Glacial progress!

In light of various things going on with the climate I am sure there are actually glaciers that are moving one way or another faster than my progress on the narrow gauge layout. You think you will have time to do a few hours and then find yourself getting pulled into other jobs. The good weather the other day meant a too good a chance to catch up with tidying up the garden so that was most of the day taken up. However at least there has been some progress with the layout with the two river crossings more or less structurally complete. On the bridge with the wood deck I had to take the sleepers off the track. In real life the rail across most open deck or wooden bridges is supported by a sub-structure which holds the rail in place. If there were only sleepers then there would be no ballast to hold the track firm. In model terms taking the plastic sleepers off is fairly easy - a little action with a craft knief and they are gone. However the remaining rail does need some support to retain rigidity and avoid the track warping. Therefore I soldered some copper clad strip under each rail. The copper clad strip is plastic sheet covered with a layer of copper which makes it useful for all sorts of things including circuit boards in most electrical appliances. However as with many items people find uses for products which were far from the minds of the original creators as in this case.

The copper clad strip cut to length.

Now soldered into place giving rigidity to the rails. I am going to have to recess the rails into the bridge deck which is something my original plan did not envisage but that plan also did not take account of my miscalculations on levels! Say no more! 

With some of my woeful geometry calculations for angles, the abutments for both bridges are done and it is mow looking like this.

The unusual looking item on the right of the picture is supposed to be a cattle grid. Made from some off cuts of plastic sheet and rod it is my idea to disguise the joint in the road between the two baseboards of the layout. How good it works out is another matter!

The second bridge is much more conventional in style. The steel girders have been hanging around in my scrap box of bits which "may come in handy one day" for over 30 years. However despite not having seen them for most of that time I still remembered that I had them. Now if only I could remember what Mrs Woody was saying the other day - that would be progress!