Okay, the CEO made the call today that the bridge ties were not going to work. First, they did not ‘blend’ in well with AMS Code 250 ties that the rest of the RR is built from. And besides if the RR can afford ‘creosoted’ ties the they should be able to afford ‘creosoted’ bridge ties as well. Second he felt that they were too short, even though they were the same length (9 scale feet) as the Roi Grande bridge ties. And third the AMS tie width did not allow 'The Spiker" to fit atop the tie. So old ties are being removed and another batch of about 200 new bridge ties were cut, stained to match the AMS tie colour, to the correct width to accept ‘The Spiker’ and increased in length to 10 scale feet.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/kettle_valley/_forumfiles/IMG_0585.JPG)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/kettle_valley/_forumfiles/IMG_0586.JPG)
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Also '22 guage sheet metal was added to the tops of the caps for fire protection. Actually foil duct tape sanded with fine sandpaper to remove most of the gloss of it. Edit to add: The old bridge ties will be recycled to build cribbing and retaining walls,etc.