Looking for a Truss Bridge good for On30...

P51,

The Atlas O Scale truss bridge is heavy-duty mainline, over kill for On30.  

You might consider the beautiful CV HO components and build your own.  I did spot a photo on the web of an On30 Shay going through an HO truss bridge, so, depending on your locos, either the CV or Walthers bridges could also be possibilities.

You might also reconsider the need for steel - most US narrow gauge lines were built for light duty and On30 is usually modeled as even lighter.

ChipR 

Well, I'm looking to model a specific railroad, one which didn't have timber bridges later than the WW1 era. The one in the photo is one of the few from that RR that still remains, obviously used for a road now.

I've looked at some std gauge HO bridges, but they just don't look right. I was hoping someone made a good truss bridge in S scale but I haven't seen anything.

Plastruct makes Warren Truss shapes in various sizes. You could use these to make your own and add rivet detail &c.

Here is a suggestion, try a Plasticville bridge!  Yes, a Plasticville!  They are inexpensive and readily available.  It is small and fits the scale of narrow gauge.  I have one on my line, I just built up the bottom girders from Plastistruct beams.  Here is a shot on my layout.

He tried the Bachmann Plasticville Trestle bridge and wasn't happy with it.

The Central Valley bridge pieces look as if they are 24" long and can be cut to needed length.  They also come in heavy and normal sizes and can be cut to needed length.  Whilst the rivets will be too small and too close together, after weathering and at normal layout viewing distances, they should look acceptable. 

ChipR

Yeah, it's just sides and top with no deck at all. I know MircoMark made a laser cut bridge deck for it for a very brief time but they don't make them anymore. If I could find a decent looking bridge deck for the thing, I could probably make it work with a lot of detailing.

Frankly, I'm downright baffled why nobody makes a decent O scale truss bridge in plastic.

Whats your thoughts on turning a pile of evergreen styrene into what you want...titchy train sells different rivets to add on....you know the old saying- if ya want something done right...

Here is the Lionel bridge (from ebay)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-...;hash=item2c79cd2b48

Solid diagonals vs. the built-up ones shown in your photo.

Looks to me like you will need to scratch build what you want.

I guess you're right. I need to see one of these Lionel bridges in real life.

Building one myself is not really an option, I'd never be able to get all the rivets and details from scratch to match the prototype to any acceptable level.

I'm actually willing to spend money for the right bridge, does any make a metal bridge or one in brass?

I simply refuse to accept that among decades of O scale modelers, both 3-rail and fine scale, that nobody has ever made an accurate truss bridge!

Unfortunately there are not models of each possible variation of truss bridges in all scales.  

Lots of good suggestions mentioned above.

Other options => pay someone to build it for you (kitbash or scratchbuild in styrene or photo-resist brass)....or contact the Tweetsie historical society to learn if other modelers have tackled your project.  

Building one myself is not really an option, I'd never be able to get all the rivets and details from scratch to match the prototype to any acceptable level.
I'm actually willing to spend money for the right bridge, does any make a metal bridge or one in brass?
I simply refuse to accept that among decades of O scale modelers, both 3-rail and fine scale, that nobody has ever made an accurate truss bridge!

I feel your pain!
William Clouser (of trolley and other modeling fame, unfortunately no longer with us) showed a truss bridge made from Strathmore board:

Tweetsie is one of my favorite railroads. One of these days I'll tackle the BRB&L coaches to go behind my Bachmann 4-6-0.....

This book contains a six page article on scratchbuilding a Pratt truss bridge using stripwood.  Evergreen Scale Models and Plastruct styrene strips and angles would work just as well.  Minor modifications during construction would allow a credible model matching the Tweestie bridge.  Check eBay and Railpub for a copy...for a small fee, the Kalmbach Memorial Library will copy pages 26-31.

I like the option mentioned earlier using the Central Valley girders...the large girders measure 1 foot square in O scale with excellent detail. 

I think the plasticville ones are just fine for ON30 work.  Russ

Russ, what type of deck are you using on those? That's my main gripe about the Bachmann bridge, it has no track deck at all.

FYI, to everyone else, I am a member of the Tweetsie group and have every publication on the RR there is. The group is a bunch of historians, not modelers.

If you feel that the Bachmann truss is an acceptable model of the prototype then sheet styrene or basswood could be used to build the deck/support...no longer available from Micro-Mark.  If you don't feel comfortable building it, someone could help you with your project. 

p51 I used a piece of 1x4 cut to width (1 1/2 inchs I think) and laid/glued the track right on it.  I used some 1/16th balsa for ribs on the sides that doesn't show in the pix but nothing special.  Russ

I will echo the leaving off the rivet detail, enough weathering and they won't be missed.  I have one of these kits that will be used in S scale and I plan on making the girder/deck supports from strip styrene.  Rivet detail can be painted on the viewer side with a fine pointed brush for that matter.  Will the bridge be viewable within a few inches or back a few feet?

Greg

It'd be really close up. That's why I now seriously doubt I'll have a bridge at all, as I just don't see any O scale bridges that I'd wanna use.

The ET&WNC had a covered bridge, though, down by Hampton, TN. Maybe I could just go with a model of that, as it'd be easy for me to build a decent representation of that...

Please take a look at these:

http://www.shop.cvmw.com/Heavy...ox-Girders-19005.htm

and tell us why you couldn't make a near-perfect representation of the ETWNC truss bridge

I supposed I could... if I were modeling in HO scale. That's been my problem from the start, there are countless HO scale bridges of this type but apparently not one comparable bridge in O scale that I can find.

Ah, now here's the neat part about building your own...if you can find plans or drawings but they aren't in your scale, you can resize them or redraw them on graph/grid paper. I did this many years ago when I was messing with G scale and could only find HO scale plans for the things I wanted - use scale rulers to convert or resize a drawing in a paint or some kind of program to make them the scale you need.

If your a rivet counter then this will get you what you want, or if your a TLAR{that looks about right} you'll be plenty close enough.

Give it a try...you'd be amazed at what you can do....

This is a plastruct bridge that I made from there kit, that they still make the kit make's a 30" bridge the bridge in the picture's are 40" i made then longer for the space , one of them is now a street bridge ,I made two for a customer that are 40" he run's a bigboy over it (16lbs) there very strong.

Guy

I just saw that the On30 annual will have an article on how to turn the Bachmann O truss bridge into a decent model for NG. I'll just hold out for that, as the photo they used looked great.

http://on30annual.com/extra/on...xtra_preview2014.php

Bridges with track on them (and running hurray!).  Russ