This is a blog contribution that comes almost three years late. In my first blog about the Third Avenue Bridge model, I left open the entire access ramp to the bridge abutment. That’s about a 2′ section on my CNJ Bronx Terminal layout. I built and completed the ramp over time and it now enhances the prototypical appearance of the layout. Following is a summary of the design and construction of this structure.
The ramp follows Third Avenue into the South Bronx with a gentle bend to the left and ends on 135th Street. Above the intersection of Bruckner and Third, the Bruckner Avenue ramp joins the main ramp. This leg was only added after the reconfiguration of the bridge in the mid-1950s. Therefore, I only modeled the original ramp on Third Avenue.
Basic Construction
Construction of the bridge was straightforward and without the use of kits. For the core of the two ramp elements I used Styrene I-beams. I then covered the I-beams with 0.040″ thick Styrene sheets for the deck. The bottom of the I-beams I filled with 1/8″ brick wall from MonsterModelWorks. The brick textures work as a ceiling even if they are not really visible unless one would try to take a ground level picture. The basswood makes the bridge girder very strong, however.
Under the second element that spans over Bruckner Boulevard, I also added supporting pillars made of Styrene tubing. These pillars emulate the column-like support structures visible on some archive photos. On each end, the same massive granite piers that can be found on both ends of the abutment support the elements. Again, I used the MonsterModelWorks block stone sheets made of 1/8″ basswood. Properly weathered, they give a good idea of how the prototype may have looked like.
Ramp Deck
For the decking, I followed the same design as for the abutment and the girder bridge. Both outside lanes I designed as concrete decks with an asphalt pavement. In the center lane I hand-laid two tracks for the Third Avenue (TARS) trolley. For the pavement around the tracks I used N scale cobblestone sheets from MonsterModelWorks. Inspired by a photo from the New York Department of Records archives, I designed the right lane to the northeastern end of the ramp as a road construction scene. This would also add some visual interest. A group of Preiser construction workers and a weathered Ford flat bed truck from Classic Metal Works complemented the little scene.
Addition of Details
Having finished the deck of the ramp and the abutment, the bridge still lacked some details. On the real bridge, a Bishops Crooks cast iron lamppost would sit on each turret. It took me a while to find street lamp models that were close enough to the prototype. Coincidentally, those lamp posts were used all over New York and may have been fabricated in the J.L. Mott Iron Works across the CNJ Bronx Terminal (building to the right in the NY Dept of Records photo above!). I finally bought a dozen lamps with warm white LEDs from a Chinese dealer on eBay. They lacked the garland motif but otherwise had about the correct proportions. I hooked all lamps up to NCE Illuminator Lighting Decoders. The decoders in turn are connected to the DCC bus. That way, I can control them centrally.
Another detail I added was the overhead catenary for the trolley. As the real bridge carried southbound traffic only since the early 1940s, I decided to install the catenary on the right track only. I cut poles of 2.4mm Styrene tube and painted and weathered them with a metallic gray. For the wires between the poles and the hangers for suspending the catenary I used Sommerfeldt material for N scale. For the catenary wire I simply used spring temper brass wire from Clover House. The catenary is non-functional, but so are the Bachmann Brill Trolley’s plastic poles. Nevertheless, the trolley in Third Avenue Railway System (TARS) livery is a fun addition to the layout. I managed to squeeze a small LokPilot decoder into the Bachmann model. The trolley now runs smoothly over the less than 3 feet of electrified track on the bridge.
Extending the Layout Beyond the Bridge
The (sort of) finished bridge allowed me to also add scenery on its northwestern side. Between the (not yet modeled) Mott Haven Iron Works and the Bruckner Building, I added a little factory building from Woodland Scenics (“Sicken Tire Company”). On my layout it would become the Ironworks Brewery. Next, I turned the stockyard in front of the Mott Haven Iron Works building into a small junkyard. What used to be a stockyard for General Builders Supply Corporation in the 1930s and 40s would now be a small idyllic scene overgrown with weeds and with scattered railroad ties. More importantly, however, the bridge with its prototypical dimensions allowed me to take photos from unusual angles – see above.