I always liked this little Church. Good to see it again with the new foundation. Might need some railings on them steps for the elderly parishoners. 
Tom
TomEastern Tn logging on the DG CC & W RR 1928
- Thread starter Bill Nelson
- Start date
am trying the site every couple days trying to upload a random photo, hoping it works someday. have doen a lot, will take me a long time to get caught up.
Woo Hoo a picture loaded. I've been trying random photos . I was lucky, and this has some RR content, the view from my front yard. I'll be back with photos of the progress in the Biscuit Rock area of the new Gizzard!
(Picture uploading fixed!!)
That is the view from my front porch, My house was built facing the old main road to the city from my area, which was abandoned when the ferry was replaced with the first road bridge across the Cumberland River. the Old City Ferry RD ends after my driveway, which comes down through my back yard. The building with the moon next to it is the old County Courthouse , so I live directly across the river from Downtown, but I'm the last house on a dead end road out in the woods.
I have gotten a lot done while the photo loading was down. Not sure I'm going to be able to get the stuff in chronological order, I may end up just loading a lot of random recent photos. here is a start. I had this old road bridge deck from old Harlow, which was just long enough to span the South Fork Of Crooked Creek, for the Gizzard road, in an area that later will be known as Biscuit Rock. The old bridge super structure was cut down from an old Atlas steel bridge. it only had detail on one side. In old Harlow this bridge was up against a backdrop, so that wasn't an issue. In this location, it would be visible from both sides; and steel would not be appropriate for a road bridge in this neck of the woods anyway, so I delved into my stash of strip wood, and started to knock out a bridge. I was wanting to try to knock this one out of the park. My first really good bridge was a road bridge for a club i belonged to when I was a kid, I wanted to build a train bridge, and they made me build a road bridge first. I put in tension rods, nut and bolt castings, nail holes, the full nine yards. I got to built the wooden train bridge, and pretty much any wooden bridge they needed. I wanted to make a similar bridge for my layout. except i pre stained every bit of wood on that old bridge. I don't have that kind of time right now, and spray paint is my friend.
Below I'm test fitting the bridge in the Gizzard!, and messing with a temporary foundation for the Store at Biscuit Rock . The rock comes later.
Here is a close up of the basic bridge structure
and an underside view.
and here it is with its paint and NBW castings, all it needs is the boards to go under the tires, and Those will best wait until the road is better developed.
I have gotten a lot done while the photo loading was down. Not sure I'm going to be able to get the stuff in chronological order, I may end up just loading a lot of random recent photos. here is a start. I had this old road bridge deck from old Harlow, which was just long enough to span the South Fork Of Crooked Creek, for the Gizzard road, in an area that later will be known as Biscuit Rock. The old bridge super structure was cut down from an old Atlas steel bridge. it only had detail on one side. In old Harlow this bridge was up against a backdrop, so that wasn't an issue. In this location, it would be visible from both sides; and steel would not be appropriate for a road bridge in this neck of the woods anyway, so I delved into my stash of strip wood, and started to knock out a bridge. I was wanting to try to knock this one out of the park. My first really good bridge was a road bridge for a club i belonged to when I was a kid, I wanted to build a train bridge, and they made me build a road bridge first. I put in tension rods, nut and bolt castings, nail holes, the full nine yards. I got to built the wooden train bridge, and pretty much any wooden bridge they needed. I wanted to make a similar bridge for my layout. except i pre stained every bit of wood on that old bridge. I don't have that kind of time right now, and spray paint is my friend.
Below I'm test fitting the bridge in the Gizzard!, and messing with a temporary foundation for the Store at Biscuit Rock . The rock comes later.
Here is a close up of the basic bridge structure
and an underside view.
and here it is with its paint and NBW castings, all it needs is the boards to go under the tires, and Those will best wait until the road is better developed.
Very Nice..and I love your view also!! Reminds me of the trestle coming out of Cloudcroft NM down to Alamogordo..one of my favorite places!
This photo shows the scene starting to form up, with the beginning of Biscuit Rock. A narrow gauge bridge will cross right in that area, and the cliff under the rock did not stick out far enough to support a trestle bent, so an overhang over the road, and over the creek. My goal is to try to work around the top level of the Central peninsula, and get the basic scenery form in, so I can uncover the level below it, clean things up, and perhaps be ready to run trains. lots to do, and this mountain has a lot of rock work to do, this area is complicated, and has to provide most of my Mountain RR experience. I also started the foundation for the Biscuit Rock store, which will also have a back porch later on.
This is the cliff that separates the Gizzard area form the log transfer area. I's used up almost 2/3rds of my hydrocal, so I'm conserving it by doing a layer of two of House Plaster (I have 3 100 lb bags surplus from plaster lath repairs on the old house. I'm butting down one or two layers of house plaster, and then a layer of hydrocal to carve. By summer I"ll be home durring the week days, and will be able to be here to meet the truck driver for another delivery of hydrocal, but even when I have all I need, I may still use this method with the two types of plaster.
the below photo shows the kind of chaos on the lower level the upper level work causes
The photo below shows the new carved rocks going down to the stream, and the location of the narrow gauge bridge deck
this one shows the new biscuit rock, which will make the kind of trestle I want to put under that narrow gauge bridge deck work. I had thought about
This is a photo of the area from the other side of the peninsula. On that side of the peninsula, I have a long passing siding along that leg of the wye, which leads to the Log transfer. this wye will be busy, turning trans going to state line, so they can back into the very cramped facilities there, avoiding some nightmare switching.
This is the cliff that separates the Gizzard area form the log transfer area. I's used up almost 2/3rds of my hydrocal, so I'm conserving it by doing a layer of two of House Plaster (I have 3 100 lb bags surplus from plaster lath repairs on the old house. I'm butting down one or two layers of house plaster, and then a layer of hydrocal to carve. By summer I"ll be home durring the week days, and will be able to be here to meet the truck driver for another delivery of hydrocal, but even when I have all I need, I may still use this method with the two types of plaster.
the below photo shows the kind of chaos on the lower level the upper level work causes
The photo below shows the new carved rocks going down to the stream, and the location of the narrow gauge bridge deck
this one shows the new biscuit rock, which will make the kind of trestle I want to put under that narrow gauge bridge deck work. I had thought about
This is a photo of the area from the other side of the peninsula. On that side of the peninsula, I have a long passing siding along that leg of the wye, which leads to the Log transfer. this wye will be busy, turning trans going to state line, so they can back into the very cramped facilities there, avoiding some nightmare switching.
- Apr 5, 2013
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I live on a Dead End road in a small Connecticut town. I really enjoy that no one except the few people who live on the street go down it. I have a great view of the forest, but it is often blocked by the trees. I live between two ponds that are big enough to have a blast sailing a sunfish on, or canoeing. That is a beautiful view, and the city in the backdrop looks like something out of a movie!! 
Dis some work on the Biscuit Rock General store' back porch, notching the wooden posts to fit the grant line railings in place. I Acced the railings on, but distrust most glues for holding plastic to wood, so I used white glue to glue a very thin wooden board on the outside of the porch posts to retain the railings.
this view shows the corner of the porch, the road bridge, and Biscuit Rock
This third view shows the grade crossing I', building for the road. now to try to come up with a better gravel road than I've done in the past. I'll also need to do some rocks and vegitation to fill the gap under St. Joseph's foundation. That wasn't there originally, but i found out the building wasn't level, and had to make some adjustments.
this view shows the corner of the porch, the road bridge, and Biscuit Rock
This third view shows the grade crossing I', building for the road. now to try to come up with a better gravel road than I've done in the past. I'll also need to do some rocks and vegitation to fill the gap under St. Joseph's foundation. That wasn't there originally, but i found out the building wasn't level, and had to make some adjustments.
A couple of weekends ago I spent a lot of time with my 4 inch table saw. cutting up lumber for what will be my longest wooden bridge ever. O cut up some blanks of aromatic Cedar I bought at Kroger. it is intended for smoking salmon on. but I can't do that, the wife is allergic to cedar, but the wood cuts very well on my underpowered table saw. and I like the color. the grain is too distinct , but one can seldom have everything. they also had cedar wraps, basically sheets of cedar veneer. I really like that, because it is thinner than my saw can reliably cut will be great for stacks of lumber at the mill.
I put some of that lumber to use, building the first, and shortest of the two box trusses that will carry the narrow gauge spur over the gully and the road, and over the Standard gauge tracks. with a big trestle in between.
here are the two halves of the box truss ready to go together.
The first box truss together
and testing it in place .
Nelson
I put some of that lumber to use, building the first, and shortest of the two box trusses that will carry the narrow gauge spur over the gully and the road, and over the Standard gauge tracks. with a big trestle in between.
here are the two halves of the box truss ready to go together.
The first box truss together
and testing it in place .
Nelson
I can tell , it has been way too long since I have updated anything. not sure I can go back and catch up; but here is where I am right now. The narrow gauge trestle is almost complete I have one long bent that just needs sway braces, and I need another two long trestle bents.
first photo shoes the jig I use to make uniform trestle bents. this one was developed for my ore transfer area, and is way shorter than needed, but it sets up the correct geometry. the two medium sized bents are shown sitting on blanks cut from foam meat trays. the foam is super easy to cut to fit, so I use it to make templates to fit between the bridge deck, and the scenery. that way I can produce a trestle bent that will fit as closely as possible to exactly.
Note the aluminum foil at the top of the jig. this keeps the white glue used to glue the trestle bents's vertical members to the cross piece from sticking to the jig.
here you see one of my tall bents. this is made on the same jig, but the ends just stick way out. I use other long bents to locate the position of th cross members, so they all line up on the bridge when it is done
You can see the blue insulation foam that I am using to make the foundation for the trestle bents that are in, or near the stream, painted the same color as the rocks in the scenery, they will nearly disappear, but provide important detail in the steam area, which will be a natural focal point.
with another three trestle bents to go, I'm getting close to done.
This is the view from the other side. so far this is all removable. I'll do all the sway braces between the trestle bents on the front side of the bridge for added strength, and then remove the bridge, and do the sway bracing on the backside, before weathering the bridge with spray paint. I may put some NBW castings on the outside sway braces. or I may put that off trying to push toward operability.
first photo shoes the jig I use to make uniform trestle bents. this one was developed for my ore transfer area, and is way shorter than needed, but it sets up the correct geometry. the two medium sized bents are shown sitting on blanks cut from foam meat trays. the foam is super easy to cut to fit, so I use it to make templates to fit between the bridge deck, and the scenery. that way I can produce a trestle bent that will fit as closely as possible to exactly.
Note the aluminum foil at the top of the jig. this keeps the white glue used to glue the trestle bents's vertical members to the cross piece from sticking to the jig.
here you see one of my tall bents. this is made on the same jig, but the ends just stick way out. I use other long bents to locate the position of th cross members, so they all line up on the bridge when it is done
You can see the blue insulation foam that I am using to make the foundation for the trestle bents that are in, or near the stream, painted the same color as the rocks in the scenery, they will nearly disappear, but provide important detail in the steam area, which will be a natural focal point.
with another three trestle bents to go, I'm getting close to done.
This is the view from the other side. so far this is all removable. I'll do all the sway braces between the trestle bents on the front side of the bridge for added strength, and then remove the bridge, and do the sway bracing on the backside, before weathering the bridge with spray paint. I may put some NBW castings on the outside sway braces. or I may put that off trying to push toward operability.
After fighting off the virus from hell for some three weeks; I survived all the way to spring break, yet another awesome perk associated with employment in the school system. last night I was too tired to do anything at all, after going to a hockey game on Thursday night. We have another game tonight, so we did not make the trip out to the cabin this weekend, allowing me to do some site work on the RR, rather than build stuff for the RR out at the cabin. Last night I built the two remaining long bents for the trestle that crosses over the South fork of Crooked Creek, and one leg of the standard gauge Wye, to cary the narrow gauge spur to the log reload area @ what I'm thinking will Be Sunburst TN. a name borrowed from The Champion Fiber Co.'s history. Champion later became Champion Paper, and then Champion International. My Dad worked for Champion most of his career as a professional Forester, Before his semi retirement he was thier Vice President of natural resources. after he semi retired, he was thier Vice president of Industrial Affairs. Dad was a life long train nut, and had seen steam logging at the beginning of his career. He bought lots of books about it, and exposed me to those books , and model railroad magazines before I could read reliably, and here I am! Dad would love this scene!
In the above photo, the last vertical Bent is stuck in a chunk of foam, that will later become a piece of foundation. Below you can see how I have used one of DR Tom's scalpels to carve stone detail into the foundation. I have made the foundations on the last vertical bents wide enough to support the sloped bents. this will leave the outside edge of the stream unobstructed. that is where the channel would be deepest, and the current strongest. this set up saves the trouble of tying to set up a good foundation in the deepest part of the stream, with the strongest current; while also making a larger opening in that strong part of the current to let driftwood, and other debris pass cleanly through, rather than piling up on the bridge foundations.
Here is the front of St. Joseph's . I have extended the steps to beter fit the terrain. the top half steps are carved hydrocal, and are integral to St Joseph's foundation. with some careful washes, i can darken the cracks on the lower steps, and they will blend in perfectly with the upper steps. Dr. Tom has reminded me that I need some railings on those steps, and I'm trying to figure out how to best do that In a way that will hold up to being very close to the front of the layout. may even make them out of code 40 rail.
This bridge is almost in. the next big step will be to work on the messiest parts of scenery everywhere needed on the top level of the central peninsula. Once that is done I will be able to clear the protective plastic from Harlow, and the possibly I will be able to clean track , and perhaps run some trains. once the bridges and scenery are in though, There will be a strong temptation to start putting the narrow gauge track in down the top of the ridges to either side of the Gizzard.
Nelson
In the above photo, the last vertical Bent is stuck in a chunk of foam, that will later become a piece of foundation. Below you can see how I have used one of DR Tom's scalpels to carve stone detail into the foundation. I have made the foundations on the last vertical bents wide enough to support the sloped bents. this will leave the outside edge of the stream unobstructed. that is where the channel would be deepest, and the current strongest. this set up saves the trouble of tying to set up a good foundation in the deepest part of the stream, with the strongest current; while also making a larger opening in that strong part of the current to let driftwood, and other debris pass cleanly through, rather than piling up on the bridge foundations.
Here is the front of St. Joseph's . I have extended the steps to beter fit the terrain. the top half steps are carved hydrocal, and are integral to St Joseph's foundation. with some careful washes, i can darken the cracks on the lower steps, and they will blend in perfectly with the upper steps. Dr. Tom has reminded me that I need some railings on those steps, and I'm trying to figure out how to best do that In a way that will hold up to being very close to the front of the layout. may even make them out of code 40 rail.
This bridge is almost in. the next big step will be to work on the messiest parts of scenery everywhere needed on the top level of the central peninsula. Once that is done I will be able to clear the protective plastic from Harlow, and the possibly I will be able to clean track , and perhaps run some trains. once the bridges and scenery are in though, There will be a strong temptation to start putting the narrow gauge track in down the top of the ridges to either side of the Gizzard.
Nelson
Best I can tell, thee is no where in my RR room where I can get a full view of this trestle. this is as close As I can get. standing on a stool, with my head smashed up against the narrow gauge return loop @ Gegokayoosa NC. I'm Likely going to need to fire up the table saw again and cut more lumber the size I'm using for the horizontal braces, and the sway braces. not surprising on a project this big I'd have to fire up the sawmill
one more time.
one more time.
Thanks Tom. this end of my central peninsula is very skinny, and there is a lot going on here. I redid the plan many times trying to keep it from looking too crowded. The trestle makes a partial view block, and the big steel bridge is so high up, visually it is almost another level. this area with the wye, the water powered sawmill, the little logging camp associated with it. and the big log reload, the central peninsula's top level will be a busy place; but at the same time, I am relying on it to provide most of the mountain railroading atmosphere for my RR., all without the scenery dropping a couple feet below the mainline tracks.
Got the foundation for the house near St. Joseph's painted, and most of the cross braces on the outside of the Biscuit Rock trestle. will need to fire yo the table saw to cut more cross brace material. I don't have enough on hand to even start the back side of the trestle.
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Thanks Tom, If I can get the other side of this peninsula to look this good I'll be ecstatic. still struggling a lot with building location over there in Perry's Gizzard proper.
Had been unable to log in for the longest time. got a You are not authorized to view this material notice. Have got a bunch of work done. will have to go back and look at my thread, and see where I was. Got a new I phone 7, and it's camera is awesome, and usually in my pocket!. The school year is drawing to an end. I have tons of small projects I will need to work on on the farm house, and the yard, but I intend to try to fit in an hour or three a day , once I get past post season Hockey. That might not last long though. The odds makes had my team with a more than 50% chance of going all the way but the Ducks are a dirty team, and have managed to injure some of our star
forwards. will study where I was before I was rudely interrupted by technical difficulties, and post some more progress photos, before picking up the narrative.
forwards. will study where I was before I was rudely interrupted by technical difficulties, and post some more progress photos, before picking up the narrative.