1. Stage 3-June 2020 Stage 3 is Commenced

Stage 3 has been started.
The first task was concreting in the posts that will hold the track baseboards for the upper and lower loop tracks.
They have been made longer than usual, so that the planned spiral/helix that will take the loop that "came down" in stage 1 back up to the upper level, can be mounted on them.  They will be trimmed after the spiral/helix is correct; this will be a complex build so extra time will be allocated to its construction.

This area is where the planned "town/industrial will be situated with a few sidings to provide some shunting interest included.

Looking toward back fence

Looking toward Stage 2

Looking toward shed

The proposed "sugar cane railway" will be built with the mill on the Left Hand Side of this picture and the rail running out to about where the dirt pile is.  

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9. Stage 2-June 2020 Lift Up Bridge Finished; Stage 2 is Complete

With the completion of the lift up bridge and the baseboards around Coleus Corner and Across the Yard; Stage 2 is now complete.

The bridge was the final part to be completed the arch is made from aluminium angle filled in with a plastic lattice cut from the bottom of old bread delivery crates that I found at a local recycle centre.
The cross braces that join the 2 track decks are made from aluminum 'U' channel with a flat bar down the centre..

Looking out from Firepit area

Looking toward Firepit area

Train crossing bridge

The bridge only opens to slightly over 90 degrees I made it that way so that a person has to hold it open to pass through then they will close it. This stops it from being left open by accident.

The non hinged end track is located by "Hillmans" lift out bridge clamps when it is closed.

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8. Stage 2-June 2020 Baseboards Across the Yard completed

The base boards extending from the Lift Up Bridge gap, across the yard fronted by the lattice fence have been finished.

This is the extent of Stage 2 and once the bridge is finished Stage 2 will be called finished.

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7. Stage 2- June 2020 The Lift Up Bridge Rail Decks are Built

After proving the concept of the hinge mechanism, work started on building the rail decks.
Aluminium was the chosen material primarily because it is light weight but still strong enough for the purpose.
The main deck is made from box section with 2 angle pieces riveted on either side that fill in under the sleepers.

The hinge tongue was extended by the use of a piece of galvanised steel 

The tongue extension fits inside the box section and adds strength to the join.

The first deck was then constructed and rail was fitted.

To keep the correct gauge a "Gauge Plate", made of a piece of brass, was soldered into place. (the heat damaged sleeper will be replaced for aesthetics as it does nothing to hold the gauge).

The non hinge end track will be located using "Hillmans" lift out bridge clamps to hold the alignment.

Both Decks are now completed and work will start on linking them together so that they form one lift up bridge structure as opposed to what they are now which is 2 separate lift ups.

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6. Stage 2- May 2020 The Lift Up Bridge is Redesigned Again

After I put pictures of the MKII design on a Garden Railway forum a question was asked about the pivot height. 

When I revisited the design, I found that when track was attached to the supports there was a yawning gap that just did not work.  The error I made with the MkII was that I put the bridge support on top of the hinge pivot instead of level with it.  When the rail was added the gap was just unworkable as the support folded into it. 

So back to the drawing board for this little project I went and came up with Bridge Design MkIII where the bridge support will now be level with the top of the hinge and will not fold into the gap.

I then built a proof of concept jig to test the design with positive results.

It became apparent that the secret of the opening is having the bridge support level with the top of the hinge and the 45 Degree cuts in the rail which allows the moving rail to drop away from the fixed rail without fouling.
The moving arm of the hinge is level with the baseboard and the gap that the rail folds into is not real wide.

Closed

Open

Closed-Close Up

Open-Close Up

I then started the bridge construction following the concept principles.

The new mounting block has been made from wood and work on the first hinge has started.
Unfortunately I used some hardwood from the $2 per 1.2M rack and it is cut crooked i.e. 32mm on one side and 30mm on the other.

Luckily I have 2 different sized mounting bolts and the longer one just happens to bring the hinge top level with the baseboard.

Next thing to do is the Deck to carry the rail which will be made out of aluminium to keep the weight down.

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5. Stage 2- May 2020 The Lift Up Bridge is Redesigned

23 May 2020
The base boards on the other side of the opening have been completed so work has now started on the Lift up Bridge.

25 May 2020.
I had a rethink about the hinge arrangement on the lift up bridge and decided to make the mounting block out of steel rather than wood.
To make the mounting block I fitted 2 pieces of 'C' purlin overlapping each other and screwed them together to form a rectangular hollow box.

I purchased a more robust set of gate hinges and 2 plastic shims 10 mm thick which when fitted to the mounting block and the timber supports for the bridge were added, the top of the supports was level with the top of the approach base board.

28 May 2020
Another rethink saw the use of timber for the bridge supports replaced with using Aluminium primarily because the hardwood timber was comparatively very heavy and would have made the ease of opening the bridge more difficult.

The bridge supports are now made out of 50mm x 30mm x 3mm Aluminium box section.
They will carry the majority of the weight of the trains and combined with the new hinges are at the same height as the top of the baseboards without the necessity for the 10mm shims which will be used elsewhere I am sure..

Initially the supports crossed the opening at right angles to the ends of the baseboard frames but when track was positioned to check the alignment it became obvious that the supports should be on an angle to allow a smooth alignment for straight track across the bridge.

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4. Stage 2- May 2020 Lift Up Bridge Work Begins

To allow access to the inside of the loop I decided to build a lift up bridge to go over an opening left in a lattice fence that forms the front of the railway.

The Opening

After seeking ideas/suggestions from people who have built these type of bridges on various forums I settled on this idea provided by Korm Kormsen from the Large Scale Central forum.

The main difference is that the hinge mechanism is below the rail as opposed to what appeared to be the norm of the hinge being above the railhead height.

I  started by building the mounting point to which the  hinges will be attached, it is held on by and angle bracket and 2 steel posts concreted into the ground.

Hinge mounting mounting point

I chose gate hinges because they were stronger and more robust then the normal door hinges plus the are galvanised.  
They will have to be recessed into the mounting block so that bridge support is level with the approaches roadbed.

Hinge Closed

Hinge Open

The hinges will have to be fixed away from the end of the roadbed to allow for the bridge to swing up without fouling the end of the roadbed.  A gap slightly larger that the height of bridge support timber will have to be left for the end of the support to fold into.

I will take this part of the build very slowly making sure the the bridge can be opened and closed with confidence before proceeding.
To this end I will have to complete the base boards on the other side of the opening so that is the next thing that will be done.

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