Art–thank you for the compliment. What you did is VERY cool–in fact I’m afraid you’ve inspired me to do some retro-fitting. I like that wooden walkway, and the CV girders give it a much ‘heftier’ feel. Really nice work–isn’t that a honey of a bridge, though? Maybe we’ll start a trend, LOL!
WOW, my oh my i am in bridge heaven with you guys[bow] how much does the kit cost if it still available and how much works involved in building one of those babys
The bridge cost about $60 and the girders were about $15. It took better than a month to build and was fairly easy, though the directions were not very good, but I figured them out so anyone can. It did more for the layout than 2 $40 or 4 $20 kits. Adding the girders was a matter of making it up as I went along. If I had it to do over, I would cut the walkways off before I started to build.
well i’m gonna have a big bridge on my layout too. Only problem is i can’t find any of the pwrts other than the deck plates. i need some Modifed microengineering viaduct towers. they have to be able to take double track bridges.
I got the Central Valley Girders from my LHS but they were everywhere on the web including Central Valley Hobbies. The bridge is for double track in HO and would modify easily for S, if you cut the walks off. Might be a bit small for O. Adding the girders would be especially fun in S.
Arthill, youv’e inspired me. Over on my S scale group we are have lively discussion going regarding converting the walthers 130’ HO turntable to S scale.
You can order the N-scale version directly from Walthers (I don’t know if it is available in other scales)… http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-222580
At the time I write this, it is in stock and on sale (regularly $77.99 USD, reduced to $54.98 USD). I know you can find it elsewhere online for the same or cheaper, so search around.
I’m waiting for mine to arrive (should be any day now). I need a bridge long enough to span an openning in my upper deck (for a window I need to access). This one, while a bit shorter than I really wanted, was the best option I could find. Like Arthill, my bridge will be one of the first things people see upon entering my layout room. Since I haven’t even begun any of the construction of my layout yet, I’m in no huge ru***o get the bridge built.
On a side note, I ordered the bridge through my LHS instead of online. With the shipping costs and the currency exchange (I live in Canada), I would save only about $10 CAD if I ordered it online. However, when it crosses the border, I would likely have to pay taxes or duty on it which would come to more than those $10 I saved. So, I’ll be paying my LHS about $95 CAD, and know that I won’t have any surprise extra costs. If I have to pay that much, I might as well give it to my LHS and help keep the owner in business (she is a great resource and I don’t mind supporting her).
chateauricher
You may want to build the bridge first. I thought I had left a place for it, but it was too grand for the angles I had, and I had to change a significant section of the sub-bed to have it fit. Fortunatly I had all the risers screwed, not nailed and latex caulk holding everything down. It took an extra day but now its right.
I plan to work on assembling the bridge once I get it. (I can hardly wait ! ) Since I’m still in the planning stages for my layout, I can make sure I have the place for it even before construction of the layout begins. Also, since I knew I’d have to incorporate some sort of bridge in front of the window, my plans have included provisions for a bridge. Now that I will soon have the exact dimensions of the bridge, I can fine-tune the plans. The only thing I’m a bit worried about is how to install the bridge. But once the bridge is assembled, I figure I’ll have a better idea how to construct supporting benchwork.
