Klawndyke's T-TRAK Lackawanna Concrete Arch Bridge

Klawndyde's offers a Lackawanna-style concrete arch bridge kit that's dimensioned to T-TRAK standards. The Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad undertook an extensive relocation and straightening of its main line in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the early 1900s. A major feaure of the project was four reinforced concrete arch viaducts. These are all still in existence, but the Delaware River and Paulinskill viaducts have been out of use since the early 1980s. These may return to service if Amtrak adds a New York-Scranton route.

These were generally similar, but they differed in length, height, and detail. The Klawndyke's model appears to be loosely based on the lowest of these, the Delaware River crossing.

The Klawndyke's model comes in two-arch and four-arch versions that are dimensionally compatible with T-TRAK modules. The two-arch is dimensionally the same as a single-wide module, while the four-arch is a double-wide module. The kit pieces are laser cut from 1/8" MDF. The bridge is easy to assemble with tab-and-slot construction using Elmer's glue.

For paint, I had a puzzle. The model paint manufacturers once offered concrete-colored paint, and Scalecoat even had a spray can of it available. No more. I went on Amazon and found Rust-Oleum 223524 Desert Bisque in a spray can. As a bonus, it's textured to look like concrete. Here is the painted kit posed on concrete steps in our back yard.

I think it's a good match for a concrete color. I assembled two lengths of Kato double-track concrete tie Unitrack that matched the 12-1/8" length of the bridge. I spread silicone caulk on the bottom of the track, centered it on the deck, and held it down with two heavy machinists' vises to dry overnight.

Here's the final result: