I scratch-built the plate girders from 0.030" thick styrene. I carefully cut and glued scale 7-inch strips of 0.015" styrene, and glued them to the tops and bottoms of the plate. I then simulated the L-shaped brackets with thin strips glued to the inside corners. The next photo shows these two plate girders in their approximate position. They are only staged for the photo.

The next photo shows a side profile of one of those girders.

The remainder of this project uses only 0.015" styrene. The next step is to install the vertical L-brackets. These provide support for the steel plates. Since I didn't have any angle brackets, I made each of mine from two strips of styrene, meticulously glued together.

And now we are ready to start building the frame work between the two girders. Because of the fact that this bridge sits on a curve and that the two sides are offset from each other, I decided to glue some temporary strips on the bottom of the girders while they rested in their approximate positions. I could then move the whole bridge to the workbench and continue to work on it, knowing that the two sides are in the correct position. I held them down with some metal weights.

The cross braces have been installed in the next photo and half of the lateral braces are in place, too.

The next photo shows the remainder of the lateral braces installed. The gusset plates on the bottom were cut and glued next.

I then glued some L-brackets to the top of the bridge. These need to match up exactly with the ones I installed in the bottom, because there will be vertical cross braces installed between them.

The vertical cross braces have been installed. The cross braces in the bottom were made to match the prototype exactly, including gusset plates. However, I got tired of doing that, and the space within the framework is getting quite tight and crowded. I decided to just overlap the two strips of styrene and then glue them in the center. The truth of the matter is that most of this will not be visible once the ties and track are in place. The point of this construction technique is to make sure the bridge is strong and stable enough. I believe I can achieve that for the model with this construction method.

The next photo shows the completed structure. I finished the lateral braces on the top, and added the gusset plates on the top. Like the vertical lateral braces, I just used simple strips of styrene. I didn't bother to make them L-brackets. The whole structure is strong enough. I also didn't put the gusset plates on top of the lateral braces, like I did in the bottom. I was worried about them interfering with the ties that will go on top of the bridge.

Off to the paint shop we went! Actually, I just spread some newspaper on the garage floor, grabbed a spray can of "flat aluminum" and added several thin layers to get all the nooks and crannies of the bridge.

And here is the finished structure. After the flat aluminum had dried, I used Floquil "Rail Brown" with a small, flat brush to paint the whole structure. The brush had most of the paint removed from it so that it didn't go on too heavy. I used deliberate vertical strokes to show aging of the steel plates. The inside of the bridge (as well as the back) were just crudely painted with Rail Brown to hide most of the aluminum color. Most of that will be hidden once the ties go on. The front girder received most of the attention, because, as you can see, it will be very visible. I did leave some of the aluminum color visible. This seems to add to the effect. After that dried I used a dark rust color of the Bragdon Enterprises weathering chalks to really create the dark, rusted, red color I wanted. This seems to match the prototype photos I have found. I also added some black chalk along the bottom of the structure and down the middle of the top (to represent engine oil leaks).

This completes this project. For more information about the installation of the ties and guard rails, see the PRR Chartiers Branch page that covers this part of the layout.