Trestle is Ready for Track

Bridge will be ready for rail once the glue dries

 Jack Thompson came by today to help work on the layout.  He drove spikes while I assembled the bridge. He got about 3 feet done before he had to leave.

The first step for me was to paint the creek bottom using Paynes Gray and the base scenery color.    I also painted the abutments in the same style as the other bridges on the layout and glued them in place. 

 I add the diagonal braces to the bents. That required the tedious work of adding 16 NBWs to each bent where the diagonal touched the uprights - 208 total. 

As I prepared each bent, I glued it to the stringers but left the bottom sill unglued. I used a weight to ensure the glue joint had a good bond. 

 Once all the bents were attached to the stringers, I used my 48 inch level to make sure the stringers were straight. I was amazed to find that they were. So I started adding the diagonal braces that ties the bents to each other. Then I added another 72 NBWs.  The NBWs are tedious but they do provide some nice detail to the wood structure. 

The last task for today was to glue glue down the ties on the bridge.  Once they are dry, I should be ready to start spiking the rail across the bridge.