J.T.

Plate Girder Bridge Ok, there were already two wooden bridges on the CVRR.  I needed to come up with another type for this crossing.  Since the span is fairly small and crosses a road, I decided to go with something a little more 'industrial'.  Also, the inspirational layout for the CVRR had a similar bridge and I liked the looks of it.  (Plus I needed a place to put the ‘Coffee Valley’ name.) That is how the plate girder bridge got started, here is how it got finished...

Span: 65' Depth: 24' Style: Plate Girder	- Plate Girder Bridge  - Small Timber Trestle Bridge  - Large Timber Trestle Bridge

    The plate girder bridge is wide enough to support two tracks. To build it, I took two Atlas Plate Girder Bridges and glued them together.

    My original plan was to then turn the new bridge upside down and use the flat bottom as the top. This plan was foiled when I made the mistake of adding the decals ‘upside down’. See, between the time that I moved the bridge from the layout to the workbench and the time I started to apply the decals, several weeks had passed. When I started to apply the decals on the side of the bridge, I simply was not thinking and did so with it in its normal, upright position. It was not until I went to place the bridge back on the layout that I realized my error. I was then faced with a decision…do I remove the decals and start over or do I just make it work as it is? I decided to just make it work...

More to come...