Home Creek and Cedar Creek Module Frames
Before moving away from Zimmerman and taking a break from Free-mo, I had built a couple of drop deck module frames mostly from some left over material. These only got to the basic framing and then have sat in storage for almost 3 years. A conversation today with John Z. from Minnesota made me hankering to get them out of the shed and see if they can be used for the Homer Creek and Cedar Creek modules. They were a little dirty from storage and had a bit of mildew on them, but they are cleaning up nicely. Since these were constructed entirely from Baltic Birch plywood which even 3 years ago was quite expensive, I really want to make use of them.
Homer Creek
This double track module was originally built for a scene that was going to feature a small town including a Kwik Trip and a Burger King (both kits long since sold). It will now be used for the Homer Creek bridge module and should work very well. The depth is about 2 1/4" (about 16 scale feet) which is almost perfect for this bridge as it sits roughly 10.5 feet above the water. This will allow me to add some depth to the creek.
This is the double track module that was going to feature a small town with a highway under the bridge. It will now be used for Homer Creek Bridge.
And end view of the Home Creek Module frame.
Cedar Creek
The single track module was built at the same time as the double track because I had materials, but no real plan for it. This one has a little twist to it so I made some "adjustments" and clamped it down so the glue can set and hopefully straighten it out. It sits flat with legs so shouldn't be a problem. I hope to have these standing on legs by the end of the year.
The single track module was built without a plan. It will now be used for the Cedar Creek module.
An end view showing a little mildew, but that will get cleaned up.
Planned Work
As you can see from these modules, I didn't think about the width of the end plate when I assembled them. There is a small gap above the side frame at the ends, so I have to fill that. These will get 1/8" Masonite fascia with contours added so no matter what I do the fix will be invisible.
Additionally, I never cut notches in the end plates for the plywood sub roadbed for the track. I prefer to have the plywood extend to the end of the module to avoid any issues with ski ramps. So I will have to get out my circular saw with a dado blade and make the perfect notches for the main line. Then I can add the sub roadbed up to the bridge on each module. This will then be supported the full length with an L-girder type setup to avoid humps in the main line. These modules already have a full length center rib under the plywood to keep it from sagging.
Bridge Progress
The Homer Creek Bridge is nearly complete and ready for paint.
I was able to get one of four girders for the Ballasted Deck bridge built for Cedar Creek. I hope to complete the rest this week.
The first two modules for Driftless Free-mo are coming along, but it will be a little while before these are ready to show as I have an S Scale railroad to build, a job to pay for all of these modules, a new piece of software to track my inventory (https://mytraininventory.com), and a family to celebrate the holidays with. Nevertheless, I am making progress and will keep everyone updated here and on our Facebook Page.