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Bridging the gap

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  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Martinez, CA
  • 5,440 posts
Posted by markpierce on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 10:23 PM

tomikawaTT

Note that, of the many kinds of bridges, the one type LEAST likely to be built as a railroad bridge is a short-span supension bridge.

I miss those short-span (plank and chain) suspension bridges built in the 1930s along the John Muir Trail (like upriver of Lake Florence on the San Joaquin River) and elsewhere on foot/horse trails in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The metal truss bridges replacing them have no soul.  I also enjoyed walking over a log bridge some 20 years ago (probably gone now because use had already created a deep trench in the log) over a tributary of the Kern River.

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Southwest US
  • 12,914 posts
Posted by tomikawaTT on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 7:36 PM

Howdy, Ken.

Not a comprehensive data base, but a primer on the basic types and their identifying characteristics:

http://pghbridges.com/basics.htm

There are also a couple of threads on the MR General Discussions forum that have some good bridge photos.  Or, if you Google the specific design of bridge you are interested in, there are a lot of resources out there.

Note that, of the many kinds of bridges, the one type LEAST likely to be built as a railroad bridge is a short-span supension bridge.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1963 - with LOTS of bridges)

  • Member since
    July 2007
  • From: Bozeman, MT
  • 28 posts
Bridging the gap
Posted by Montana Railfan on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 5:57 PM

Good Afternoon, 

 I send my apologies if this is not the right forum for this but it is a question that has been kicking around in my mind for a while about bridges.

 

I realize that based upon the era and location different bridges provide different pro's and con's, but is there a database out there of bridges from around the country? I am looking to scratch build one for my N Scale layout and im really just looking for some insperation.

 

Thanks 

 

Ken

Owner Eastern Montana Industrial Railroad (HO and N Scale)

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