Since I build my layout in sections I have had to work out how to connect the different sections. It seems that one way is to have a short piece of track that connects to the tracks on the sections. I thought that I might just as well make that piece a bridge.
I started by gluing I-beams to the short track piece and then attaching the sides of the bridge by another pair of I-beams glued to the web of the first.
After doing that I started attaching stiffeners from thin strips of styrene. I got a bit carried away and glued some on the top part of the sides too, as seen on the picture above. I can't really explain way it just felt necessary. After this I added stiffeners to the sides, which looking at the pictures now I should have measured one more time. Wonderful thing cameras 
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To give it a more realistic appearance I added some more strips at the bottom of the bridge to add strength to the bridge. I felt that I had to do this since I at present move these sections every time I work on them and subsequently put the bridge in place when I want to run a train.
After giving the bridge a lick of paint I had to test it. And it worked out.... not as I had planned. 
!! Somewhere on the way I had moved the I-beams a couple of millimetres towards the centre of the bridge. The consequence was that the cylinders of my 2-10-0 made it almost come to a standstill. Not good, and slightly embarrassing 
. What to do? I contemplated between re-spacing the I-beams underneath or taking away the sides and adding extra width in some way. After looking at the beams underneath I realised that that wasn't a feasible option. I had glued them good, really good. This left me with the second option.
So I removed the sides and inserted extra I-beams (white in the picture) and repositioned the sides. After this had had time to dry I felt that it felt a bit flimsy. So I decided to make it stronger. A rummage in the toolbox ( I knew I had them somewhere) turned up some thin metal rods.
I placed them in an X and secured them with CA-glue, after letting it dry it felt much more rigid. Then it was just to paint the bridge a final time and to add some decals that I had bought when I repainted my caboose/cabin car.
As you can see I work in the kitchen, it has good big surfaces for me place my stuff when working and lots of electrical outlets. (And yes, the box in the background is milk carton.) Now I just have to ad some bushes along the fault line, add some water and.......
/Peter
