When I initially transcribed the Carbondale Central railroad track plan, I didn’t contemplate how many bridges I needed. Likewise, I hadn’t considered that many bridges’ fixed dimensions would complicate track plan as their fixed-lengths and curvatures didn’t necessarily match the plan.
When I started shopping online, I found limited offerings, and prices were relatively high. I was fortunate to find TGW and Tomix bridges on Japan Plaza. I was relieved that the TGW open deck girder bridges were flexible and could be adjusted in both length and curvature to fit the track plan. That said, the Tomix truss girder bridge was too long for the original layout design, so I shortened it by a few inches.
I also elected to create a custom girder bridge for the West side of the layout. The closely grouped turnouts crossing the water proved to be an unrealistic and overly crowded arrangement of track for separate bridges, so I split a plate girder bridge into two pieces and freelanced a trapezoidal bridge to fill the space. I included a small platform off the Southside of the bridge to allow for a caboose hobbies ground throw.
