New Basket Bridge

[Northsider]

When the Isle of Man Railway company replaced the Basket Bridge at Sulby in 1914, the new structure was tested with three locos and a couple of carriages; there is a photograph of the wet November day in 1914 when this happened.
I built a model of the Basket Bridge a few years ago, but it finally succumbed to the weather, so a replacement has been built from laser cut acrylic, embellished with around 1500 Cambrian rivets (yes, I know!). Yesterday saw the testing re-enacted, albeit with one less locomotive and better weather:

 

[ge_rik]

Looks like a really good model. Have you got a side-on view?

Rik

 

[Northsider]

Looks like a really good model. Have you got a side-on view?

Rik

The background is a bit of a wasteland just now -I'm holding off on the new 'modelling shed' -a log cabin type of thing, suitable for year-round use. With a bit of planting it should look less utilitarian.

 

[Henri]

That is really beautiful! 1500 Cambrian rivets.... oh my!!

 

[Northsider]

That is really beautiful! 1500 Cambrian rivets.... oh my!!

Yes, I turned into a bit of a rivet counter on that one, although much of it is guesswork rather than absolutely prototypical. The trouble is, once you have started you've got to see the thing through. And in my defence, it does look better than the Mk1 version...

 

[Jasper]

Nice model. And I like that you re-enacted the original photo. Any chance of uploading that too?

Incidentally, I never knew "basket bridge" was a term.

 

[Northsider]

Nice model. And I like that you re-enacted the original photo. Any chance of uploading that too?

Incidentally, I never knew "basket bridge" was a term.

It was called the basket bridge because the arched bracing made it look like a basket...

(copyright remains with the Manx Museum)

The basket bridge was slid to one side and the new bridge installed -you can see it just behind the new bridge, which is the one under test.

 

[Jasper]

It was called the basket bridge because the arched bracing made it look like a basket.

Thought that might be the case.

The gate shaped feature in the middle of the bridge is interesting. I assume it is for added strength.