Monk Subdivision - Bridge Collapse

While installing the last piece of backdrop this evening, I shut the door off while cutting a piece of MDF in the workshop. I heard the distinct noise of a wood stick falling on the concrete floor. My brain immediately knew what it meant. I may have missed the loud noise made by it due to my ear protectors, but only ONE stick could have produced that highly recognizable noise. It was the lift bridge that collapsed after the retaining stick had fallen due to vibration.

For a few weeks, I wanted to make a stick with anti-slip rubber ends before building a proper stopping mechanism. I failed to implement it for various trivial reason and there, the bridge was down. Given the falling height and the bridge weight, I knew the damage would be substantial.

The lip shattered and took away the spline and abutment with it

The lip exploded, including the bridge abutment and the piece of spline glued to it, shattering wood under the stress of screws. On the hinges side, their wooden support unglued themselves while the 3/4 inch plywood forming the structure splintered like cardboard. The bridge itself was no longer horizontal, but sank down noticeably and the backdrop jammed itself on the rest of the layout. It was a mess.

I must have been quite tired because I calmly assessed the situation and started to dismantle the hinges to relieve some stress. Moving the bridge out of the doorway required quite a lot of strength. It was jammed as if someone had driven it with a sledgehammer.

Plywood was badly damaged at the hinges where the shock was absorbed

Fortunately, the mechanical parts, electrical dowels and hinges were intact albeit laying all over the place. The resin abutment, thought shattered, could be repaired because it broke in three large pieces. No missing shards and the weathering job wasn't affected.

I carefully cleaned the splintered pieces of wood, removing the screws and loose wood fibers. I then reglued everything in place, carefully filling the fissures with carpented glue and making sure everything was square and tight with many clamps. After 30 minutes, almost everything was repaired. Another hour will be required tomorrow to reinstall the hinges supports, the spline and the electrical dowel at the far end.

The abutment broke, but didn't shatter... fortunately

Until I build a safer stopping mechanism, I won't reinstall the lift bridge. I knew it was a liability and I'm lucky the damages weren't fatal.

With that said, the backdrop is almost all in place and sanded down. It will require some putty work after primer, but so far, the result is good. I didn't expect it would be so challenging, but truth to be told, it is! I still need to address a weird corner though. Can't wait to paint the powder blue sky and the Appalachian landscale. It will means that I'm finally ready to reinstall the splines, lay the track and wire them. Something that I've been waiting for more than 5 years.