Hi TJ
How about the grey paint they paint an LCM or LCT with for the steel bridge.
That should have a good service life if you can get some.
Dont forget to stencil you RR’s name on the bridge
Regards John
TJ,
Great progress.
I was looking at some photos of Marc Horovitz’s previous O scale garden railroad (dual gauge) and although he didn’t build it this way, one of his bridges sort of inspired a new idea for steel girder that would be very quick as well as cost-effective.
Same idea using PVC for vertical uprights support; then wood frame for the bridge.
And here’s the latest twist. Sheath the wood with drywall corner framing (I think that’s what it is. It’s steel or aluminum comes in 8 ft sections used for finishing corners of drywall).
You’d need 4 of those frames per piece of wood. You could make it with 2 but the girders would be a bit skinny.
Drywall screws could hold it into place using the provided holes. The edging of the frames forms a natural I-beam ridge.
The wood would need to be ripped to exact dimensions so there are no gaps or overlaps between the upper and lower framing on both sides.
I’ve got an entire box of this stuff left over from when I framed my basement.
BTW, I was pleased to see that Marc Horovitz modeled O outdoors and I’m not sure but I think he may have been one of the founding members of Garden RR mag.
more ideas comin’ atchya…
Did a recon of the neighborhood and pulled this aluminum stud from dumpster (and threw it back after taking picture). Shows front & backside. Wood could go in middle.
No shortage of girder materials!
Current update:
I took some more of the angle iron and made side supports
Here they are welded onto the central support beam. Whatever paint the US Army used on these is nearly impervious to the heat of MIG welding. Notice in this and other photos a complete lack of paint scorching around the welds, only mild discoloration near the heat source. If I can get this stuff to paint the bridge with, I’ll be golden.
A shot of the underside support.
Shot of the wife cutting pizza with a pair of scissors. Bizarre.
This is a close up of the deck; very strong overlap welding will support around 300lbs.
A perspective shot for general size comparison.
I plan on covering the deck with wood. Now on to building an upper structure and pediment…
[oX)]