Building The Mill Creek Bridge By Revell Walker

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Norman Cameron
5 years ago
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1 Building The Mill Creek Bridge By Revell Walker The Mill Creek is one of my favorite designs. I ve made a lot of them over the years for many e-bay customers and improved them with each one into the form you will build now. This bridge can be made as simple as like, or you can trick it out with brass torsion rods for a more realistic effect. So lets get started. What you ll need: ½ x ½ x 36 inch redwood garden stakes Wood glue of your choice Nail gun with ¾ to 11/2-inch brads Chop saw (speeds construction but a good hand saw will work too) Begin: We will construct a 3-foot long version of the bridge. This design can be made as long or short as you want it. It depends on your needs. We start by making the sides. Take two ½ x ½ x 36 strips of redwood and laminate them like so: Reinforce the laminate with a few nails in the ends and the center area. This is the lower frame beam. Mark equal spaces on the lower frame beam for your posts. At the first marker on each end, nail a 6-inch long post, then one in the center. The upper frame beam is a single piece of wood strip, extending ½ inch from each end post. Check your alignment to ensure a square and level product.

Once you ve done that, nail in the diagonal beams starting with the ends first.

2 Attach the rest of the posts for ONE SIDE ONLY at this time. This will allow you unfettered access to nail in the diagonal beams. Once you ve done that, nail in the diagonal beams starting with the ends first. Once the diagonals are attached, nail on the remaining posts. When you re finished, you should have a frame looking like the image below. Repeat the process for the other side frame.

Decide how wide you d like to make it (single or double track) and cut the appropriate end cross members from 1 x ½

3 Install wood strips in between the posts on the inner part of the lower frame, level with the top. This is for tying in the rail tie cross beams. It s now time to join these frames together for the bridge. Decide how wide you d like to make it (single or double track) and cut the appropriate end cross members from 1 x ½ wide wood strip. Nail them to each end and make sure every thing is square. Be sure that you dial in enough width clearance for your largest locomotive.

You can simply place it top of the cross beams, or hand spike it

4 You are now ready to add track to the bridge. There are many ways to run it over the bridge. You can simply place it top of the cross beams, or hand spike it to them. I prefer to inlay the entire manufactured track in between the tie beams, and here s how you do it:

Cut shorter beams to fill in where the diagonals meet the posts.

5 Place a section of Euro track in the center of the bridge. Cut and slide the cross beams between the track ties, about three per post section. Cut shorter beams to fill in where the diagonals meet the posts. Secure these in place with ¾ inch nails to the inner pieces of wood we installed earlier. Next, we install the catwalks. These are three sections of ½ x ½ strip wood planed down to ¼ inch high on each side of the track.

both posts plus an extra ½ inch on either side.

6 The torsion bar beams are installed on the top and bottom of the posts. The lower beams extend the full width of the bridge plus ½ inch, while the top are only long enough to clear both posts plus an extra ½ inch on either side. A ½ thick piece of wood is used to align the beam edges for nailing. If you want to stop here and call it good, you re finished with the bridge. If you want even more detail by installing the brass rods, keep on reading.

Make yourself a drill guide that will give you a 7/64-inch hole ¼ inch from the edge of the upper and lower post beams on inboard and outboard sides. Drill the hole to 3/32-inch for the brass rod.

7 Make yourself a drill guide that will give you a 7/64-inch hole ¼ inch from the edge of the upper and lower post beams on inboard and outboard sides. Drill the hole to 3/32-inch for the brass rod. Now you can cut and thread 28 pieces of 3/32 nd brass rod (I got mine from a welding shop) for 3-48 nuts. This is the most time consuming part of the building, and I ve found that using a drill motor at low speed and cutting oil speeds this process up when threading with the die. When completed, you ll find the effort well worth it. The brass really complements the stain applied to the bridge. You can also blacken the rods for an additional realistic effect.

8 . Shown here is a completed bridge now in service on a railroad in Northern California. Another one, of shorter span, also serves this pike

I hope this has inspired you to make your own bridges. Once you ve mastered this design you have opened the door for more interesting types of spans.

9 I hope this has inspired you to make your own bridges. Once you ve mastered this design you have opened the door for more interesting types of spans. Construction Notes: All construction uses the glue-and-nail method to insure strength in the outdoor environment. Over time, unglued joints will loosen as winter cold and summer heat contract and expand the structure. A waterproof glue joint will give you years of service. I also recommend that you stain and varnish your bridge to extend its service life. Stain can be applied before or after construction. It really depends on what region you are in. Here in southern California, we can get away with letting them age gracefully to a gray patina. Some of you in the colder climes will find that those brass rods are really functional, so reinforce the rod holes with small brass washers. I can t say enough about modern power tools. They really make production of these bridges a joy, and allow you to use wood from any scrap source. I made one of these bridges by ripping all the wood from discarded 1 x 6 cedar fence board using a 10 inch table saw, and planed the surfaces smooth with a power planer. The advantage of using old fence wood is that it s already aged from years of being outdoors and so will last longer. When securing the sectional track to the bridge, it is recommended that you do not use screws to hold it in place. This will allow it to move with the rest of the structure and track during temperature changes. You can let it float between the ties or secure it with nylon cable pull ties at each end.

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