Thanks for the vote of confidence Crandell .Shimming up for the deck was my next step, Im just waiting for the second abutment to setup. I first have to think up a way to make the abutments solid so when the bridge sits on them it is firm and can be lifted back off easy enough, I have a couple ideas like the way road bed is held up for open grid.
Lynn, a great 1st on that casting, one note is the shelf cut should be deeper to accomadate the bridge shoes. Not a problem as you can easily add/ shim the abutment top to tie height, in doing this you can also allow for a “ballast stop” Scenery and ballast will hide any shim material.
You can also modify or build additional molds for any wing walls if needed.
Thanks Bob. I wasn’t intending to add bridge shoes but as you said I can add the to raise the bridge so the rail sits on lets say the cross beams of the bridge. What exactley is a ballast stop?
I would screw or glue a wooden upright, or block, under the roadbed, or maybe on the face of it, depending on what the roadbed is and how it is supported. To that block I would hot glue the back side of the shape you have just fashioned, but I would paint the back side with a heavy wash of acrylic throw-away paint first to reduce the powder that might not allow the hot glue to stick well.
Thats not a bad idea Crandell. The raodbed which is 3/4 plywood is pretty much at the height it needs to be as per grade requirements. I would have to get a perfect measurement with all objects involved so the track crossed the bridge nicely. I tend to have a real hard time committing to doing something one way or another and tend to over research.
A ballast stop can be a tie, whether the last tie or an added timber, concrete curb or granite blocks. This is used to stop ballast from falling/ shifting on to the abutment or dropping down to the shoe shelf. many times, i will just use stripwood/ switch tie or styrene to simulate a timber stop or paint to a concrete if a curb.
This pic is a bit unusual and the abutment to double track ties was a bit tough. The bridge is a skewed Walther’s double track which created the difficulties. You will note the angled timer on top of the angled abutment, this is the "gravel/ ballast stop
I believe “wayne” has a pic showing his treatment for this situation.
If you are considering to add shoes you should also look into using bridge flex track for that great bridge of yours. The ME code 83 bridge flex track has the closer
If you are modeling concrete abutments, I would suggest looking on page 48 of the October 2013 issue of MRR. It shows how to make a concrete loading dock out of real concrete. It was a 50-50 mix of DAP concrete patch and hydrocal. Mix them together before you ad water.
As a newbie, I am unfamiliar with the term “bridge shoes”. What are they, where are they used, what do they look like, and how does one model them. I have a small truss bridge that I would like to add to my HO layout and have been following this thread with great interest.
Thanks
wdcrvr
Bridge shoes allow for bridge grider attachment/ placement on the abutment. various styles/ types are used. early wooden timbers used more “iron” bracketing or gussets. Some shoes are solidly fastened, some allow for expansion. Basically these shoes are the supporting/ fastening members securing bridges in place.
I have been holding my reply because I was hoping that someone would answer the question of how to model these bridge shoes that have been discussed in this thread. Do they normally come with a better bridge kit? I just have a little Atlas truss bridge that I was going to use. If I cannot find out how to model the bridge shoes I guess I will just set it directly on the abutments. If anyoe out there can shed more light on this, I would sure appreciate it.
Thanks
wdcrvr
Well, you could scratchbuild them, but it would probably be easier to simply buy them. This should shed a little light on the subject:
Wayne