Here are a series of pics showing my William Howe Truss Bridge. The bridge spans accross the black river at Wye Junction located behind the foreground trestle. As a result, the bridge is seldom photographed. The Howe Truss was built from a Campbell kit. The approach spans and support bents were “scratched” using strip wood and Micro Engineering plate girders.
Nice rendition. I like the ladders, I don’t remember seeing those on other models. You are also convincing me that adding the nuts and bolts is worth the effort.
The effort you put fourth is amazing, I sometimes think you own a time machine and go back in time to take these pictures.
Art,
You have an eagle eye! I was almost going to ask “what ladders”?
Bob,
A nice bridge. Pity it does not get the attention due to such a good looking structure.
Regarding the “gallows” with five bits of chain that someone informed me is to warn the brakemen working on the rooves of a nearby overhead obstacle, why are they so high? Seems to me that a guy would go under that without noticing and still get clobbered by the tunnel mouth.[xx(]
You guys are many decades ahead of us. Hopper wagons like you have there were not introduced until the 1950’s in Oz. Must have been in use in the 1930’s in the States. We would have still been using 4 wheel open wagons, or on the coal fields 4 wheel non air hoppers. Really ancient odd looking wagons with a sort of inverted pyramid shape hopper. Brakes?? Well, safety was not such an issue in those days.[:D] In the 1930’s anyone who could get work anywhere would do just about anything to hang on to a job.[:(]
Bush9245:
Believe it or not, the tell-tale is no taller than the tunnel portal. However, due to the angle in which the photo was taken, it makes it look much higher than it is…
Bob,
I will believe you, but thousands wouldn’t. If I draw an imaginary line from tunnel portal to the bridge the tell tale still looks high. However, you would have a better view of it.
I noticed that because the idea of these guys running along the roof to set brakes fascinates me. Were they still running the rooves in the 1930’s? If so you should put a couple on your trains. Seems to me that brakes were relatively “modern” by then and those guys would not be needed.
What a way to earn a crust!! I bet they would be looking forward to the day that they got a promotion to ride in the caboose and monitor the train in relative comfort, rather than run the roof.[swg]
Alright, don’t anybody kill me for nitpicking, but…
Since the bridge and tunnel are so close together, wouldn’t the tell-tale be more appropriate on the other side of the bridge? Or are the trains running at a slower pace to justify the tell-tale in its current position?
Oh, and BTW, Bob I love your work, and congrats on making MR last month.
Brad
Yeah, you are right. If the tell tale was that close to the tunnel it would require immediate action on the part of the roof runner. I didn’t want to give Bob a hard time. I appreciate the good work he does sharing his beaut photos with us. It is just that I am intrigued or amused at the idea of these guys running along the roof to set and release brakes.
Talking about “tell tales” something that they used to use at home, but I would think in these days of safety first they have gone out of fashion, were detonators on the tracks. If an engine ran over one it exploded making a loud enough noise to wake the crew and alert them to a hazard.
Never seen, or heard, those in model form.
Did they use those in the States? They were a bit dangerous. Kids could pick them up and ran the risk of losing a hand or even worse. But then kids should not be playing on the tracks anyway. Nostalgia, anyone else remember putting coins on the track to see them get modified (squashed flat)? Maybe it is a better world we live in now where people think of safety. It’s a wonder any of us survived the old days!![:P]
Don’t get me wrong, I admire Bob’s work too.
Car roofwalks were outlawed in the '50’s or 60’s, except for cars that need roof access for loading/unloading (tankers and covered hoppers, for instance). Crews stopped walking on the roofs sometime in the 20’s or 30’s as air brakes became standard.
The “detonators” are sometimes called “torpedos”, and a friend of mine who works for NS says they are still around (don’t think they are still making them, though). Years ago, crews would put 3 of these on the rail close to each other so that an approaching train would run over them and the engineer would haer 3 load bangs in quick succession. Back then, they (crews) understood if you hear that, hit the brakes because there could be a stalled train up ahead. Someti