After reading another thread it made me wonder how many modelers actually have a working “bridge” of any type on their layout? UP here actually operates a bridge with a lift section, and I have seen pictures of bridges that were swing bridges. I am not sure if there is such a thing as a railroad drawbridge but would be interested in knowing.
I know bridges are very common on layouts, but how about a working lift span or swing bridge?
I have a Walthers Lift Bridge. I picked this up several years ago at the LHS and am still debating where to put it.
Am I dreaming or is a working liftbridge possible? [?]
Yes. MR publishes a book entitled Bridges and Trestles, which has plans of several bridges including Lift Bridges.
Regards
I believe there is one or both here in Cleveland, OH - down along the Cuyahoga River, in an area known as “The Flats”. I’m not sure whether or not they are still functional though.
Doesn’t the Walther’s Cornerstone Series have a number of bridges available?
Tom
P.S. Just got off the Walther’s site. They have both a swing bridge (on sale!) and a “Bascule” (lift) bridge. (Unless you were referring to a lift bridge as one that lifts straight up but stays horizonal to the ground.) I guess the “Bascule” would be considered a draw bridge, not a lift bridge.
I have seen bridges in the catalogs before but honestly I never paid that much attention to them. [:0] Just this week I received the newest “little” Walters catalog (with the Pensky F unit on the cover) but have not had time to look at it. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know where I have put it. [:0] [B)] [8]
The Bearing Cross Bridge spanning the Arkansas River between North Little Rock and Little Rock is a lift bridge. A whole section raises to allow river traffic to pass under it. The lifting section stays parallel to the ground just raises.
That I believe is a vertical lift bridge. I have not seen this in a kit. Definitely a challenge. If I was to build one I would use a pulley arrangement and make it appear that a “dead man” is keeping the strain. This would be a big winter project.
Man do I have egg on my face. [B)]
It wasn’t a Walters catalog, it was the Autumn issue of Historic Rail [:0]
I like the Historic Rail catalog and have ordered from it before. I have ordered from the Walters catalog too.
Sorry if I caused anyone confussion. [;)]
I have the Walthers Bascule Drawbridge, but haven’t installed it yet. I have hooked up the lift motor and raIsed and lowered the span. This type of drawbridge has a large counter weight that comes down and almost sits on the rails beside the operators shanty. I’m plannig on replacing a lift-out section that spans a doorway with this bridge
Here’s a little suggestion I picked up on the Garden Railway side of the forum, wire your bridge or lift out as a seperate block 1 to 2 foot away from either side so that the block is off when the bridge is out or up. May save a few trains from there death[:0] Especially if someone who should not be operating the layout without you does so, or for the absent minded. Keep in mind that most bridges or liftouts cross a doorway or people right of way, you could be running and someone walk in and lift the bridge to come in and CRASH![:(] your favorite loco’s on the floor in pieces.
I have the Walthers Bascule Bridge, it spans the Cuyahoga in Cleveland(The Flats). I have also built the Walthers Swing Bridge for my LHS. Put it on a 6"x24" diarama and made it operational, lasted about 3 days and was sold.
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=9937
Check it out!
We have a working lift bridge on our portable modular layout. It has been published in several other magazines (RMC and Mainline Modeler I believe) It is scratchbuilt and works extremely well. It lifts on fishing wire cables and utilizes counterweights as prototypically as we could make it. We just exhiited it at the NMRA convention in Seattle where we won Best in Show - Modules.
Eric
Salmon Arm Model railroad Association
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
I’m planning to take two of the Walther’s Bascule bridges and ba***hem into a double-track one.
It won’t be operable, though.
I’ve thought about that myself. Making it operable is do-able. Why not give it a try?
JHH: As far as vertical lift bridges go, there is a few on the Welland Canal and St Lawrence seaway. Once in a while a ship will fetch up on one[:0]
The more I look at this the more I realize how “Simple” this could actually be. It would be the perfect solution to duck unders.
I have a friend who built the straight, single track bridge and it operates. He had a heck of time because the mechanism, gears, etc. are very cheap and unreliable. He’s an engineer and I believe had to buy or have some special metal gears made. It all sounded like a big pain in the butt to me.
Plus mine being double wide would probably need more torgue, whatever. It would be another element to add to the operation, the dispatcher on the layout could also be the bridge tender, and I could signal the approaches, etc. Sounds good on paper, as they say, and never say never, but I’m not holding my breath that it will happen either. We’ll see…
There will be a barge/ferry slip on my layout, which is, sort of, half a lift bridge. The challenge is two-fold: the height of the “opposite” end varies with the the tide, and the slope up, or down, to the barge must vary also.
Paul: I just recently “discovered” RC Car/Truck gears. These are strong and robust and come in different sizes, shapes, plastic and metal
Looking at a picture the other day, it appears the vertical lift bridge is hoisted using a pulley and deadman. I suspect there is a rack and gear mechanism involved in the process.
Regards
Fergie
On RFD they did the LA Harbor and showed a verticle lift rr segment where it went over a shipping canal. I think it was double track.
Phil
Momac; That’s a great looking bridge. Tell us more about it. How long is it , how does it work, is it scratch built or kit? Please tell us more.