I did that for years to disguise the gigantamous Caboose Industries throws I used on parts of my layout.



You see?  Two switches apparent in the image, yet no throws are visible...  Do the best you can with what you have to work with.

Lee

[eric220]

I'm with Lee here.  Build it and see how it looks; it should be a pretty quick exercise.  Worst come to worst, you decide you hate it and have to rip it up and redo it using the time-consuming techniques being discussed.  I think it's worth the experiment to see if you can live with the simple version.

I also don't necessarily agree that this is an Ed's Law situation.  It's more a case of "the railroad is going to do what the railroad needs to do to make the track fit".  Perhaps not preferred to have a bridge on a trestle, but far stranger things were done where required.

[Philip H]

Yeash - take a few months off to get the kitchen remodeled, add a member to Team Hoffman (Everett Drew born 6/8/14) and the next thing you know it's AUGUST for cripes sake.  Oh well . . .

Spurred on by the amazing progress made by one Dave Foxx Esq.  and ScottL's Cisco Bridge (with homage to Mark Dance as well)I got back into the train room this week.  The trestle for Bufkin's Bayou wasn't sitting right (Too high on one side) so I did what any self respecting bayou engineer would do - I got out sue tools and excavated!



I also installed some painted and slightly weathered some timber retaining wall, which is now helping shape the channel.

Once the dredging of the channel was complete, then I began filling the grade with some Woodland Scenics Mold-a-scene I had left over (their version of Sculptamold):





The trestle bents now snuggle into their substrate.  Once the Mold-a-Scene dries, I can state painting the basin.



 Now a question - anyone got any ideas on gluing the ME Bridge flex to the trestle tops?  Was considering Walther's Goo and some soft clamps . . . .

[Bendtracker1]

Philip, looks good.
How about some 5 min epoxy and clamps [clothes pins].
I've found Goo to let loose or stretch over time.

[Scottl]

I really like those bents and the scene.

I have been contemplating the same issue with my bridge- how to secure the bridge track.  I was going to use thick CA.

[davefoxx]

I used CA to glue my ME bridge track to my wood trestle.  It was built almost two years, and the glue is holding fine.

DFF

[dnhouston]

I use Pliobond to secure track to wood.

[Philip H]

What do you do when its Labor Day weekend, and you need carvable roadbed to match elevations between your existing yard and your new trestle?  You make some out of foam!  In this case black foam from a meat package (suitably washed):



And gluing has commenced:

[John]

I see lots of trouble here

[Philip H]

How so? The straight legs of the turnouts are together per prior discussions; I've got bridge flex to satisfy the purests on the front leg of the bridge.

[John]

How so? The straight legs of the turnouts are together per prior discussions; I've got bridge flex to satisfy the purests on the front leg of the bridge.

i don't think the bridge will keep the turnouts level over time .. i've learned the hard way that they need to be pretty stable .. it just looks like trouble waiting to happen ..   but .. lets see how it works over the long term ..

[Philip H]

Since installed bridges are tougher to scenic around, i've started some teraforming:



This is unsanded grout sifted directly on the foam.  I mist it heavily over a 2-3 day period to allow water to soak in and set the grout as I poured it.  Once done its a great shell to make terrain over.  Once that's done then I'll paint out what I need to paint out on the river bottom and install the trestle permanently.