Trestle Complete

In the past week I finished work on the trestle so I can finally complete my upper loop. I now need to do some cleanup work to open the upper loop, and I need to do some repair work to the lower loop near the trestle as I bumped it out of position a few times while I was working next to it.

Finished trestle complete after a few days of work.

Work I did on the first day linking the first few bents. As I've done previously, the stringers running between bents are first glued and weighted down by bricks to hold everything in place, and then I attach cross beams between the bents using small clamps.

An image from the second day and the next segment of the trestle complete.

Work continued around the tree on the third day. I was limited by how far I could go based on how many small clamps I had. Clearly I need to get some more clamps.

I finished up the trestle work yesterday so today I removed the remaining clamps and put the track in place. I still have a few small details to fix but the trestle is essentially complete.

Another view of the completed trestle looking the other direction.

And here's a view of the trestle from the other side of the cherry tree.

A westbound unit crude oil trail that passed us during a recent bike ride.

On the same bike ride, a westbound unit coal train. 

From a recent hike in Deep Creek canyon to enjoy the fall colors.

Another view of the canyon.

More trestle work

It's been a busy summer and I'm just now getting back to finishing up the trestle for my upper loop. Summer may be over but I still have time to get this done before it gets cold.

I'm building a trestle from the end of this bridge around the tree to a raised platform in the background. Once that is done my upper loop will be complete and usable. My first step was to put up some temporary supports so I could define and align the curve exactly where I wanted it, both horizontally and vertically.

I used a level on a flatcar to ensure that I was keeping the track as level as possible, and used shims and various pieces of wood to align the track vertically.

Next step was defining where each trestle bent would be located. I need a double-bent at each end, plus 19 additional single bents, for a total of 23. In the center of the photo is a problem area where large tree roots make a very uneven surface.

Another view of the future bent placements. At the top of the photo where the track transitions onto the raised platform, I also needed to adjust some of the rocks and add some fill dirt. 

The next step was digging out loose soil and replacing it with 3/4 minus crushed rock to create a foundation for each bent. I also built a small retaining wall with some bricks and backfilled it with rock to cover up the exposed tree roots.

I counted and realized I didn't have enough prepared bents, so I built so more using my jig. These dried over night and the the next day I trimmed the tops off.

Each bent is finalized for its location by measuring down from the track ties. One at a time, I trimmed each bent to length and added a mud sill at the bottom.

My outdoor workbench where I finish each of the trestle bents.

Each bent is placed where it will be going in the trestle so I don't get them out of order. This is as far as I made it with construction yesterday.

I noticed yesterday that the showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) pods had finally opened. I collected some seeds for propagation and the others I'll leave for the wind to distribute, or for the quail to eat.

Nice example of graffiti on a hopper I saw recently while on a bike ride.

A slightly hazy morning in Spokane, fortunately due to water vapor this morning and not smoke.

Train Yard and More Bad Order Repairs

I've been very busy the past few weeks with other yard work tasks so I have not worked on my next trestle assembly project yet. But I have continued working on various small projects in the train shed as time allows. It's so nice to have an area to work and it's very comfortable until mid-afternoon when direct sun hits the shed.

I purchased some more used straight track and it arrived last week so I could build out my stub track yard. Eventually there will be a portal through the shed wall so I can assemble trains here and then drive them out on their own power. But for now I'll be storing frequently used cars here. The closest track is not connected to the others, as I will be powering this track to use as a test track for equipment that is not yet converted to battery power.

I'll be adding bumpers to the end of each track. I got this Hayes style bumper from a seller on eBay, railroadhead, who sells both F-scale and G-scale products. These short style ones are the perfect size and the design I want. I'll also be using these outside for stub tracks. 

Finished yard is secured to the workbench and now populated with rolling stock.

I needed a little more light at my workbench so I added this sconce with variable light output.

I'm experimenting with creating code 250 to code 332 joiners. The transition between track types is normally done with clamps but they're really expensive and I am looking for a cheaper option.

I have a number of small projects so I compiled my list of bad orders, organized and prioritized them, then got to work starting at the top.

Some of the projects are very quick, like reattaching and securing the hand rails on this U25B.

This boxcar just needed one piece reattached.

I purchased this BNSF extended vision caboose sometime in the last couple of years but I had not run it on track yet. I needed to lubricate the wheels, swap out the couplers for Kadee 909, and as you can tell in the picture, it also needed a good cleaning.

A few pictures from the garden this week. The blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata) is just starting to open up. The first blooms look magnificent. 

I was so happy to see multiple umbels on my cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) as I thought I might have lost this plant. It is unusually short, but there are multiple new shoots coming up so I am hopeful that next year it may grow to full size.

This Lewis flax (Linum lewisii) is looking great. A simple but very attractive plant because of the color.

Train shed cleanup and work on bad orders

A key accomplishment for me over the Memorial Day weekend was cleaning up my train shed so I can actually use my workbench, which has been in use primarily as one big storage shelf. It was mostly a task of cleaning and organizing, and in the process I even found a couple things I had forgotten about. I added some more shelves on two walls to keep tools and parts up off the workbench. Once I had usable space I got to work on various small projects that had been on my list for a while.

Organizing in progress, with new shelves to hold parts and tools.

I had a few extra laminate floor tiles so I put them in the center of the workbench to create a smooth working surface which will be easy to cleanup. First two tasks were some minor repair work on my fire watch tower, and repairing a truck on my UP caboose which had snapped off when it was damaged in a collision.

Organizing parts so they're easier to find in the future.

Next on the project list was swapping out couplers. I've adopted Kadee 909 couplers as the standard for my rolling stock as they're so easy to use and perform great. This BN hopper has original Aristocraft couplers which are fine if hooked to each other but they don't play well with other couplers.

With old coupler removed, I just needed to drill a small new hole and then assemble the new coupler. It's been a while since I did this so I took a few minutes to remember how to hold everything together without the springs popping out and flying across the room. That only happened three times on the first one.

Assembly is complete.

Testing height alignment of the truck on test track before reattaching to car.

Another car getting a coupler upgrade today.

As I completed work on each car I added it on to the end of my train.

These are the two box girder bridges I built from styrene years ago. A few ribs have broken off so I reattached them with plastic cement.

My final project was creating a second permanent battery car. This shows my first battery car which is a USA Trains BN boxcar. I used this as it has doors wide enough to allow me to get a Makita battery in and out, but as it is 1:24 scale, it looks out of place when I'm running 1:29 scale trains.

I selected a Burlington boxcar from Aristocraft to be my 1:29 scale battery car. The doors are not big enough to allow battery access, so I detached the roof to allow access. Just like I did for the first battery car, I built a cradle for the battery using styrene L-shaped channels to keep the battery centered in the car during train movement.

From the outside of the car, the only visible modification is a small hole for wires.

 

Spring construction update #2

Since my last post I finalized bridge placement and completed another segment of trestle, a rather short one so it was a relatively quick project.

After a trip to Home Depot for more bricks, I realigned and reconstructed my bridge piers so they were sturdier. They aren't pretty but they'll do the job and support the bridge, which is a heavy one as it's made of steel. I checked and double-checked the alignment of the bridge with the track in place to ensure the piers were placed exactly where I wanted them, then set the bridge aside but kept the track in place at it's final elevation. The stakes are marking where the trestle bents will go.

Measuring down from the track, I cut bents to the correct height and finished them by attaching the mudsill at the bottom. I made a double bent for each end of the trestle and then let everything sit overnight to dry.

The next morning I placed each bent in position, with the top of each one exactly 3/4 inch below track level.

I then glued the stringers on top of the bents and weighted them down to keep everything from moving.

After attaching the braces on the sides and clamping them in place, I let everything sit to dry out overnight.

Today all the weights and clamps could come off, and I put the track back in place. It's ready to go, aside from the sudden drop at the far side of the bridge. The next trestle will be a challenging one due to its length and curve.

This morning while on a bike ride on the Fish Lake Trail I saw an unusual sight—a westbound unit oil train heading up the Marshall grade on what is normally the eastbound track. I know both the eastbound and westbound tracks are signaled in both directions so each can support bidirectional traffic, but this was my first time seeing that in action. It was moving 15 mph at most, just slightly faster than we were on our bikes. Only two trains passed us during our two-hour bike ride (one each direction), less than the four to seven trains we would typically see.

Meanwhile, on the westbound track I would occasionally glimpse a maintenance car like this ballast tamper, explaining why the westbound track was closed today.