So what does everyone use for bridges?
I’ll need four to go with the viaduct I’m building, but am having trouble deciding on what to use. Sadly, I really like some of the MTH bridges, but they made most of them specifically for RealTrax, and FasTrack will not fit in them. Lionel has one that I like, but at a MSRP of $65 (and, yes, I know I can get it cheaper) it’s a little pricey to buy four of those.
I’ve used the Plasticville/Bachmann through-truss bridge kit ($15-20) with good results. I actually spliced two of them together for my State Line branch in my Narrows.
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/116157/1331067.aspx#1331067
I also recommend keeping an eye out under the tables at swap meets. Came up with a Atlas 40 inch bridge for $40 bucks last year. Not too shab-by.
**Fife…**wow! But I am afraid you just got Brent into rethinking his Pittsburgh ideas.
Jack
I was lucky enough to have someone build mine for free!
Fifedog … you stold that rascal !!! The 40" incher … some have da luck … some don’t …
Spanky, I have Fastrack and am in the process of fitting the bridges on the layout. For the old 314 girder bridges, I am taking a Dremel Tool and just cutting the roadbed to fit over the flanges of the bridge at the edges. I also have a nice MTH bridge with the access paths on either side that will not allow for the Fastrack roadbed. From what I hear at the Yahoo Fastrack group, you can do nice cuts to the Fastrack Roadbed using a Tablesaw. That will be my plan on some 30" pieces. Of course, I will work on the color of the ballast to make it look less like rocks on the bridges.
Dennis
dweimer … have the same problem with fastrack and 2 bridges … hate to use different track and converters … am playing with some thin wood and covering the ballast in the center and down both sides … what a pain … but it seems to look pretty darn good except the centers … may have to dremel and hollow out the ballast and replace with wood … never again … LOL . I just have to drop the bridge floor height to accomodate the height a bit by mounting it a bit lower .
Here are some ideas.
The first bridge is an oddity. Notice the thicker middle truss.
A skewed truss. Look at all the lacing. (I would have hated to do the structural analysis on this thing. )
Plan Lionel Bridges found under the tables at train shows, Piers made of 1x6 glued together to obtain the desired thickness.
Unlike fifedog, I have roller bearings under my bridges to account for the thermal expansion and contraction. Any day now, fife’s probably fall into the river.
And then there are steel bridges…
Nice photos! My bridge looks alot like this one.
Well I’m going to dremel some fastrack … if you hear cussing clear up north … it’ll be me after I ruin some … LOL . By the way Chuck great bridge … Buckeye … I love that orange on that puts alot of color to a layout …
After Chuck painted his bridge Blueberry Blue and I saw how great it looked, I had to put some color to the bridge.
This is my favorite bridge painting project. We sprayed it orange and then used a Testors Paint Marker to do the letters.
1/4" square birch:
Lionel Under Arch Bridges painted flat black:
Atlas 40" Double Track Pratt Truss Bridge:
1/2" poplar with Scenic Express’s Flexible Steel Grider (2):
Buckeye - My crews get hazard pay. It shuts them up.
Ole Timer - I use Ross track on my through-truss and girder expansions for the appearance. Makes a nice model that much nicer. Also, the Plasticville through-truss has little holes on the bottom support, and I use small flooring tacks to secure the track. Makes it pretty stable.
On bridges that have solid bases, don’t sweat running track with ballast on it, as that’s what the real railroads do.
Have you tried looking around at train shows to get a bargain on a few bridges? Or you could try Train World that advertises in CTT to see if you can get a good buy on some new bridges at close out prices.
Lee F.
Here’s the one I built…
http://www.clickmatch.com/trains/p6_scenery2.asp
And more photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QCm2cY_quLMyS1WePW2jKw?feat=directlink
I think I may get a least one of these:
