Bridge-Creator
Makes customized 3d printable bridges for model railroad use.
This code is incomplete. At this time only the girder bridge types are working. I am working on Truss bridges, but they are not ready yet. This code has only been tested for use on N-Scale and a little bit for HO. Other scales should work but have not been tested and I don't know what would be required to print a G Scale bridge.
Printing
I have the best luck printing these on a resin printer directly on the build plate without supports. I have not tested them on a FDM printer. If you do, let me know how it turns out.
Parameters
The default values are ones that I think make a good looking bridge. You can choose what you like. Most are self explainitory.
Bridge Types
- Girder: This produces basic through girder bridges.
- Deck: This produces deck style girder bridges. Best results are had by setting width to about 8 or 9 feet, Girder_End_Radius to 0, and Bay_Count to about 8.
Deck Types
- X Braced: This produces x bracing across the whole bridge.
- Stringer: This produces smaller x bracing just across the stringers.
- Beam Deck: This produces many beams across the bridge and a deck for ballasting.
Miscellaneous Parameters
- Bay_Count: This sets how many inner repetitions of the basic beams and cross braces will be used.
- Skew Angle: This will set the angle of the bridge. Useful values are +45 to -45.
- Girder_End_Curve_Radius: This will round over the ends of the side girders.
- Girder_End_Setback: This will set the deck cross beams back from the ends. This makes the ends look better.
- Use Knees: This will generate angled plates to stiffen the sides. Some bridges like them and some work better without them.
- Extension: This will print the deck and one side girder. The intent is to allow multi track bridges with girders between the tracks.
- Space_Between_Parts: If this is set greater than 0, then the sides will be output with a gap between them and the deck.
