[Dennis461]

Anyone familiar with this product?
I need to span approximately 12" and this looks like a suitable starting point. I was planning on kitbashing some open truss bridges.

The package labeling is confusing me


Micro Engineering
85' Plate Girder pkg(4) -- 8 Girder Sections Scale 42.5' in Length

 

[Tom_C]

You mean this:

https://www.walthers.com/85-plate-girder-pkg-4-8-girder-sections-scale-42-5-in-length

 

[Dennis461]

You mean this:

https://www.walthers.com/85-plate-girder-pkg-4-8-girder-sections-scale-42-5-in-length

Yes and that picture confuses me more.
Guess I'll just order one package and see if I can splice two pieces per side and make a 80 foot bridge.

 

[traction fan]

M/E girder sections

Yes and that picture confuses me more.
Guess I'll just order one package and see if I can splice two pieces per side and make a 80 foot bridge.

Dennis461;

I have used a lot of the N-scale versions. They come in 80' and 40' N-scale lengths. I don't know what HO-scale lengths are available. The girders look great, and are adaptable to just about any use where plate girders would be appropriate. For example the three deck plate girder bridges, spanning the river in the first photo, were made with scratch-built brass inner structures, and M/E plate girders glued onto the outside.
The big trestle in the second photo, is a kitbash of two HO-scale M/E "Tall Steel Viaduct" kits, and a bunch of their N-scale 80' deck plate girder kits. The girders can easily be joined using strip styrene splice pieces glued to the inside with styrene cement. The full bridge kits have very thin cross bracing which looks good, but is quite delicate. This is why I switched to soldering together a brass bridge, with M/E girders providing the detail on the outside. The bridge ties are PC type, soldered to the brass channels that form the sides of the inner structure. The code 55 running rails, and code 40 guardrails are soldered to the PC ties. The resulting bridges are nearly indestructible. Click twice on either photo to zoom in and see the detail. Sorry about the plaster dust, and white paint overspray messing up the top photo. They must have a lot of pigeons flying over that river! :laugh:

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:

 

[CTValleyRR]

Yes and that picture confuses me more.
Guess I'll just order one package and see if I can splice two pieces per side and make a 80 foot bridge.

IiRC, the package contains enough material to make 4 sections of 42.5' scale length each. Each section uses two girders, one on each side. You could conceivably splice them using a piece of sheet styrene cemented to the inside.

 

[Dennis461]

Yes, this is more a package of raw material than a bridge kit.
Large sprue tabs to cut off.
Narrow rivet plates to glue to top of girder, may need to add stip to raise them higher in the center like a real girder bridge.

 

[CTValleyRR]

Looks EXACTLY like a bridge kit to me. Parts to make a bridge. Not sure what you were expecting. Companies like MicroEngineering and Central Valley Gems aren't trying to give you parts to build one specific bridge, but the, well yes, raw materials to build the bridge you need. From your description of what you want to do, it sounded like that's exactly what you wanted.

You definitely do not have to add any material to put these together correctly. Plate girder bridges provide a strong foundation on which to lay track. There isn't a high spot in the middle of anything.

 

[Dennis461]

...Plate girder bridges provide a strong foundation on which to lay track. ...

This offering is the side girder only, no place to lay track, and no pieces to connect the two halves. I will use one of these to complete;
a. wood
b. plastic road sign
c. other bridge parts e.g. AHM or Atlas
d. stryene sheet

The deck will be hidden by ballast, and the bottom may not be visible either.
My main reason for buying this was to see what was in the bag, I could have bought the Walthers 90' bridge part # WCR-933-4503.

 

[Lemonhawk]

If you use the black girders, they would be spaced such that they are underneath the rails. You can get bridge track that would then lay on top. The gray truss bridge seems to be missing a truss, but again bridge track could be used across the base the two trusses connect to.

 

[Dennis461]

progress

If you use the black girders, they would be spaced such that they are underneath the rails. You can get bridge track that would then lay on top. The gray truss bridge seems to be missing a truss, but again bridge track could be used across the base the two trusses connect to.

This is going to be a through plate bridge, not deck.

The gray truss luckily was not glued together. It was designed to take code 100 black tie track. My Atlas code 83 brown tie flex would not fit. I had to mill the deck out to fit the longer ties.

The girders are cleaned up (sprue removal) and I'm making shims (from CD case black part) so the top rivet plates will be thicker in the center.

My wood base already warped, twisted.

There is a through deck on a local passenger rail line that I drive under under every day. I may climb up and get some closeup pictures. If I do not post anything after Monday, please bail me out of jail!

 

[Lemonhawk]

Yes for that type of bridge just about anything can be use as long as it can contain any additional "gravel" you might add. As I recall and as your picture shows there are some girder flanges that come out at an angle and I think connected to the floor stringers. You kit girders may not have that feature.

 

[Dennis461]

More detail

Looks like I need to add more detail to my model.
For decades, I thought this real bridge was single track. Climbed up today,

I need to add the angled gussets and a pine tree!

 

[Lemonhawk]

Yes, don't forget the pine tree! Just to make it interesting the bridge is skewed across the street, Nice looking bridge and the girders you have should work. Here's another place to get bridges like this https://www.shop.cvmw.com/PlateGirderBridgeKit-singletrack-1903.htm. I think they have some nice pictures of the plate girder bridge also. The CV model has everything but the pine tree! The also have an assortment of bridge ties, including my favorite - a gauntlet bridge tie!

 

[Dennis461]

More progress...