Upgrading the last pallet bridge

The bridge project comes to a quick finish, once the sleepers were in place & secured the track approaches to the bridge were re leveled. In the near future I will be doing some brick bridges to replace this temporary measure.

Happy to report I found a sleeper, this bridge had 4 old railway sleepers which is a bit extravagant.

Upgrading the last pallet bridge

With all the wet weather it recently occurred to me I still haven't replaced the last pallet bridge, and when clearing the drain I noticed a wee cave in and debris building up with a few branches mixed in with the clay. So the decision has been made to remove the pallet bridge and replace it with my 2 remaining railway sleepers.

Track & ballast removed, now the digging resumes.

Much later that day, found one sleeper, cannot seem to find the other one.

The original pallet bridge in place, very optimistic roadbed in the background but had to start somewhere.

After clearing up what I could reach without crawling inside.

A reminder of what happens to a blocked drain, and a sign from god 5" is to small.

A Girder to Far #4

 The 1:24 bridge project almost finished, I've still to finish the under side Truss segments and then i'll call it finished

Those that are interested in printing it can download it here https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6722083

Print, Paint, Attach & Repeat until mad.

Its all about the reflections

The underside of the plate girder finalized and in production

First run across the bridge

Db takes in the morning sun

A different POV

Ja & Ka double header

A Girder to Far #3 - A Pier into Madness

Continuing the 3d printed bridge for the garden layout, we needed a concrete base for the 3d printed piers to sit on so after searching countless plastic bottle types I stumbled upon the ice cream containers and quickly realized it would suit my needs. I removed the bottoms of the container and slipped it into position, I packed the outsides with clay & small rock and proceeded to pour the wet concrete which is where the container sides started to bow outwars requiring some reinforcing with small sticks embedded in the clay. I vibrated the container for a few minutes removing the bubbles and covered it up for the night. When I removed the plastic this morning I was very pleased with the result. The second pier finished last night and when test fitting in place this morning the friction of the wood halfway down was to much, thus its halfway through receiving #40 sandpaper to enable a better fit. 

The rockwork has been redone somewhat, the white pipe has been removed and the water now dribbles down over the rocks. A concrete path has been hidden on top of the dam to allow people to walk over.

Cementing in a pad for the Pier, Ice cream containers are not ideal without reinforcing the sides I've discovered. 

The next morning, plastic formwork removed and im quite happy with the result, the exposed pier has been sanded back quite a bit due to a slight warp in the wood itself. Without sanding there would be no removing the printed pier.

Second pier almost touching the concrete, a bit more sanding to get it down flush

Playing with paint, also experimenting with various top caps with the lettering  '2024" & "Portland Railroad" embedded into the sides.

A Girder to Far #2

 Continuing the bridge project along, it became apparent I had mucked up a step or two. Although the curves where nice its not ideal for this setup. The new pier was cemented into a 2ft hole unlike the old pier which was able to be pulled out after a bit of effort. The top deck is has been removed eliminating that issue.

3d Printed Pier still warm from the printer, a lick of paint and test fit. Still need to concrete in a pad for it to sit on and more weathering. Very close to finishing the bulk of the printing for this project, The material being 2.7kg of UV resistant ABS Plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene is a very tough, very durable plastic used in a wide variety of manufacturing) & more than a few bottles of rustoleum spray paint. The parts screwed into the wood frame.

Old and new Piers

3d printed Pier test fitting

Much better alignment

1:24 El crane

First Pier Wrapped up

A much straighter run 

A Girder to Far #1

With the raised deck out of the way its time to tidy up the main bridge, I did have a nice truss before but dogs running under it and catching it on their backs ruined it. This time I'm sure 3d printing some girders can't go wrong. each section individually screwed into position and can easily be individually replaced/painted etc. 

The first attempt to span 1.2 metres have been installed and continues to expand.

I have been playing around with the pier surrounds, brick would look good but a bit out of place.

Rake of 8 W wagons rides across the bridge. 

The more I look at the bridge the more the top deck is irritates me, a step in the wrong direction all in fear of trains going for a swim.

Further Progress

The piers will slip onto the wood, strong & tidy.

English Electric DF takes a run. The last few moments show some dodgy track sections needing to be straightened out somewhat.

Years back, a bridge to fit the budget, iceblock sticks, balsa and steel shelving. 

Taieri Gorge rail/road bridge Download

Showing off a model of the combined road and rail bridge just before the Hindon railway station, (Taieri Gorge, NZ)

Was not drawn from plans but photo's, semi scale to HO / S. 

I've spent an hour or so optimizing file sizes and naming the parts for the bridge trying to upload it to thingiverse from a rather weak cellphone Internet connection! Here it is free to download, alter & 3d Print as you wish https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5448649

Actual Bridge (Credit - https://offthemainroadnz.com/2017/04/21/hindon/)

NZR R class near Hindon (Credit - https://offthemainroadnz.com/2017/04/21/hindon/)

Plate Girder Bridge

 This bridge idea was inspired by what I saw at michaels place, 3d printed plate girders.

Still a work in progress, each girder took about 2 hours per section. The center guard rails are lego track with the sleepers removed, once painted should blend right in.

Printer Render

Peckett negotiates the safest bridge on the railway

At least it will be when the girders are all attached..