# New(and better) structure pics.



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

With the help of my "digital diva"(wife); here are some photos of structures on my layout.

Cape Ripiculous lighthouse and keeper' cottage.

Black River train order station.

Garrison Creek trestle.

Allentown Covered Bridge.

Wooden truss road bridge at Black River.

All five structures listed above are scratch-built. Other structures in the photos are commercial plastic kits. The Allentown covered bridge and Black River train order station are based on photos of actual prototypes. The others are freelance. 









































Traction Fan


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Correction*

I mistakenly included Garrison creek trestle in a list of scratch built structures. The trestle is not scratch built. It is a kitbash of Micro Engineering plastic kits. The trestle towers are modified versions of those in their, HO scale, "steel viaduct" kit. The N scale viaduct kit was not available when I built this model. When the N scale version did come out, I was disappointed that it did not include the riveted lattice work typical of the prototype. 
I shaved the HO girders down as much as possible without loosing the rivet detail. Also, the horizontal bracing girders were cut off, as the Milwaukee Road did not use them. The deck girders are also from Micro Engineering.
The ties are wood commercial ones, and the catenary and gallows support frames actually were the only scratch built items on the model. They were made from .006" music wire and K&S brass 1/8" square tubing respectively. 
The plastic trestle is very fragile, and I would like to replace it with a brass version, on that great "someday" that we modelers hope to see! If a new trestle ever gets beyond the dream stage, I'll need to make it with a ballasted deck instead of the open deck on the present model.
The Milwaukee had many of both types, but on the super rainy west slopes of the cascade mountains, they used ballasted decks. This soggy area is where I have located my model railroad.

Traction Fan


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

traction fan said:


> All five structures listed above are scratch-built.


That's a lot of really nice-looking work. Any idea how many hours you invested in these structures?

I see a green river in one photo -- looks like you've got a lot of algae in that water.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Labors of love*

MtRR75;

Thanks for the nice compliment! I don't count the hours spent on making this kind of stuff. 
I would "guesstimate" it as approximately one month of divided bits of spare time per structure. I tend to work on one project until I get bored, or frustrated, enough to move on to another. Good news,/ bad news. I'm retired now and have more hobby time./ I'm old now and my eyes, hands, knees, ears, and a host of other body parts, don't work like they used to!

Regards;

Traction Fan:laugh:

PS. You do indeed see not just, A green river, but THE Green River. The real Black River junction, south of Seattle,WA., was not only a busy rail junction but also the junction of two rivers; the Black river and the Green river. I don't know how the Black got top billing, or what color the water was in either real river. 
The color in the model version just looked like a good river color to me.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Scratch building, or even kit bashing, is one of the more
enjoyable factors in model railroading. You are doing some
very interesting projects and the time and craftsmanship
shows. I noted the inner bracing of the covered bridge
for example.

I'm curious about the overhead on that long trestle. Do locos
pickup power from it? I had an HO streetcar layout a few
years back. They ran on the overhead. Sadly, it was
damaged by a serious roof leak caused by a limb.

Don


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

traction fan said:


> MtRR75;You do indeed see not just, A green river, but THE Green River. The real Black River junction, south of Seattle,WA., was not only a busy rail junction but also the junction of two rivers; the Black river and the Green river. I don't know how the Black got top billing, or what color the water was in either real river.
> The color in the model version just looked like a good river color to me.


I don't know anything about THE Green River, but I know that there are "green" rivers in Washington. This is a picture that I took of the Ohanapecosh River on a trip to Washington some years ago. Note the green color. The green color is found in rivers that are fed by melting snow fields. The water is actually quite clear. The green color comes in part from light reflected from the surrounding plants and from the sky. Rivers that are fed by melting glaciers carry more soil sediment, and are cloudier -- more gray or gray-brown color.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Live overhead*

DonR;

Yes the catenary was built to operate. I have built only a fraction of the amount I'll need.
As you might imagine, soldering .006" music wire into catenary is rather labor intensive. 
I have run a test loco from the overhead using an improvised pantograph. This was done on DC with a Kato RS3 mechanism. Like most of Kato's 
superb Locos, it drew very low current. Now that I have switched to DCC, (your favorite control system!) a few things are different. 
First, using DCC gives the independent control of road locomotive and helper that I once planned to do in DC, using the overhead to control the
electric helper. From a pure train control standpoint, this renders the overhead superfluous. 
Second, DCC has a higher track voltage. I'm concerned about possible pantograph to catenary arching destroying that delicate 
wire that took so much time and effort to build.
With a screen name of Traction Fan, and my love of the Milwaukee electrification, I'm not about to give up on overhead! 
Making the wire bigger, when it's already a bit over scale size, might help with resilience, but would sacrifice the visual appeal.
I think the best course would be to keep the present size overhead, but only for looks now. 
The DCC can render better control than I would ever have gotten from the original, "DC with live overhead" scheme. 
I won't have to worry about sparks damaging the scratch built catenary.
 Sorry to hear about you loosing you trolley layout to unforeseen circumstances! No model railroader likes to think about such disasters!
Please accept my condolences.

Regards;
Traction Fan


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Traction fan

Your post on the Z scale thread 'scratch built question' and
your link to your own scratch built models on your N scale layout
reminded me of an outstanding work of art given to me
by an design architect friend back in the 60s. He knew of my then N scale
layout and a need I had for a CURVED Trestle and an
attached bridge span and volunteered to built it. He said
it was his way of relaxing. When I sold the N layout I kept
these pieces. Note that the span is similar to the one
you have under the highway bridge.

The man was a model artist. There is not one piece
out of alignment. Even the suspension 'cables' have
fittings at top and bottom. And note that it is built
per standard construction techniques.

Unfortunately in the passing decades some of the
parts were destroyed. But you can see the
beautiful craftsmanship that went into the work.

Side view









Angle









Looking through it.









Don


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## wingnut163 (Jan 3, 2013)

thanks wife!!!

oh, nice work don.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

There's no way I could have built that trestle and bridge.

I don't have the craftsmanship ability or the patience that
it took to create that. A design architect friend did it for me.

Don


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Beautiful bridges*

DonR;

Thanks for sharing the photos of those beautiful bridges! I certainly agree that they are masterpieces of model making art!
The truss bridge he modeled and the highway bridge on my layout may have come from the same plan. Mine was built from a plan in a very old book called "bridges and buildings for model railroads". Possibly your friend referenced the same book. My bridge is made of basswood and metal rods. The rods have metal channel plates at the top and bottom, but I didn't go as far as he did on the details. Truly wonderful work on his part. :appl:

Again thanks for sharing.


Traction Fan


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