The LNER Encyclopedia

Hi All,

Just finished (well nearly - just a few bits to add still!!) the new bridge over the rockery on my O Gauge garden railway.

Built mainly from scrap steel the bridge is built to a freelance design. The baseboard is made from uPVC soffitt board and scored with a "skrawker" to give planking and grain on the planking. The suspension wires are 1/8" welding rods with the upper fixings from flared car brake tubing. The main deck side beams are from a pair of old desk legs.

To finish off, the deck suspension wire fixing blocks have to be machined and fitted, then line out to finish the painting.

Just two more bridges to go then the line will be ready to run having completed the loop.

GeoffB

There's some top work there. Can you tell us about the walls either side of the bridge and that rather nice arched bridge in the background of the last photo?

Hi,

Thanks for the nice comments.

The parapet walls are part of some modular construction viaducts I produced commercially some few years back, until knack'd hips and shovelling concrete argued! They are made from a polymer concrete as are the viaduct in the background. I will add some pics of these viaducts later today - I don't have them with me in my laptop.

They come as an 8 piece kit modular construction - 2 pier faces, 2 inner faces, 2 under arches and 2 parapet walls per pier. They are then cemented together, just like bricks.

The viaducts used here are cut down versions of the full height ones - the standard height is just over 37" to the parapet - a scale of around 135ft in 7mm scale. The length of each pier face is 16" and all are finished in 7mm scale stone, fully "weathered".

I have two more runs to construct at other parts of the railway (some of the piers are already cast - others are to be cast next year) of around 18ft long and 8ft long.

The stepped (East end arch) is ready to accept a low span steel bridge (part of a double span - one of which I am hopefully getting built this weekend!) and the other double arch (West end arches) have to add the cladding to the brickwork to finish off, ready to accept (eventually) a "replica" of the Keadby bridge near Scunthorpe - a large girder lifting bridge, which will span the 5" ground level track which can be seen in the foreground.

I will be putting more pics on as work progresses.

Regards,

GeoffB

As promised, here are the piccies.

GeoffB