What's on your workbench now?

This will be a repeat from Trainboard for some of you. But for those not on Trainboard I hope you enjoy my latest fun projects. This first one is my own version of a covered railroad bridge. They really existed for the purpose of protecting the support timber holding up the track. I added a lane for trucks in the logging or coal industry. This one will include the truck as a freebie but my steam loco and track are not included

I'll have to add the photos in the gallery to show you the rest...

Karin, This is wonderful. A great addition to Z Scale. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

This one is much smaller, 2-1/4" by 3/4". Another fun one

Karin,

I love those bridges. And the best thing is they can also be used on a European layout. Last summer I saw one of those in Switzerland.

Just one question: do you use a laser cutter for the parts?

Yes, Uwe. But the hard part was in drawing up a bridge that had no existing plans, and doing it on the computer. Laser cutting the pieces was the easy part, figuring the beams, the flooring, the sizes... it would be so much easier if I could just make the laser read the designs in my head without having to figure out how to command it to cut!

Karin

I hope you knew about this web site !
(The Covered Bridge Manual)
www.tfhrc.gov/structur/pubs/04098/index.htm

There are ton's of info in there about covered bridge

Ben

The amount of detail is astounding. Great job. Jim, I think they would look good on your layout.

Goob, I do to. I think the Northern Division will have one of these beauties. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

animek wrote:

(The Covered Bridge Manual)

...is there anything missing in this paper besides the size of the shoes of the enginer?

Right now drying is my interior lighting for the US Post Office. I had all this "Z scale lights" from Webehonest or somebody and I figured why not. Cheers, Jim CCRR:ohmy:

@ Karin, great job !!!!

@ Jim, what hast thou done?

Harry, I don't know much about lighting, but this seemed like a good idea to use extra lamps in some of my buildings. They light up! Cheers, Jim CCRR:unsure:

Jim, I dont like the ones with grain bulbs. I prefer to make my own led lights. They last a lot longer, so I dont have to worry about changing them.

John, Are you saying I should use LEDs? Cheers, Jim CCRR:unsure:

Yep,its cheap too. I use recycle leds from the GP35 boards. I just solder the led to a 800 Ohm resistor to it and thats it.

Very cool looking covered bridge Karin.

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy, I've got more up my sleeve... and I'm not talking about my arm

Hi John, I was just today looking at SM LEDs and wasn't sure about the resistor size. In fact, I'm not sure I understand much about them except that I would rather use them over wheat bulbs. I want to learn more. So, I will start a new thread
Karin

Back to the original question:
On my workbench now is the suitcase layout, which will take the rest of my natural life. I've made some changes: removed some of the original metal hardware and cut new foam for a better fit with the edges of the case. With the new foam, I also lowered the layout about an inch to allow for better depth. Lately, I've been working on the mountain through which the train travels:

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself with all the cutting and forming on this part. I finally decided how to handle the mountain, literally and figuratively. The mountain will be removable to allow access to the track and train as necessary for derailments, etc. So I will be installing aluminum pins and guides to help with this part.
The foam for the roadbed is cut already, so once the mountain is pinned, the bridge and supports will need to be completed to finish laying the roadbed.

Cheers!
Jeremy