rtstasiak
The intended “cargo” will be limited to a single trolley car, on an auto reversing straight track. There might be an occasional “tourist special” making the run up to the “hotel”. Made a “test” run this weekend, 5 ft section scotch taped to the square steel and the “bridge” did sag a little as the trolley went up.
Took a steel stud and screwed some SS track to it. Cars and engines are wider than the bridge. even looks scary. put a rerailer at each end to be on safe side!
Drive on the New York State Thruway and you will see plenty of flimsy bridges, the Tappan-Zee being the most obvoius example.
[2c]I think I’d build it …
Give it a solid foundation and moving parts. A spring holds the “flimsy” parts up, and the bridge is built to look “straight” with the spring holding it up. When the train comes, it presses the moving structure down to its solid foundation, where it’s meant to operate, and the moving structure, which is just decorative, is out of place and distorted, making it all LOOK like it’s about to fall down, but is actually on a solid structure.
Disclaimer: I’ve been thinking about this since the initial posting, but I haven’t followed the thread[:-,]
Below are two photos of a suspension bridge I recentlly built; it looks flimsy, but it’s an engineering marvel, as anyone can see. I would trust my best engine on it. As you can see in the second photo, a family of trolls as built a home under the bridge and now regulates passage as a troll bridge.
Cute idea, and a very cleverly designed bridge!
STOP
PAY TROLL
Torby got me thinking about this…
If you can make the section of track just for the trolly, and depending how long the bridge ~CAN~ be…
Then cut track sections just a little longer than the trolly.
Devise a simple way of mounting a pivot in the middle of each track section…
you’re making a teeter-totter that rocks back and forth.
You will have to limit the amount of movement and may want to have a small counterweight to keep the “entrance” section at the “exit” level.
As the trolly goes over the fulcrum point, the trolly’s weight makes the track rock down to the next section where the same method is used.
Have several of these teeter-totter sections in a row for a wild, rocking ride.
If using track power, each section, of course, must have its own power feed.
You can hide the mechanism by having a high curb at the bridge deck level.
You could also make this deck curb wavey , distorted and deteriorated, in an up & down fashion to enhance the illusion and partially hide the workings behind it when viewing from the sides.
FWIW
WB