A couple of weeks ago I made a rough mock-up of a pressed steel troughing bridge. At the time I mentioned that such bridges were common on the Bala - Ffestiniog branch. Luckily for me, my good friend Iain Robinson lives close to such a bridge, and he offered to take a few photos showing the finer points of its construction.
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Iain tells me that this particular bridge is on a stretch of the line, after the climb out of the Vale of Ffestiniog. Its just off the A4470, on a side road leading up to Tomen-y-Mur, and a short distance from Maentwrog Road station, which, believe it or not is still there. I like the mix of heavy stone masonry, and brick pilasters, not to mention those utility pipes, how often do you see those modelled?
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A view from the other direction, my model would span the infant River Lugg rather than a country lane, so no signs would be needed.
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An interesting view showing how the trough fits onto the abutments, this sort of thing is rarely modelled correctly, if at all.
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Those heavy girders and plates support the track, the trough being filled with ballast. Though in some cases the track is keyed directly to the girders. Notice how the pilaster brickwork extends inwards, and across the the abutments.
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A view showing the railings, and the method used to secure the pipework. The stonework has weathered nicely, and will make for an interesting, if challenging paint job. I have yet to decide how I'm going to model the stonework, I could scribe it onto some foamboard, or cover the latter with 'DAS' and carve the stones into that, no doubt I will carry out a few experiments, and see where they lead me. Fortunately I've got a head start with the model, because I saved the original bridge deck, that I built for the river crossing on Llangunllo, I had a feeling that it might come in handy.
By simply removing the side girders I was left with this,............
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All I need to do now is to remove the wooden walkway, plate over the centre section, complete the rest of the trough and solder up some railings.
My thanks are due to Iain for braving the Welsh weather, taking the photos, and allowing me to use them here on my blog.
Thank you my friend :-)
Iain tells me that this particular bridge is on a stretch of the line, after the climb out of the Vale of Ffestiniog. Its just off the A4470, on a side road leading up to Tomen-y-Mur, and a short distance from Maentwrog Road station, which, believe it or not is still there. I like the mix of heavy stone masonry, and brick pilasters, not to mention those utility pipes, how often do you see those modelled?
A view from the other direction, my model would span the infant River Lugg rather than a country lane, so no signs would be needed.
An interesting view showing how the trough fits onto the abutments, this sort of thing is rarely modelled correctly, if at all.
Those heavy girders and plates support the track, the trough being filled with ballast. Though in some cases the track is keyed directly to the girders. Notice how the pilaster brickwork extends inwards, and across the the abutments.
A view showing the railings, and the method used to secure the pipework. The stonework has weathered nicely, and will make for an interesting, if challenging paint job. I have yet to decide how I'm going to model the stonework, I could scribe it onto some foamboard, or cover the latter with 'DAS' and carve the stones into that, no doubt I will carry out a few experiments, and see where they lead me. Fortunately I've got a head start with the model, because I saved the original bridge deck, that I built for the river crossing on Llangunllo, I had a feeling that it might come in handy.
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By simply removing the side girders I was left with this,............
All I need to do now is to remove the wooden walkway, plate over the centre section, complete the rest of the trough and solder up some railings.
My thanks are due to Iain for braving the Welsh weather, taking the photos, and allowing me to use them here on my blog.
Thank you my friend :-)