When a track section is marked as a bridge in SCARM track plan, it will appear in the 3D Viewer with default solid bridge supports and without any railings. This article will give you some ideas about creating realistic looking bridge pillars and railings when browsing the layout in 3D viewing mode.
Let’s start with a sample bridge section in TT scale (1:120) with height of 100mm (~3.94″). We will use it as a base for the next examples (click over the images to enlarge them):
| Current version of SCARM shows the bridge platform in 3D viewing mode wider than in 2D plan. This is a known issue and will be fixed in some of the next releases of the program. |
1. Bridge support pillars
The sample bridge is composed of two straight tracks with auto-placed solid support in the middle. By default, SCARM is placing supports on every join between two track pieces and most of the time this is OK. However, in some cases you may prefer to create your own supports (i.e. on long flex-tracks) or to change/hide auto-generated supports (i.e. under some short tracks).
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You can manage the auto-placed supports from “Edit” > “Track Supports” menu. The track or track height marker in the joining place must be selected first, otherwise the menu will be inactive. |
If you want to create additional or different looking supports, you can do that using Figures in SCARM. In the example below, two additional supports are added under the bridge by two rectangle figures with the appropriate 3D height:
With the figures, you can create even old-time bridges with wooden supports for the layouts, representing an old train era or epoch:
The current version of SCARM is not able to apply textures to 3D objects, but you can achieve some very realistic visual effects by combining the figures in the appropriate way, like the massive stone supports of the bridge below:
2. Bridge side railings
Bridges in SCARM are visualized in the 3D viewer as a platforms without any side railings. While this can be OK in some cases, most real bridges have some kind of side railings for safety reasons and/or structural reinforcement. Again, you can use the figures to make different small or massive railings for the bridges in your layout.
The first example will show a simple solid railings made of single rectangle figure along each side of the bridge:
The above railings are easy and simple to do in SCARM, but the real bridges have much more elements in the construction instead of a two plates of iron on each side. To make the bridge looking more realistic in 3D viewing mode, you need to add more figures, like the example below:
You can also create a complex railings of massive girderages, which are the most common in railroad bridge constructions. However, at the moment SCARM is not able to create sloped figures and the structures with diagonal beams in the bridges cannot be directly represented. To cope with this, you can create pseudo-sloped beams with several boxes placed each after another with small vertical and horizontal offsets as shown below:
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Starting from SCARM v. 1.5.0, a new “Ramp” figure is available which can be used for representing of basic tilted objects and details. See more about using of this figure in the post Using Ramp Figures to Represent Tilted Details. |
3. A full-featured bridge example in SCARM
There are many types of rail bridges in the reality and SCARM is able to represent most of them with the help of user-defined figures. The major limitation is the lack of support for sloped figures in the user interface, but this will be added in some of the next versions.
The last example below is a combination of already presented bridges – it has massive stone pillars over concrete basements, complex construction with steel beams and additional pedestrian pathways with small railings on each side:
All these examples were created with different sized and colored rectangle figures in SCARM. Download the ZIP archive from the links below to see all the bridges on your PC. You can then experiment and edit them to create even more complex and more realistic bridges for your virtual SCARM layouts.
See also
How to place tunnels and bridges
How to set track supports
How to work with figures
Featured examples
SCARM Bridge Examples.zip
When placing bridges or tunnels they do not always match up with a section of track. How can I position the ends of the bridge or tunnel in the correct position, even if it is not on a rail joint?
Hello Keith,
At the moment, this is not possible for sectional tracks in the program. You can use flex-tracks and split the track at the place where you want the tunnel/bridge to start/end.
Very good, I have appreciate much this article
I have the Atlas Track Planning Software. You have several .zip files. One example is the SCARM Bridge Examples.zip listed above. Is there a way for me to view those files?
Hello Thomas,
Yes, you can view and use these files in ATPS. Just download and unzip them and then open each file using “File” > “Open” menu command in ATPS.
Your reply dated 6 Jan 2014 said you can use flex-track then split it. I am using ATPS and have been designing my layout using sectional track. Splitting sectional track then setting my bridge or tunnel works also. I have enjoyed the software. It has been easy to use.
Hello Thomas,
Yes, the sectional tracks can also be divided (split) using “Snip-off” feature which was implemented in SCARM 0.9.30, however, that will interfere with the pieces count, shown in Parts List.