KATO bridge

[snowey]

I'm in the midst of assembling the WALTHERS double-track truss bridge, in N scale. But the peices are so warped, I've decided to just buy a new one. I've been looking at the Kato truss bridge; as I've heard some good things abou it. Only problem is, it comes with the track already on it. Is the track easy to remove? If so, how do I do it? If not, how can I join it to my flex-track?
I'm using PECO N gauge track with code 80 rails, if that matters.

[Anonymous]

What a shame about the Walthers kit you have. I assembled that kit and LOVE it, it looks great, and I was easily able to use the same rail I already laid!

I will keep watching for the Kato response. I like the look of several of their bridges, but they all seem to be part of that locking track / roadbed stuff.

[nfmisso]

QUOTE: Originally posted by snowey

I'm in the midst of assembling the WALTHERS double-track truss bridge, in N scale. But the peices are so warped, I've decided to just buy a new one. I've been looking at the Kato truss bridge; as I've heard some good things abou it. Only problem is, it comes with the track already on it. Is the track easy to remove? If so, how do I do it? If not, how can I join it to my flex-track?
I'm using PECO N gauge track with code 80 rails, if that matters.

Telephone Walthers Customer Service; they will take care of you.

[DSchmitt]

Do you need to remove the track? The Kato rail joiners are easy to remove. Then their track will match other brands with standard joiners. I've joined Kato track to Peco 55, Peco 80, and Atlas 80 using Peco rail joiners.

[mls1621]

Snowy, I've done three of these bridges and they look great with some modification. Mine were all single track truss bridges so a double will give you more room for access.

First, the track is glued down onto square lugs molded on the structure. It can be removed, but some care is needed. Once the track is off, I used an Xacto knife to remove the molded locating lugs.

Micro Engineering Bridge and Trestle track has the proper tie spacing and looks really good. It is Code 70 so you'll need to file your adjoining rails to match the height, it's only .010 difference so it's not a big deal. The track was painted and glued in place after the guard rail and guard beams were applied and it looks great.

Second, the abutments at each are totally unrealistic. They can be removed by holding firmly and rocking to brake the glue bond. Once removed, I used a razor saw to cut the bridge shoe out of that huge glop of plastic and then gluing it back to the bridge structure. An alternative would be bridge shoes from Micro Engineering. Their N scale bridge shoes seem small to me though. I scratch built a two lane road bridges for my layout and used HO scale bridge shoes, they look really good.

The hardest part of the modification is removing the plastic track locators, once that's done the rest is a breeze.

Send me your email address, and I'll send pictures to show how they turned out.

I hope this is helpful

[DSchmitt]

Article in the March-April 2004 issue, N Scale Railroading, "Kato Bridge Upgrades"

[Anonymous]

To get the track locating lugs off the Kato bridge, attach a strip of fine sandpaper to the narrow edge of a piece of 1 X 2 long enough to insert into the bridge and apply even pressure to both ends. Then sand the logs off carefully.