Bridges... there are so many types and styles of bridges and each bridge is unique in its own way. As an engineer myself, bridges have always been an interest of mine. The key is to make the bridge not only functional but also beautiful in its own way.
Viaducts, such as seen below, are interesting bridges due to their repeating archways. Repeating archways have been a part of classic architecture for thousands of years. These railroad bridges are solid bridges.
In this shot below, we get a peak at a truss bridge over a river. I'm still not completely happy with the truss bridge I built for our garden railroad so I shot photos of truss bridges whenever I saw one. Maybe all these photos will help me figure out what is bothering me about my own bridge...
When I painted my truss bridge black (one of my early paint jobs), I made the mistake of using a true black spray paint. The mistake is it was true black. The black needs to be toned down as seen in this photo below. You need to add a bit of white or gray to tone down the black and then a slight bit of red to get the shade away from blue. This bridge, below, is painted just right....
This bridge, below, is certainly unique. It is a simple but interesting span. I might be inclined to paint it though... but then, what color? ...what shade?
Below is a rather tall trestle bridge. I built a shorter trestle bridge for our garden railroad. The unique feature of my trestle bridge is that it is curved. This one, below, is spanning a very deep crevice...
This drawbridge, below, is for the true rivet-counters. This operating drawbridge has so much detail that even the rivets are realistic...
A truss bridge of a different color, below...
Here is another viaduct, below, but it is unfinished making it look a bit toy-like...
A nice plate girder bridge...
And, another truss bridge of a different color...
And, lastly, a plate girder bridge that is weathered and sporting some hideous graffiti (I'm one who believes ALL graffiti is hideous... it is a crime, not art)...
The sheer number of incredible models on all these layouts is amazing and worth the trip to this enormous train show. I'll be revisiting this blog entry after I set up the bridge on my garden railroad again in the spring. I still need to figure out what it bothering me about my truss bridge!
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