Walthers is bringing back the Bascule Bridge. It’s due this November.
There is a bascule bridge on the Welland Canal in Ontario. I have crossed it several times and each time I felt uncomfortable driving under the counter-weight.[(-D]
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Dave
There was another company that was showing one at the Springfield show last February; sorry I don’t remember the details.
I’ll take three!
I need to stay one step ahead of Rich.[oX)]
I’m glad to see that Walthers makes additional runs of their products from time-to-time. I have one of the original Bascules and saw a weakness in the pinion gears that engage the rack as I was building the kit. I made steel axles to replace the molded on plastic ones.
My bridge has operated very well over the past what — fifteen years now? Only recently I noticed some skipping in the raising of the bridge which I’ll have to investigate.
The limit switch function as supplied by Walthers was feeble at best so I made my own switch mechanisms. I wonder if there are any improvements in the drive system on the new release?
Thanks for the heads-up, Ed
I sure wish I had an excuse to get one of these. Or, more correctly, I wish I had a place to put one if I got one.
Sniff.
SNIFF!!!
Ed
As Brent hinted, I have two of the original Walthers Bascule Bridge kits. These are beautiful structures, but somewhat of a challenge to build.
And, as Ed pointed out, the raise/lower mechanism left a lot to be desired. I initially had my first bascule bridge operating, in large part thanks to the help of our OP, Digital Griffin, but I finally resorted to leaving it in a fixed down position. It was just too much hassle, fighting what I consider a poor raise/lower design.
When I picked up my second bascule bridge, it was new but old in the box and parts were slightly warped, making the raise/lower mechanicsm even more testy.
The other difficulty with any moveable bridge is the trackwork and the wiring. It just requires too much patience and skill to do it right so that the bridge raises and lowers without subsequent derailments. It is not that easy to ensure that the adjoining tracks will re-align with the bridge track. And that is not to mention the fact that the trackwork on the bridge must separate to permit the bridge to raise and lower.
It will be interesting to see if Walthers has re-designed any of the bridge components or, more importantly, strengthened the raise/lower mechanism. Metal would surely be more reliable than plastic.
All that said, the Walthers Bascule Bridge is a terrific addition to the layout but, as suggested, you need a place, and the space, to model this structure. As I recall, it measures something like 33 inches in length.
Rich
P.S. I see that the re-issue of the bascule bridge will be priced at $99.98, ensuring that interested buyers will be able to find the bascule bridge discounted well under $100. This will pose a problem for all of those eBay Buy It Now auctions where buyers are paying over $200 for this now rare item. Some sellers have tried to raise the price to as much as $500 or more, but the spending limit seems to be currently set at around $205.
Rich,
I didn’t notice this point when You showed pic’s of the bridges before…but I do have a question. Why do You have the bridge control tower front windows pointing away from the bridge and river? The tower’s main purpose is to watch the river traffic and raise/lower the bridge, the rail traffic, is controlled by search light signals/radio. The shack on the bridge houses the working motor and gearing/maintenance etc.
To solve the bridge track problem where the fixed portion stays put and adjacent track lifts…I cut the track at a 45 degree angle, so the raised portion rests on top of the fixed when closed…filing and fitting was involved, but mine is derailment free. I just use a dpdt center off switch to control it, at 6volts DC.
I will be posting pic’s of it soon in WPF, along with the swing bridge, for I am starting to work on that area.
Yours looks really great!
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
I have one of the old N scale bascule bridges on my layout. Forget who made it, but has naot been in production in years. Found it at one the train shows.
I too saw that Walthers is listing the bascule bridge as coming at the end of November. Having recently passed by the old B&O and the St Charles Airline bascule bridges in Chicago numerous times on Amtrak trains, I am ready to get one of the kits, even though I don’t have any room on my layout-in-planning. May have to be a diorama on its own. The bridge is just too cool to pass up.
In that case, buy two. One for the St. Charles Air Line and one for the old BOCT. [Y][Y]
Rich
Richhotrain,
Those bridge models are absolutey amazing! You did a wonderful job on the contruction, and more so on the scenery around them! Nice job for sure!!!
Thanks. They look great on the prototype and just as nice on the layout. I imagine Walthers will sell out the current run real quick.
Rich
Don’t think I haven’t thought about that! Also thought about making the single track Walthers into a double track version. We’ll see what actually happens.
Didja hear about the time BNSF dropped a tank car of Viagra into Chicago Harbor?
They couldn’t get the bascule bridges to close for three days.
Oh yeah, I would love to see that. Go for it!
Rich
Wow my Luck. I have been collecting for many years city stuff to one day build a city that represents Chicago. I even found one Bascule bridge years ago. Well I just started building the layout in early September. I even had it done enough to take to the Green County Train Show in late September. Now Walthers comes out with the bridge and I do not know how to incorporate a double bascule bridge into the layout. Its only fare that if Chicago has a double bridge, i need one also. I guess I have some reworking of the layout to make it work.
justin
Ya gotta do it, Justin.
Rich
Rich did you file the inside edges of the tracks where they meet? (Similar to how you file the track to turntable.)
I almost think I should buy one just in case I ever have a place for it.
This reminds me of the carfloat and apron models. They were long out of production when I decided I really wanted one, but Walthers brought them back and I was able to get them. I’ve still got a second unbuilt carfloat kit down in the workshop.