I need to span a 24-inch aisle on my layout, which will have a Great Lakes “heavy industry” theme. I have a kit for a Walthers Bascule Bridge that might work perfectly for this, since only a one-track mainline needs to go across it.
Since I am still in good health I’ll just duck under it myself, but have the capability to raise it for a physically-challenged guest if needed. The right-of-way sits 48 inches off the floor and the movable span is 21" long, so the narrowest horizontal clearance will probably be around a tall person’s chest - meaning that they would have to slip thru sideways (see gray area in diagram below).
I’m hoping to hear from some of you who have already assembled one of these kits. Does it seem like a practical idea, or is the styrene so fragile that even occasional movement will break it? Let me know your thoughts on this…
I’ve both built said bridge and seen it installed as a removable duck-under on someone else’s layout.
To me, it’s a very dicey situation. The first time someone hits the bridge with their elbow will be the last time, IMHO. It’s fairly well built, but it’s only styrene. At that layout, everyone has to be very, very careful around that walkway.
My advice, if you’re going to use it, is to put it as high as possible from the floor. This will get it away from swinging arms and careless hip-checks that will otherwise damage the bridge.
I somehow suspected that. What I’ll probably do is build mount-points with the same footprint as the bridge, but have only a plain plank across the aisle 99% of the time. Then maybe later I’ll assemble the bridge, and have it available for photo sessions.
