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Scratchbuilding | Eigenbau

Cable Stay Bridge | Tragseilbrücke

To span the freight yard on the layout I needed to scratchbuild a bridge and in looking at numerous bridge designs opted for the cable stay bridge which is very common in Europe and elegant. The bridge is made of "binder's board," essentially an acid-free chipboard which I use for bookbinding and book restoration work. The stays aluminium tubing from the hobby shop, and are non-loadbearing.. If I had it to do over again, I think the only thing I would change is the profile of the deck, making it thinner, and perhaps the spacing of the two halves, to more closely fit the normal track spacing. The thing is massively over-engineered and can easily support my weight, when laying flat on the floor. I didn't try it with only the ends supported.

Click on images to enlarge

After building the bridge structure, it received a coating of spackling paste, was sanded, sealed, and then spray painted with a "concrete" color, and finally weathered. The stays were spray painted dark reddish brown. One side of the bridge is for the train, the other roadway.