CREATE A SCENIC BREAK WITH A RESIN BRIDGE
I enjoyed Chris Leigh’s guide to using a bridge as a scenic break in last month’s Model Rail. My ‘OO’ layout needs something similar, but I wondered if I could adapt a resin Skaledale bridge for the purpose. Can these models be cut easily?
Stuart Cummings, Glasgow
Peter says: When building my ‘Lockdown Layout’ (MR282),
I wanted to use a road overbridge to hide the track’s entrance onto the baseboard. Happily, I found a Bachmann Scenecraft Railway Overbridge in my stock (ref. 44-152) and this proved to be perfect for the job, although it did need some modification to fit the space.
The bridge is supplied as nine separate resin castings, which allows the bridge to be set up at a regular 90º angle to the tracks, or at a wide variety of angles to give the maximum flexibility. The dimensions of the bridge are 102 by 184 by 86mm and it comes fully painted, with a good level of detailing.
Like all resin-cast structures, the Scenecraft bridge can be cut and shaped to suit the available space, but the job does require care. The fact that this bridge comes as a collection of separate parts makes customisation easier, as the parts can be cut individually, which is a lot simpler than modifying a single-piece structure.
The wing walls were trimmed with a razor saw and file (from Bachmann’s
Modelmaker 25-piece Essentials tool kit), while I also took the opportunity to cut one support wall longer than the other. This allowed the bridge deck to be placed at a slight angle, giving the scene a natural, dynamic appearance. Another necessary modification for my bridge involved raising the structure slightly, to allow extra clearance for catenary, which I’m planning on adding to this layout at a later date.