Anyone have any advise for making swing-up and swing-down bridges? Is it a good idea to stagger the rails of the joining tracks (like fastrac) to keep engines from reversing on the bridge?
Boyd - I don’t use fastrack, but up I have a swing up bridge with tubular track. I have a jumper on the hinged end to feed power to the bridge but have had no problem with the engines reversing at the gap. I did however have a BIG problem when I applied power to the track with the bridge down and an engine ran right off onto the floor. My beautiful pristine 2025 steamer hit the concrete floor with a thud. I was able to repair it but I never park an engine facing the gap now. I have also read about wiring so that the approaches to the bridge are dead unless the bridge is locked in place. There was an article in a recent CTT (within the last year) about building and wiring lift bridges, etc.
Take care.
Mitch