Bridge suggestion needed

on my layout, I have two small bridges that need customization.

I had one idea, but it may not work.

the following pics will show the area that needs ideas


I tried Plastruct girder sections for the curve, but it broke in half
 
here was the second idea

as I mentioned I tried Plastruct, but it broke in half,

my second idea was to snip the plastic my cheap Industrial Rail freight cars came in to make the bridges, as shown below.


the problem is the thinness of the plastic. It may not look right, and may have trouble holding paint
 

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belg

Member
Micro engineering makes seperate girder plates that mold very nice to a curve I've used myself. You could also pour a plaster stone carved wall. or how about a stick built wooden one keep your pieces thin enough and they will make the radius. Hope this is of some use. Pat
 

Drew1125

Active Member
Hi S.S.!
I'm not an engineer or anything, but I have built a few model RR bridges.
When I build a curved bridge, the only thing that's really 'curved' is the track...the bridge structure itself is actually shorter straight sections set at angles, following the curve of the track.

Here's a couple of photos to show what I mean...
This is the Catt's Creek bridge on my current N scale layout...the track curves here at roughly an 18" radius...
 

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Drew1125

Active Member
...now here's a shot showing the underside of the bridge, & I used a flash here to light it up so you can hopefully see how the girders are actually two straight sections, set at a slight angle...
 

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on my layout i have a couple of bridges that are on a curve.
here is what i did to make mine. get some sheets of plasturct styren and draw the out line of the bottom of the bridge and then cut that out . then cut out you sides and put them aside for now.
get ahold of some bread ties and glue one end of each side to the bottom, take the bread ties and use it to hold it in place

" this part is a little tricky to do "

start on one side and where you glued it and heat it up just to the point that you can bend it do that all the way down both sides. and then when it is how you need it glue it in place and use the bread ties to hold it till the glue drys. then when dry you can add all the other detal and paint and install
 

shamus

Registered Member
Hi SS,
It might be easier to scratchbuild a sort of trestle bridge over that gap, thats what I would be doing.

Shamus
 

jon-monon

Active Member
I'm with shamus, wood is cheap, lightweight, strong, and gooood lookin', jest like me!

If you want plastic, you might find an inexpensive sheet plastic, like the stuff for bathroom walls, cut out your sides and attach to wood o rplastic pillars. Then you can paint it or print some nice stone, brick, etc on the PC and glue it on. There was an MR article a year or two ago on making big viaducts this way.
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
I feel your pain, screwysquirrel. My solution to the bridge-on-a-curve was to carve up a piece of blue foam insulation (that was leftover from the base of my layout). Here are links to some pictures:

Version 1 (1 layer of foam thick...looked too thin for a railroad bridge): http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=27738

Version 2 (2 layers stuck together): http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=37002

After cutting out the general shape, I used my hobby knife to carve joints to make the bridge look like it's made out of stone.
 

Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
Looks like you have the same problems I had on my HO layout. I had low clearences to deal with too.
 

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Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
I had lots of clearence under this one so I bashed this odd looking bridge from five Tyco bridges. I stillneed to install the pedistals.
 

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Joepomp

Member
First attempt at bridge building

This is my first attempt at bridge building. It 99% cardboard 1% Plastruct angles. I post more pic's as I complete it. Sorry about the picture quality.
 
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