It's been a while since I posted an update, unfortunately with the not so favourable weather of late and that pesky thing called work getting in the way progress has been slow. Slow but not none existent.
My focus has mainly on the bridge section as this was the last area which didn't have any scenic detailing at all.
When making the base I had never really thought about doing anything scenic and as a result there were some sections which could be straightened out on the approach to the sharp curved section at the end of the loop, this made the start of the bridge section a lot easier to deal with and makes for a much tidier section overall.
The plan for the scenic section was simply to cover and disguise the base, for the moment as least and as such not be a load bearing item in itself. I quickly settled on going for a metal bridge as anything stone or brick would be too dominate if taken down to ground level and I didn't fancy trying to make a trestle type bridge either.
I started by marking out and drilling screw holes in a strip of aluminium and temporarily fixing it to the side of the ply base. As a top to the metal section a horizontal piece would be added making an upside down L section using smaller brackets pop riveted to the initial aluminium strip and in turn to the horizontal section. Of course with a nice straight bridge a simple length of Z section which could be fixed underneath with countersunk screws would be easy but I do not have the equipment necessary to roll metal to have the correct bend in it.
It was only after drilling all of the main fixing holes that I realised the screw spacing would be too far apart for the pop riveted brackets to suitably hole the top section whilst going round the sharp corners. This resulted in reducing the bracket spacing and leaving differences in the offset between the bracket and screw locations until I got round to correcting it. Thankfully it was only on the first aluminium strip that this was an issue so not a big problem to correct.
Whilst the vertical section is just 2mm aluminium strip the top horizontal section had to be cut specifically for each section out of some larger sheet sections picked up last year when helping clear out someone's garage. To make these pieces a sheet was placed over the vertical strip and a line drawn underneath in pencil. This line was then adjusted to suit the thickness of the metal and cut with a metal cutting blade in a jigsaw to a suitable length. The cut section was checked for fit with the strip before another line was drawn and cut to make the thin sections required.
The brackets were simply cut from an angle section to the right width, drilled for pop rivets and fixed in place at the correct spacing. Where the top sections joined a double width bracket was used.
Once the main bulk of the bridge had been installed it was painted using appropriate primer undercoat for aluminium before being in a couple of coats of a slate grey top coat. The old screw holes still visible in this picture have since been filled and repainted. Ballast has also been added and is now waiting for the slate walls at the end of the bridge to be built up to a higher level.
Only a small section at the back remains to be completed, it is probably the most awkward bit to do due to space constraints and will need to be done in a different way. Having a knackered back also doesn't help as it will involve a lot of not so fun bending just getting access to it.
Still not too sure how the bridge section will get finished off, probably with a timber top sitting on top of the metal and possibly handrails of some kind but that can wait until we get some considerably better weather.
