A new bridge from Eaglewings Iron Craft was finally purchased. I had to pour concrete abutments in a custom-made mold, and on Mother’s Day I got the bridge installed:
The bridge is made of steel, is 3 feet long and weighs in around 20 pounds. Each of the abutments is around 30 pounds. This isn’t like modeling in HO scale.
Here’s another shot from the track looking at the bridge. The rear of the train is on top of the tunnel, and the switch in the foreground is for the long passing siding along the back of the layout.
To deal with the fact that another 8” of soil needs to be added, a solid wall for the new pond is being formed with cinderblocks. These will have soil and an underlay on pond side to prevent rips in the liner. In the next picture (prior to the bridge being installed) you can see how the area by the waterfall will connect to the area occupied by the current pond. Track with the T-square is where the bridge now resides.
The old pond will be completely swallowed by the new one. The tadpoles are swimming around already, so I’ve got to work slowly for a few weeks so as not to disrupt them too much.
