Milwaukee Girder Bridge 3-D printing

That's cool Don. I have a different Milwaukee Road bridge in mind that could use those.

Whatever became of the signal bases and ladders? Did you ever run those?

Hi Elliot, I had problems with the printer all last year and give up on it for some time. Finally changed to a different material and nozzle and it started working fine. I made signal bases and decided to just add brass tube, plastic ladder, brass platform and ordered led two light heads. They are very cheap from China. In other words I made a kit out of it. I just took to long to print and the parts. If you want me to send a base and see if you like them I will. The girders take some time to print as they are complicated but I'm happy with them. I can only make each girder about 7 1/2 inches. That works out fine as the brace for cross small girders (I am using HO size for those) will go where they are joined. Don

Elliot, these are closer to the bridge I'm going to build. Don

Wow - I've driven across a couple of those bridges up towards Hyak (before the 'John Wayne' trail was finished. Would really love to model these myself.

Glad to see that you are again modeling the Milwaukee Road, Don.  I thought your former Milwaukee layout was superb, and your photos captured the realism.  I always wanted to go up to Montana and Washington to see the electrics run, but never made it until after it was all diesel.  You have chosen a very interesting prototype to model.

Here's a shot from under the Short Line Bridge. If that isn't complicated enough, I need to build it in segments to go around a curve. There are at least three different fabricated elements that the printer would make short work of.

As for the signals, I don't even need the bases that badly. I have the brass tubes and the targets from China too. It's really the ladders and platforms I'm looking for. On a different topic, someone suggested using 1/4" mesh, and cutting off a single row of it to make the ladders. That just leaves the platforms. Got a source?

Elliot, you can get the ladder from Plastistruct and make the platform with Plastistruct "L" shape as a frame, then use brass mesh for the floor of the platform. The small girders I see in your picture can be had from "Central Valley" www.cvmw.com

$14 for a large pack of these HO girders. Don 

#90, I have no choice but to build the Milwaukee Road. That's all the railroad equipment I have. I lived with my grandparents off and on when I was young in Washington but never, ever saw the Milwaukee Road. Just Northern Pacific. My wife and I took a road trip once just to follow the railroad to the Columbia River. Many of the bridges are still there and you can see where the roadbed was. It's funny, when you ask people about the railroad they don't seem to know much about it. Don

scale rail posted:

Elliot, you can get the ladder from Plastistruct and make the platform with Plastistruct "L" shape as a frame, then use brass mesh for the floor of the platform. The small girders I see in your picture can be had from "Central Valley" www.cvmw.com

$14 for a large pack of these HO girders. Don 

Now that you mention those Don, I think I have a pack of them stashed away in my materials file cabinet.