John’s been in touch with some impressive pics of his trestle bridge:
“Hello Al
Greetings from Vancouver Island, Canada,
I am currently working on the Arbutus Canyon bridge, here on the Island E.&N. Railway, and a project for our model railway club.
I will send you the narrative as soon as I can.
This a teaser (pictures included)
Read you articles as soon I get them!
John”
Now on to Cassio.
He’s never a man of many words – but I presume it’s because of the language barrier:
“Hi Alastair.
My collection UNION PACIFIC locomotives.
Cassio”
(You can see Cassio’s layout here.)
Now on to Hall of Fame member, Bill:
“Al,
Hope this finds you. As always love the posts from all over the world you share. Always something new and exciting to enjoy each day I open your post.
I’ve been busy on my O Scale and On30 layout. Benchwork is done and my O Scale part is running well. I’ve been busy now getting sub roadbed put in place for my steep logging narrow gauge line.
I will submit more for your consideration later covering building bridge track out of sectional track and some other projects I’ve been up to.
The video shows where I am at currently on building the layout.
Cheers!
Bill in Virginia”
(You can see Bill’s last post here.)
A big thanks to Bill, Cassio and John.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming – my inbox is looking very empty at the mo.
And if today is the day you get going on your layout, the model train Beginner’s Guide is here.
Best
Al
PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
Nice work there Bill
Always appreciate bridges. When on road trips, I look for bridges and radio towers (I’m a ham operator). I’m the president of one of the boards for our condominium complex. The town condemned the bridge over our condo lake. I had the job of rebuilding the bridge. Wow! The greatest job I could ever be given! Though there were fights with residents and lawyers over special assessments and how fancy I wanted to go. I did prevail and now everyone is very happy with the appearance.
Great job Bill. Wish I still had my home.
John, great job on the bridges, and funny, they have a canyon like mind and are in Arbutus, near where I live outside Baltimore! Good work and let us know when they’re placed into the club layout.
John From Baltimore
John
Great bridge. What scale? Hand laid track? Awesome.
Cassio
I always enjoy your work. Never saw so many engines. Are they a new currency against inflation?-LOL
Bill
You are something else ( in a very positive way ). You working in the confines of your garage makes me content that I’m not the only one. If it were Anybody else I would scream at the steep incline but I have faith & cant wait to see this work. Your creativity and planning are amazing. Eagerly looking forward to progress.
All be safe
George from LI, NY
John, Great layout. The variations of elevation make for a very interesting visual interplay. I love it. I like your trestle too. It reminds me of the Georgetown Loop Railroad in Colorado. Great work, Rob McCrain – Farland Howe
Bill in VA et al,
“pre”-Warped low grade, high priced plywood seems to be the new norm these days, even the premium “cabinet grade” stuff isn’t very good, so I’ve searched and found a better material to use that is just slightly more expensive when bought in quantity. It’s popular in Europe for MRRing. I am using it first to build my helixes (2) for my N scale layout. The brand name is Gatorfoam board, it is a synthetic board made primarily for outdoor sign use. It comes in several sizes and thicknesses and all but the 3/16″ thickness is guaranteed not to warp even when exposed to the weather 24-7. Unlike the common foam board that we are familiar with, this has a dense hard foam core that you cannot dent with a finger nail, or even if you drop a heavy tool on it. The center is bonded in place to two sheets of resin impregnated smooth fiber board outer surface. The entire board will not absorb water so will not swell if it gets wet. Important to us as we use plenty of water when building scenery etc. It is stiffer and probably as strong as similar thickness of plywood at 1/2 the weight, The 1/2″ or 3/4″ thickness can be ripped down and used to build frame work as well. It holds screws like wood altho you need to use a countersink bit if you want the screw heads at or below the surface. It glues like wood with the recommended glues, is not affected by most solvents, and paints beautifully. It comes in white or black color including the core. The thicker sheets cuts with standard wood working tools, and the 3/16″ sheet can be cut (albeit wit a little difficulty) with a utility knife.
My scraps will be used as bases for my buildings, no more warped bases popping up through the scenery!
Chuck
Awesome work.!!! I hope mine turns out that good.
Thank you to Chuck for the hint on Gatorfoam board
John’s bridge is an amazing model.
Hi John, great bridge scene. Where on Van Island are you located? I to live on the island and would love to come visit if that is possible.
And thank you Al for providing this newsletter, its inspiration is what got me started again in the hobby. It’s the first email I open every morning.
Thank you very much.
David
John- excellent work! Cassio- impressive!
Superb trestle!