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8 replies

Atlas vs MTH vs Lionel steel bridges, who's used them flat on the table?

S sinclairOGR Forum Member

My layout is flat, but to break things up I wanted to add a couple bridges.  I was planning on setting them right on top of my table top.  I'm laying Atlas track on top of cork roadbed.  I at first was thinking of getting the Atlas truss bridge as I really like the look of it, and the size would give it great presence.  But them after looking at photos online, I see that there is quite a bit of structure under the track, which would be an issue.  So I started looking at the MTH arch bridge and Lionel truss bridge (Not the new FasTrack one.), neither of which are as big as the Atlas one.  I saw that MTH's arch bridge can be made "bigger" as it were by adding the girder bridges to either side to make it as long as you wanted, but it also seems to have some structure under the track, but not as much as Atlas.  Lionel's is just a sheet metal bottom so I could put it right on the table top and lay the cork and track on it, but I don't know if I want cork on the bridge.

So, who has used them right on the table top?  What did you have to do to do so?  What did you learn you wish you knew before hand?

I'm leaning towards the MTH bridge, but I need to know how thick the under track structure is.  Will the cork space the track right up to it, or will I need to get higher?

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stangerdudestangerdudeOGR Forum Member

As a bonus with the MTH bridge, you can unscrew the bottom structure from the sides and mount the rest of the structure directly to the table. The whole bridge is screwed together which makes modification easy. I had several bridges used in this manner. 3 30" arch bridges with the 10" extension bridges in between and on the ends made a very impressive 130" look. Hope this helps.

Rod StewartRod StewartOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
radar493 posted:

I have an older Lionel bridge placed on my flat layout with no problems. The metal bottoms thickness is negligible.

Ditto on this. The 6-2122 or the 6-12772 24" bridges will be the easiest to use. I have used cork roadbed on these bridges and it seems to work fine. You will have to grade up and down to the MTH arch bridge because it is higher, as was said above.

I have also used the upper superstructure alone from the Lionel 24" bridge over a run of straight track at trains shows in the past. Kind of phony but it does add some visual interest to an otherwise boring stretch of track. There's just something about a steamer puffing smoke passing through a truss bridge!

Rod

taycotrainstaycotrainsOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
sinclair posted:

How did you handle the height difference on the approach to the bridge?  Or did you completely remove the base of the bridge and the track is on the table?

Yes ...I completely removed the base and the structure just sits on the table. I did wire the LED light on the top of the structure...it still works after 12 years.

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