The Bridge

[Vecchio]

Amazon was nice to me and brought me a "GRAR BOX motor". It runs very silent, on 12V it makes 5rpm. The thing is unstoppable - no idea what the torque is. I will need to further reduce the rpm and I definitely need a slip clutch so that the motor doesn't destroy the bride when on the end of its way. (I know, there will be a microswitch, but a mechanical safety device is always advisable...) 

 

IMG20230122170547 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Vecchio

[lezz01]

Very nice mate.

Regards Lez. 

[lezz01]

There is something similar on eBay but it has a 0.6 rpm option.

Regards Lez. 

[zr2498]

3 hours ago, Vecchio said:

The weekend is ending and I am in my workshop again. Just the hub has to be re-made. 

 

Well, I made one, this time the holes were not off-centre, but the diameter was too small. See below hub no 1 and hub no 2... 

IMG20230122145510

 

On we go with hub no3, now 1.5mm larger in diameter... 

Hub no 3, now at the next stage, the arms are soft soldered in place. 

IMG20230122144541 

 

Now you will see what I planned with the 009 wheels. 

IMG20230122170011 

 

IMG20230122170047 

 

The top part will marry with the bridge, the bottom part will be connected to the foundations. 

IMG20230122170128

 

On this photo you can see (not very well, but you can) the wheels of the original

DSC_0167 

 

A long way to go, but I am happy with the progress so far. 

Very impressive bit of machine work. It certainly helps the scope of what you can achieve. Hopefully I'll have time to get a couple of Unimat SL's  set up this year. One for lathe work and one for milling. What you are doing has given me the encouragement to get on with it.

Dave

 

[Vecchio]

10 hours ago, zr2498 said:

Very impressive bit of machine work. It certainly helps the scope of what you can achieve. Hopefully I'll have time to get a couple of Unimat SL's  set up this year. One for lathe work and one for milling. What you are doing has given me the encouragement to get on with it.

Dave

 

See if you can get an unimat 3 (they were made in a creamy white colour). Much more precise than a unimat SL as the 3 has a cast and milled (adjustable) bed while the SL has just 2 bars. Once worn you cannot re-adjust them.  Or go for a small Chinese machine. May be not as small but very good and precise these days. I had an Emco compact 5 for more than 40 years and just recently changed to a slightly bigger Chester DB8. The latter is a Chinese built machine but I have to say much more precise than the old Austrian Emco.  Sometimes, when bored by the model railway, I make one or the other model steam engine.

 

If it comes to metalwork you need to look in my thread Home made catenary. This is some old stuff from my Italian-Austrian border layout, but I did the same for my current show layout "Donnersbachkogel"

 

[Vecchio]

13 hours ago, lezz01 said:

There is something similar on eBay but it has a 0.6 rpm option.

Lez,

 

I know 5 rpm is too fast, but what I am planning is a kind of belt/ thread drive which will also incorporate the function of a slip brake. This will bring it down by factor 4 or 5 depending on the diameter ratio I will use. This is still too fast for the real thing. I never saw the Banavie swing bridge working, but I measured the time of the movement of the swing bridge (road) in Fort Augustus. It was close to 3 minutes. If I do that on a show layout people will turn away because they think it is not moving *).... With 1 rpm the 90 degree movement will be 15 seconds, I think this is a time I have in mind. Not to forget that I can also reduce the voltage the motor gets. This gives further control over the speed.

 

*) By the way - I have a moving water crane and moving loco shed doors on Donnersbachkogel - the majority of people doesn't see it...

[Vecchio]

Now it is time to marry the turntable with the bridge. Following the original there are 4 beams supporting the bridge in the centre. They are not 100% straight, but this view will not exist after the tracks are on. from the side all looks perfect. 

 

IMG20230123173355

 

side view

 

IMG20230123174300 

 

and from below

 

IMG20230123173333 

 

Enough for today.

[lezz01]

Have you seen Signaler69's thread mate? I believe he did the same bridge on his  Cirian layout.

Regards Lez. 

[zr2498]

1 hour ago, lezz01 said:

Have you seen Signaler69's thread mate? I believe he did the same bridge on his  Cirian layout.

Regards Lez. 

Hi Lez

Just did a search - should be Signaller69 and Crinan. Sadly most of the photos are missing. Seems that all that valuable info will be forever lost.

[Vecchio]

Hi Lez, the bridge on the Crinan layout is based on the banavie bridge, but you may notice it has 10 or 11 fields, while the original bridge has 17. Also it is set in a different location. 

There will be for sure more people doing the same or a similar bridge, as it is a very popular object. 

In any case there will be a small break in my reporting now as I have to go to my mum's funeral in Vienna.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Vecchio
spelling

[Vecchio]

Back after a long brake.  The rails are glued to the (later invisible) deck

 

IMG20230403211742

 

Now I put it in place, and I couldn't resist to put a coach on  the bridge...  Hard to see, but now also the colour has changed. Before it was Halfords filler spray, now it is Humbrol light grey. 

 

IMG20230403220502 

 

IMG20230403220507 

[zr2498]

On 03/04/2023 at 22:18, Vecchio said:

Back after a long brake.  The rails are glued to the (later invisible) deck

 

IMG20230403211742

 

Now I put it in place, and I couldn't resist to put a coach on  the bridge...  Hard to see, but now also the colour has changed. Before it was Halfords filler spray, now it is Humbrol light grey. 

 

IMG20230403220502 

 

IMG20230403220507 

Hi Lez

Saw your comments on Acc 37's and it reminded me to ask how is progress on your bridge project?

 

Dave

[Vecchio]

Pretty bad, the diy front and also some club stuff did brake me (we had our annual show last weekend)- or more or less are the excuse for not getting on.  On top of that one of our club mates bought a Judith Edge kit, I did like it, so I looked around and found a class 06 (complete kit including motor and wheels) from the same brand. So all gets into the same direction, preparing for this Scottish layout and collecting the right stock. Means Loch Eil will be a perfect match and so does the 06.  See the 06 in progress - yes, too much solder in places, but believe me, it is not that easy (It only looks easy in Michael Edges thread...) 

 

IMG20230612172442 

IMG20230612172457

 

On the bridge itself I found some handrail knobs at the York exhibition some weeks ago, well, they are still in their bags... And the tread plates went on in between the rails, the outer ones still need some fine adjustments. 

 

IMG20230612172553

 

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