Modelling a cable stay double deck bridge

[aussietmrail]

Have finely made a start working on the cable stay bridge towers, marking and cutting the first piece to the tower, the bridge is modeled on the Mersley Gateway bridge in Wales UK, came across the bridge under construction,  think it is finished and open to traffic now,, my bridge lower deck be rail double track .

First three pics of the beginning of the tower construction, I temporary set the tower up to see how it will sit  when built , WOW going to be pure awesome indeed and seeing the first train cross the bridge,the bridge will mainly be a passing loop and not double track main line, lower rail deck be 9 inches wide . The third pic I will cut off the front  piece sticking out up to top deck where the road deck fits in, second last pic showing a pic of the bridge with steel framing, what my be will have.

The main tower is four and a half feet high , real bridge 125 meters, under neath clearance to the water 19 inches, they say is 25 meters can't see it, my bridge tower is 3 inches square in two sections, an't model  14 feet , split in half for storage, in four sections, able be 3/8th dowel and hopping to get away with four , I like the design making it easy to model and cut the ply for the towers, all up 6 12 mm ply pieces needed and two one mm strip card .

I will cut all the tower pieces with the batter saw with the ply I have from the older models , will need to buy a full sheet of ply to cut the 7 foot decks starting off with the rail deck, built the bridge in such a way I can ad the side framing for the lower deck and road deck later to get the trains up and running first .

The bridge will sure stand out with the ship sitting half under the bridge,I be adding navigation flashing lights as well on top of the tower ad a look out for people to  view the scenery .

Once I get going shouldn't take long to build the bridge.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

 

[markgd]

wow. A bridge and a ferry to build. Thats some model making to be getting on with Tony.

cheers

mark

[aussietmrail]

Morning Mark, yeah like to be busy, a scene I have always wanted to model a Ro Ro ship passing in under my bridge , the bridge in the first pic is the one I was going to model only the main span,was going to cost too much to build so I went searching for a bridge with single towers and not so high.

The next pic is what I want to do with my towers at the top of them , have a few people on tour of the  bridge site seeing tour  , last three pics is another scene I want  on the bridge , the other idea with the trucks, Walthers maintenance  truck hope it is in HO scale, a few changes to the boom and bucket the work men are in like in the last pic , lots to do  on those rainy days.

I am heading out now to set up the curved sections to see how they sit to the track plan. linking up to the bridge be an awesome site indeed, work out ok can start work on them making up the curves section joins , got a special way so they slip in place every time and only need screws to hold them together, again making it easier in setting up same with the bus wires , plugs be different .

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

 

[markgd]

looking at the height of those piers Tony it is going to be an amazing bridge. What will you use for the cables supporting the deck from the towers?

cheers

mark

[aussietmrail]

Hi Mark, my towers are 3 inches square, am hopping to get away 3/8th round wood dowel ans only 4 cable stays, will chat to my engineer brother in law if I could get away with 4 cable stays, the model trains don't weigh much compared to the 1.1 trains of today and HO scale cars and trucks the cable stays just be there for show, if I added more. the real bridge the middle tower has 16 cables and other two probable more, might get  a chance to cut the other two strips that make up the half of the main tower and I may cut my tower down six inches.

The first pic is of the bridge I was going to build Oresund Bridge between Denmark an Sweden , you could of passed under that bridge and was going to cost a lot, the dowel especially , have worked out how to build the tower to 3 inches square and in two sections.

I had a busy afternoon today finished my bus wire plug panel, worked out well.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

 

 

 

[aussietmrail]

Some more progress on the bridge towers, I have cut the ply sections that will make up the tower and have cut the tower back 6 inches so now the tower is 4 ft high form the the bottom of the rail deck .

Mark I forgot to answer your question on what you asked about with I be using for cable stays, I be using 3/8th inch round dowel  and hopping to get away with five on each 7 ft section .

The first pic a mockup of how the  tower will be screwed onto terail deck,  I need to cut the first piece of ply back to 24 mm's for the centre beam to screw onto as  what the two pieces of ply between represent, the track deck will be 9 inches wide . The second pic are the pieces of ply for the main beam  and support every foot so be able to see the train on the outer track.

Don't know if I will get a chance today to start on the cutting, have t finish cutting back a shrub in the front garden and one in he back garden, gong to take over my son's facebook page today , change his profile and email and mobile phone to mine, want to keep his page open a legacy to him.

Tony from wet down under keeping on moving ahead 

 

 

[aussietmrail]

Here is the side plan drawing of Cam River cable stay double deck bridge, the first pic is frame work that supports the road deck, done the drawing in such a way  where I can cut the A frame separately  and they join them up saving wastage on ply and time . Second pic side plan of the bridge with the  cables drawn to full HO scale, can measure the dowel length, hopping all I need is  two 2.4 meter lengths for each section,going to an awesome site indeed when finished being the centerpiece of the layout. 

Will have to enlarge the second pic to see the drawing.

Tony from sunny down under keeping on moving ahead.

[aussietmrail]

Being studding the pics of Mersley bridge and noticed the cables stay's are closer together on the tower, I changes the drawing to closer together, heaps better,hope to get the dowel lengths this week and cut them to size before the drawing start wear off the concrete floor.

On this section I will need 5 lengths the dowel comes in a 2.4 meter length, will have a bit of wastage, I plan to join the off cuts together with with plastic tubing on the other side the bridge has a second pier.

Waiting to buy a full sheet of 12 mm ply next week, then starting work on the back of the house corner, till then work on the bridge, never ending tomorrow be cutting up decking I had  for the module sides and bridge center deck for the cable stays.

Tony fromnice down under keeping on moving ahead.

[aussietmrail]

Sorry that was wrong pic here is the right one, will have to sort out the pics.

 

Tony from down under

[aussietmrail]

Saw my specialis today and didn't get a good report, back to see my GP Monday, I have decided to scrap the cable stay bridge and go with an older design I had before , above the road deck an arch , only need 5 lengths of 2.4 meter down to over double , weekend I will draw a full scale bridge on the pergola floor, have drawn a smaller scale drawing.

There be less work on the support side framming like in the pic for the rail deck, and no centre beam needed , hope to buy the full sheet of ply tomorrow so be enough for the main span of the bridge and the northern pergola end corner module.

The arch be 36mm thick  the centre 12mm  section will be drilled 12 inches apart for the dowell, on the top arch , will have to be in two sections, bolted in the middle of the arch , this will speed up the construction a lot quicker, with the full scale drawing be able to work out  cutting the angles of the pieces that will make up the arch, arch height 3 feet..

The approach sections still need to be 7 feet, look much better with the tunnel after the approach section .

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

[aussietmrail]

I forgot to add another pic which I finely found maintenance crane from another bridge I was going to model , look good,another project .

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead  

[DEANO]

Hi Tony, Sorry to hear you didn’t get  good news from the specialist hopefully your doctor can help.

 

take care

Deano

[aussietmrail]

Hi Deano, thanks, its to do with the kidney blood test, new medication, is upsetting the levels , the specialist not sure, back to the GP next Thursday, just have take day by day , good news is I bought that full sheet of 12 ply , Bunning cut the  ply up to size, first piece 2x6 foot for the corner module and enough for the complete bridge decking  for the new bridge design. Tomorrow I will build the corner module, got that down to a fine art now, pics to follow, Sunday I will draw the new bridge to full scale so I can work out mark and cut the sections that will make up the arch, far too much wastage if I cut the arch out of  sheet of ply, they do that with the real bridges.

Here is a couple of pics of the bridge , first pic a cut out section of the road and rail deck , that pic I had for another bridge I was going to build,same thing too long to build and cost, I be basing my bridge on that design and second pic is what my be be like when finished, designing the bridge so I get the trains running first , rest of the bridge later.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead

 

[aussietmrail]

The new bridge has being redrawn to full scale and construction of the arch is under way, it should work  the same way, when I join the two halves together will make up a centre pier  so the two halfs can sit on while I bolt them together top and bottom and take out the pier, that e a while off.

I have already started work on the arch, looking at the two section I have cut out I think I will cut off  where the bottom of the section is sticking out 6 inches , will cut back to an inch , might look better when the bridge is sitting on it's pier..

Off to Cambale post as I finished the back of the house back door corner module.

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead.

[aussietmrail]

lso drew the side plan of the two decks arch and frame work for the lower deck, going to look awesome when finely completed being the main centerpiece of the layout, I now have enough ply for  the rail deck, will make up a third centre pier to hold up the bridge till the arch is completed, would love to build the arch like the real ting, be a challenge.

Having a rest from the layout now being at it for a few days now, legs and ankles are starting to swell up, will get back into the ship building program, lots to do there, be nice to have both the layout and ship nearly finished for the big event.

Going back to the April 12 post pic I could pull off that scene and have a camera crew in the maintenance crane cradle,, taking a video of the first train across the bridge, following the train, nice to dream 

 

Tony from down under keeping on moving ahead 

 

 

 

[aussietmrail]

I made a start on cutting the first arch section that will make  up the arch, going to take a while to build, all up to make the arch is seven pieces, the thickness of the arch is 24 mm's the only way I can figure out this way with not too much ply wastage and yes the ply strips are form the cable stay tower  and built like the arch would be .

Will be building piers like the Sydney Harbor bridge and linking the top of the arch like in the Chaotianmen Bridge pic, planning to have parachute kites launch of the top of the bridge  arch something different, looking at the second last pic my bridge arch wont be like that only the top section for easier access to the arch from the road, be a car park after the main pier.

I coded each piece so they will go back in the same place, next job be taping down each piece and marking the shape of the arch, second set that will glue and screw on will done the same way, will have to get some dowel. 

Going to be awesome site indeed when finished, painted gray .

Tony from cool down under

 

[DEANO]

Looks like that project will keep you busy for a while Tony, keep up the great work.

[aussietmrail]

Hi Deano, yeah sure will, like to keep busy, be screwing in place the block strips inside the control panel tomorrow, ringing up my  friend tomorrow night to make a time on Saturday to come over for him to show me how to wire up the first rotary switch, still very hard looking at a  wire diagram drawing.

A good ides to keep ply off cut  pieces you just don't know when they come in handy, the long gray lengths are from the cable stay main tower, wont go to waste, the same with the ply stops for the station modules are from older modules.

A warm weekend coming up in the high 20's great time to get outside on the layout. 

How is your layout coming along and your and wife's health as   well, I am trying out new but old medication and seams to be helping

Tony from cool down under.

Edited May 17, 2018 by aussietmrail

[DEANO]

Hi Tony,

                 Glad the medication is helping mate, My wife health has improved a little so fingers crossed she keeps improving thanks.

I keep all sorts of things that I think might come in handy one day lol drives the wife mad lol.

The weather in the UK is lovely and warm here at the moment so hopefully if weather stays nice I will be starting my garden railway on Saturday I will post updates as I go along.

However due to Brother in laws commitments I will be on my own so due to my health  the progress will be slow and steady.

Looking forward to finaly seeing running trains in the Garden.

 

Take care Deano.

 

[aussietmrail]

Hi Deano, thanks great your wife is doing ok as well , all you can do is plod  along at your own space, I have being at this layout for 4 years, should of had trains running a year back and set backs and changing the layout around, what us modelers do, I will get there, get no help other than wiring ask friends of help on what I be doing tomorrow.

Still have the last module to build over the weekend early next week.

weather is in the mid 20's here, cool morning and evening, have to pack up early.

Tony from down under.