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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4583 Posts |
 Posted - 04/03/2010 : 2:01:04 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Frederic Testard
Don, I meant the slopes on either side of the road, which I would imagine wilder.
Hi, Frederick -- I should probably just keep my nose out of this since it ain't my railroad. But I've never let little things like that keep me from expressing an opinion. 
I believe railroads made a serious effort to keep vegetation under wooden trestles under pretty tight control for fear that a brush fire might ignite the trestle.
But when Vagel gets around to checking the thread - he's not as much of a forum-addict as I am - you'll get the real answer.
Don |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
720 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2010 : 2:19:30 PM
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Thanks for the praise, Mark.
quote:
Originally posted by Frederic Testard
This trestle is very nice looking, Vagel. I suppose you're planning to add more vegetation below?
Frederic, once I get the thing firmly settled in place with the air gaps below the sills filled in, I intend to add some clump foliage and "plant" some scrub brush here and there around the perimeter, but generally intend to keep the area under the trestle clear of heavy vegetation. When I invoked the memory of Otto Perry's top-down shot of the trestle on the Ophir highline, I didn't mean to imply that ROW standards on the B&SGE would mirror those of the RGS. [:-jester]
Don's response rings true, in addition to the defoliating effect that coal smoke and cinders had on ROW vegetation in the good ol' days before diseaselization.
Oh, and Frederic, let me come back to edit this by way of thanks for leading the witness with that question ... you really did give me second thoughts, which added scrub brush to the plan ... I'm thinking about using the top-most branches from some Scenic Express Super Trees with late-fall red foliage to replicate Sumac bushes that proliferate in clearings throughout this region.
Vagel |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 04/03/2010 11:49:03 PM |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4583 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2010 : 11:18:26 AM
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Once it's firmly planted and Vagel is done with the scenery around it, I'll be adding handrails to the refuge platform and a fire barrel or two.
Hmmm.... Did fire barrels have lids? Without a lid, you'd lose water by evaporation - but you'd gain water from rainfall. I suppose I could do some actual research - but I'd rather be lazy and hope that some knowledgeable person will tell me the answer. [:-dopey]
Don |
Edited by - AVRR-PA on 04/04/2010 1:36:12 PM |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
720 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2010 : 4:44:11 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by AVRR-PA
... adding handrails to the refuge platform and a fire barrel or two ... Did fire barrels have lids? Without a lid, you'd lose water by evaporation - but you'd gain water from rainfall.
Hey, Don, I googled "fire barrels on trestles" and came up with an interesting discussion on the issue ... seems sand was in those barrels as often as water. Sand makes sense, since you were not going to fight a trestle fire with a barrel and buckets, but just extinguish burning embers noticed from the caboose. But another thread on yet another forum said that water barrels had lids, and a cone shaped bucket hung from a chain inside; it was cone shaped to discourage theft. All in all, the issue of sand vs. water and lids vs. open tops seemed to depend on the regional climate; I think in our neck of the woods, lids are in order, whether to prevent evaporation or discourage raccoons from using the barrel as a litter box.
Vagel |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 04/04/2010 4:56:00 PM |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4583 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2010 : 4:56:16 PM
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See, it worked! Vagel likes research. I'd rather be gluing little pieces parts together. 
Don |
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Frederic Testard
Engineer
France
16438 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 7:19:03 PM
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I love research too, Don. On many of my projects, I spend an impressively long time looking for information on the internet. Most of what I find is of no use for the project, but sometimes you'll fall upon a gem.
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Frederic Testard |
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Orionvp17
Fireman
USA
2805 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 7:56:54 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Frederic Testard
I love research too, Don. On many of my projects, I spend an impressively long time looking for information on the internet. Most of what I find is of no use for the project, but sometimes you'll fall upon a gem.
Frederic,
This is what makes the Web so much better than an encyclopedia! Whenever I look through an encyclopedia for something, I spend the next hour or so noodling across interesting "stuff" that happens to get in the way of the search. Once I find the item in question, I wind up spending another half hour looking at other interesting stuff that I didn't get to the first time! At least with the Web I can type in something and go there in a straight line.
Unless, of course, it's something like a "Google image," in which case all bets are off... those are good for the better part of an evening.
Pete
in Michigan |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
720 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 10:25:40 PM
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Frederic and Pete,
Research is fine taken in moderation, but if one is not careful it becomes a hobby in itself. Same thing applies to highway miniatures (the subject of a clinic I did at the NMRA national in Detroit) and, er, craftsman structures ... [:-devil] ...
Hey, BTW, our mini-thread about fire barrels gleaned an off-forum email from Br'er Budeit about fire barrels on the OR&W. Brian reported that on the Old, Rickety & Wobbly they sunk barrels into the ground at either end of the trestles. They had lids and buckets hung inside. We're going to do that on future trestles.
Anyway, I finished the trestle scene and installed it back on the Buchanan Branch this evening. Here it is with Don's overpass temporarily set in place to show how the two bridges will fit together in the scene:
D&RGW No. 346 pulled and pushed a string of my temperamental Tichey ore cars on MDC trucks through the approach curves, over the rail joints, and across the trestle without mishap:
A bit wider angle showing the whole overpass complex. The right end of Don's road bridge is resting temporarily on the bent that will actually support the joint between the King Post truss and the short span between that and the top of the road ramp.
As I've said before, this is really going to be a great railfanning location.
I'll try to have the track weathered and ballasted here by Wednesday so Don and I can get the overpass done, too.
Until then, write if you're so inclined,
Vagel |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 04/05/2010 10:31:50 PM |
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Orionvp17
Fireman
USA
2805 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 10:29:07 PM
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Vagel,
This is a really great railfanning location right now! Congratulations!
And for the record, "research" may just be why I get so little actually done! [:-boggled]
Pete
in Michigan |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
720 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 10:39:51 PM
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| Thanks, Pete! |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4583 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2010 : 06:58:52 AM
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Hi, Vagel -- the scenery looks really great! You really raced up the learning curve on plaster scenery and backdrop painting.
Don |
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rickb326
Engine Wiper
USA
174 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2010 : 12:03:19 PM
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Vagel and Don,
Not much to say except that the trestle area looks amazing.
Rick Bennett |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
720 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2010 : 12:50:01 PM
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Thanks, guys. While Don's away this week I'm moving on to mundane track weathering and ballasting, then more backdrop painting, and, maybe, some rocks and vegetation on the ridge between the tunnels and the trestle. I'll post an update when things have progressed some more.
Don texted me a half hour ago from his seat on the Pennsylvanian as he crossed Rockville Bridge ... [:-grumpy]
Vagel |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 04/08/2010 01:47:19 AM |
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Harsco
Fireman
USA
1101 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2010 : 07:01:41 AM
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| Looking good, Vagel....you're inspiring me! Keep us posted... |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
720 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2010 : 10:46:59 AM
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Thanks, Rick; the feeling's mutual. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that we'll have the line extended to the blast furnace complex sometime in the next three months.
I've been plinkin' away at "odd jobs" for the past few days and finally have enough progress to justify some new snapshots of the Buchanan/Tascott area. For starters, the receding ridgelines are roughed in on the backdrop from the kitchen door to the end of the masonite:
The primer-painted area remaining in the extreme left distance will be behind a 3D backdrop similar to the one behind the trestle.
All std and narrow gauge ties and track in this area are now weathered, as well, and I've begun to make progress with ballast on the std gauge, emphasizing the multiple tracks that pass under Don's overpass. This shot looks back toward the twin tunnels with Tascott Yard buried in cinders:
While I was doing the yard I went ahead and put some ground cover and shrubs on the hillside above the end of track, as well. Maybe I'll have time to do some more of that and also plant some trees before next weekend's open house. I don't know ... I need to ballast a lot more track first, as you can see from the track coming out of the tunnel:
I think tomorrow I'll put the second layer on the roughed-in ridges to the Buchanan side of the backdrop, then at least finish ballasting the track at the overpass site. If I get that done and still feel like doing some more, I think I'll go back to the backdrop project and work the 3D aspect. We'll see; there's still one more turnout to ballast at the overpass site, and I usually require at least one dram of single malt for each one of those. [:-crazy] |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 04/10/2010 6:59:11 PM |
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New Home for the Blacklog & Shade Gap Eastern
