More Bridges and Roads

 With the road in place and painted it was time to start some detailing. I find I work best by doing a small amount and coming back on several occasions to add to the overall effect. For the road I first misted a very fine earth brown along the edges where the road surface meets the verge usually referred to as the gutter. If you look at any road the gutter will be full of dust, litter, nuts, bolts and many other things that commonly get called detritus and have either washes into the gutter or been dumped. For a country road like the one modelled I have assumed the locals are proud of their area and don't drop litter so the dust and other natural materials is the only things that accumulate in the gutter. On bends you tend to see an additional accumulation of detritus. My rendition of all of this so far and still more to do, looks like this -

With the road in place the bridge structure could also be added. This is the Wills SS28 Occupation Bridge and in an earlier posting I detailed how I had to make new abutments. I have painted the railings white and then have given both the bridge griders and the railings some rust weathering which I ma pleased with.

You'll notice that track ballasting and scenic work has also taken place but more of that another time. In the meantime I will await the first 00 gauge vehicle to cross the bridge and test its strength!  

Building Bridges!

As part of the landscape for this layout, I needed a road to cross the railway by means of a bridge. Peco, in their - 009/H0e Setrack Planbook show the Wills SS28 Occupation Bridge (Single Track) and Stone Abutments as being suitable. Looking at the character of the bridge it seemed ideal for what I was after for a narrow gauge railway. Having ordered one, it was upon opening the kit and studying the parts that I found that the abutment walls were not high enough to allow a steam 009 gauge type loco under it without a major incident! I guess if you were using very small industrial diesel locos with limited height then it might work. However there are solutions! Liking the bridge structure itself I had some SSMP227 Wills English Bond Brick sheet in stock so measurements were taken, head scratching undertaken, internet searching carried out and after a bit I ended up making these abutments which are 5cm tall which in old measurements is just a tad over 2 inches! 

People either seem to love or hate the Wills sheets. They are thick, can be difficult to cut and need mitered joints on the corners if you want a continuity in the bricks and bond. I have got used to them although I have at times cursed them but as you will note from the photo I still end up with filler on the joints. The coping stones on top of the brickwork are just balsa wood which was cut to size. 

Once happy with things the bridge components were treated to a coat of Halfords grey primer in a rattle can which handily was nearby.

Then it was time for some colouring - literally! As described in my post on the construction of the Dapol Windmill kit the brick work was rubbed over with a selection of  brown, orange and red coloured pencils randomly. Because the mortar lines of the bricks are recessed in the model, the pencils just colour the bricks leaving a great finish. 

More on the bridge and how it fits in the layout in another installment to follow later but I can say my calculations on heights and clearances were right - just!