12/06/2010 pics :
Thought I'd tell about my bridge - (it's a lift out) this had troubled me for some time, I had no idea how to do one which would allow access for the mower. The relative hardware - bridge hinge clamps - were not available , so I had to work out a system that would allow for correct alignment and smooth running. My "railbed" is mainly 90mm decking board and I had built the crossing using this as one solid bit , the grass kept growing. I had to think fast before I got nagged.
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Try this - picsI had cemented in the two posts which would be the bridge supports, I used 60 cm posts, 25kg of mortar and - erm 20 kgs of white marble chips - I had no ballast you see. This all meant that the supports were far more solid than the rest of the track, I thought that would be a good idea.
First I cut some shorter bits of wood and bored a hole in to fit over the posts, these are about a foot long. I then screwed the "span" to both the posts and these bits of wood which were then screwed laterally into the posts to add something ?? maybe rigidity.
The span was then measured several times to make sure, then I cut each end at an angle, both angles pointing to a central point somewhere in the universe - but flat of course. I figured it would be a bit easier to align things this way as opposed to a straight cut across. I made the cuts after quite a bit of double checking etc . Then I had these nice metal plates that came from
Leroy Merlin AKI, dunno what they are for , found them with screws and nails. The pictures show them in place.
I have few nice track joiners from a man at the Dortmund Show, I think he is the one who makes frogs n stuff as well as pointwork which is very sexy. I ground 2 of these to allow me to drop the track in rather than slide it into place. I was a bit wary - they cost me about a euro each !!
Proof of the pudding - I had to cut the grass on Monday - lo and behold it all came apart and back together perfectly - trains ran no probs.
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