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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/22/2017 : 08:31:03 AM
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Country: USA
| Posts: 12935 |
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Frank Palmer
Fireman
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 Posted - 04/22/2017 : 4:16:28 PM
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Better make that bridge good and strong it seems to have a lot of traffic under it.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5284 |
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Michael Hohn
Fireman
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Posted - 04/22/2017 : 6:12:38 PM
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James,
Looks classic, especially New Englandy with substantial, snow-shedding pitch to the roof.
Mike
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_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Nobody living can ever stop me, as I go walking that freedom highway -- Woody Guthrie |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5107 |
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jbvb
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/24/2017 : 11:27:29 PM
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Thanks, Pete, Mike G., Frank and Mike H. I had a busy weekend: the Hub Division annual meeting & spring show on Saturday, then re-qualifying as an operator at Seashore Trolley Museum, so no model work till late today.
The High St. overpass is paved, but needs detail painting to make the granite curbs look better. I've had some success at using colored pencils for lane markings on 'grout sand' asphalt, so I'll try white tomorrow. And then there's a little to do on the underside and retaining walls.
Working in that end of the room got me thinking about other jobs. I've got the L girders for Downtown Newburyport made, but last week I finally got ICC valuation data for the Merrimack River drawbridge. Knowing the pier elevations and truss depths, I finally started cutting the plywood that's sat 5 years in my barn:
The back and bottom will be 1/2" plywood, the ends 3/4" because I'm making it as compatible as I can with FreeMo. Once all the parts are cut and assembled, I'll reduce the depth of the temporary span's web to clear the piers so I can run trains while work is ongoing.
Most of the area will be river, but there will be a little land & marsh by the abutments. And a timber fender pier with gratings to protect the swing span when open. And a very complicated 3-span deck truss bridge, with animated gates to warn trains. And the true golden spike for my Eastern Route. Someday, if I live long enough...
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Country: USA
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Orionvp17
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/25/2017 : 09:49:18 AM
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Looks like Good Progress to me, James! Congratulate yourself, and have at the next project! 
I wired a yard in (finally) last weekend, fired things up yesterday and ... found a dead short. Somewhere. 
Two sets of supposedly competent eyes looked things over and have so far come up with ... nothing. And whenever I find the glitch, I guarantee that it will be some easily remedied, stupid glitch that should have been obvious from the get-go....
So please keep the Good Progress photos coming! They're inspirational. 
Pete
in Michigan
<edit> Tuesday evening edit: I was right. Missed one gap in one tie on ten hand-laid turnouts, all of which were checked before soldering rail.... Fixed that and all works as advertised.
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Edited by - Orionvp17 on 04/25/2017 9:12:02 PM |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6594 |
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jbvb
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/25/2017 : 10:17:43 PM
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Glad that got resolved, Pete. Building my block system was extra effort, handlaying required making turnouts power-routing. But they both pay the effort back in ease of debugging.
Today I got the 'kinda FreeMo' module mostly built. I measured enough that initially it was a 'light press fit' in the opening, but it's much easier to plane 1/16" off than it is to add 1/16" to something that's too short.
The backdrop board isn't attached; far too complicated to get it positioned fairly tight to the ceiling with just two hands. I hope to get help from Mieke tomorrow or Thursday, so meanwhile I'll re-work the temporary chunk of main line and connect it again.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5860 |
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Frank Palmer
Fireman
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Posted - 04/26/2017 : 09:29:00 AM
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Looking forward to the river - marsh portion.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5284 |
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Orionvp17
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/26/2017 : 09:39:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Frank Palmer
Looking forward to the river - marsh portion.
Me too! This is going to be cool!
Pete
in Michigan
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6594 |
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jbvb
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/27/2017 : 08:26:40 AM
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What salt marsh I can fit in will be on the Salisbury (right, RR east) bank. Newburyport was remnants of shipyards upstream of the bridge, retaining walls and dock bulkheads downstream.
Not being the grade of woodworker who owns meter-long bar clamps or a big workbench with bench dogs, I asked Mieke for help putting the backboard on the Merrimack River module last night. We eventually managed to get it aligned, drilled, screwed and glued together, at the cost of a drill bit. The screw pilot's original spade point was tougher, I should see if it's available separately. Grinding and hardening a new one would be a venture into new territory for me.
Photo credit Mieke.
Once the glue fillets I applied to seal the joints are dry, I'll start painting. The temporary track is operable, and built to be easy to remove/replace. I expect to cut it down in several stages as I build first the abutments and piers, then the bridge spans.
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Edited by - jbvb on 04/27/2017 1:53:43 PM |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5860 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/27/2017 : 1:43:13 PM
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Looks good, James (except for the frown over the drill bit :-) )
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7655 |
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jbvb
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/27/2017 : 10:07:04 PM
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Thanks, Dave. I'd broken both the one I'd been using and the spare on this job. But I need to go to Amesbury Industrial Supply anyway, and 1/2 doz. 3/32" in HSS will be a lot less than a pair of 1 meter bar clamps that I'll use once a decade.
I painted everything visible today; the model bridge is stalled pending a couple of dimensions for the prototype's swing span. I don't have room for it full-size, but it should fit if I trim one truss bay off each end. But I need to know how long a bay is; the center bay over the pier is longer than the rest.
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Country: USA
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Orionvp17
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/27/2017 : 10:22:37 PM
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James,
I like this! Having spent a reasonably productive (but essentially invisible) evening hooking up track feeders (  ) in a temporary yard, seeing scenic progress is inspiring. Thanks!
Pete
in Michigan
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6594 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/28/2017 : 10:12:55 AM
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I have a pair of 6' bar clamps, that I use maybe once per year. But they're really handy, because when I use them, it's because nothing else I have will work!
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7655 |
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Frank Palmer
Fireman
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Posted - 04/28/2017 : 2:05:04 PM
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Wait a minute is that a "hand drill"? No wonder you broke a drill bit. Those things went out of style in the last century.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5284 |
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jbvb
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/29/2017 : 07:49:40 AM
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Thanks, Dave & Pete. Frank, I'm not a very stylish person. I do own a drill-driver, which gets used with the hex bits that its keyless chuck will grasp reliably. The hand drill works fine till I ask it to swing the big countersink part of the screw pilot with only the 3/32" drill bit to guide it. I go years without breaking small drills by themselves.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5860 |
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