Suggestions for a dangerous crossing

                    will you going through the wall before crossing the stairwell ?

                                  check out the video........

You may have to forgo any thoughts of scenery and go with something practical.  Build a nice board shelf, stain it to match your existing stairwell woodwork, and attach some clear Plexiglas to the sides.  This would contain any derailments, and you would have immediate access to a problem with this method.

All things considered, that would a be far, far better choice than to have cars and /or loco take a twelve foot dive to a concrete floor!  

Paul.

I agree. Practicality over looks for this. I love realistic scenery, but I prefer functioning trains. Just build a nice wood structure with sides on it.

Gargraves has 5 rail track; two of which are guard rails. I used this on my trestle over my stairwell.  Rail to stair on mine is only 9'. While I haven't attempted it, you should be able to bend it to fit your curved bridge.

I agree with others, even with guardrails I would still be concerned about something happening. You could span it with a bridge with high sides (maybe a long truss bridge, you could always if you want access to the track on the bridge to have some sort of hinged mechanism where the sides can be dropped if need be). Other people's suggestion to have a stained board and clear sides is also a good one, I tend to agree that 12' drops aren't good unless you like recreating classic prototype disasters

Make sure that no trains are running when someone/anyone is going up or down the stairwell.

bigkid posted:

 You could span it with a bridge with high sides (maybe a long truss bridge, you could always if you want access to the track on the bridge to have some sort of hinged mechanism where the sides can be dropped if need be).

An excellent idea!