The Bridge on the River Malbaie - Part 4

Good news! I just received my pair of Rapido CN coaches. They are simply gorgeous. Honestly, I do like the green and gold paint scheme, but I must admit passenger equipment in CN wet noodle is especially slick. Hard to believe I could have travelled on these cars everyday to go to work if I was born a few decade earlier. Now, I absolutely need to get a Rapido Steam Generator and to complete my RS18 as soon as possible.

Yesterday evening with Louis-Marie, we test fitted the new bridge on the layout. It was also a good occasion to settle where River Malbaie riverbed would be located. The river will flow diagonaly from left to right. On the right side, the track will follow the river on an rip-rap embankment, just like the prototype.

We tried our best to make sure track radius was a little over 30 inches. That's a little bit sharp, but still manageable. If possible, I would have liked a 36-42 radius.

Bridge abutment are made of styrene and painted with Humbrol gloss enamel covered with talcum power (to give some texture to the styrene). They will be eventually painted and weathered according to prototype.

On this spot, one can easily imagine where the river will flow along the track. On the right is the junction with the mainly.

The benchwork was extended on eachy side of the bridge. Topographic features will be done using regular and florist foam blocks. Riverbed will be painted on a 1/4" thick MDF board and covered wil thick varnish and acrylic medium for ripples. According to my photographic sources, River Malbaie can be quite high in the spring and relatively low during summer months. I'll try to get something in between.

It was also an excellent occasion to take railfan pictures of the bridge. It will probably be a favorite spot of mine. Seriously, I'm particularly loving the way the new layout is developing. I feel many hard learned lessons are now better understood. There's a sense of space and destination on the new layout. I was surprised when we tested the bridge. The river scene looks much more larger than we first thought, which is a good thing. There's really this feeling of a small industrial spur branching off the mainline and going somewhere over that large river. The nice thing about it is it took not that much place. Only to select the correct structures, to not overcrowd the scene and use topography with a realistic, ordinary, casual, "just like the real thing" way.