Märklin H0 modular Steel Girder Bridge Rail-C 360mm Straight Element (multi-part) / Märklin H0 modulare Stahlträger-Brücke Gleis-C 360mm Element gerade (mehrteilig)

Motivation

[ I need a long straight bridge element... ]
When building railway bridges and the bridge crosses a track on the ground diagonally or crosses a parallel double track, sometimes the available straight bridge elements (172mm, 188mm) are just not long enough. to span the full distance without pillars.
Thus I designed this 360mm straight element in the design of the steel girder bridge system.
The 360mm element is compatible with the other modular bridge elements and can be combined to realize individual tracks.
As the model railway track (Rail-C) a combination of a 172mm rail (24172) and a 188mm rail (24188) perfectly fit onto the 360mm straight bridge support element.

[Oh, can I print such a large element? ]
The track base is built from two identical pluggable elements with snap lock mechanism, so you can print all parts on a "regular" small 3D-printer with ~230mm heatbed size.

[ What about the pillars? ]
When building a temporary model railway bridge or ramp, you need pillars with various sizes.
Using Lego for this purpose worked fine, but it did not look too realistic.
For this reason I designed a pluggable model railway pillar system, that allows you to create almost any pillar height you need.

[ Steel girder bridge design ]
For a more realistic look of a steel girder bridge, I designed a rail element for the straight Rail-C 360mm rails.
The element can be combined with all other elements of the modular bridge system.
The modular bridge elements fit on top of the modular Bridge pillar system and can be connected with removable snap-in-connectors for good stability.

The connector design leaves enough tolerance for the changing slopes needed for the bridge ramps.


The Märklin Rail-C system is intended to be used with for use with our design.
 

Print

Printed with prusament PLA (Gentleman's Grey)
To build a complete ramp or bridge with ramps, you need quite a number of pillars and rail elements.
For one complete straight steel girder bridge Rail-C 360mm support element (multi part) you need to print the following components:

  2x H0_Bruecke_gerade_360mm_HalbBasis_v00.stl (base element)
     (slicing:                    use min. 4-5 perimeters to get a solid and stable joint region for the plug-in-nose)
     (support:                  not required)
     (brim:                       not required for satin or smooth sheet)
     (print orientation:   upright)
     (colour:                    Gentleman's Grey)

  4x H0_Bruecke_gerade_360mm_HalbAbdeckGitter_v00.stl (steel-grid left/right) 
     (support:                  not required)
     (brim:                       not required for satin or smooth sheet)
     (print orientation:   top face facing downwards, smooth or satin metal sheet)
     (colour:                    Gentleman's Grey)

  2x H0_Bruecke_Verbinder_v01.stl (snap-in-connector)
     (support:                 not required)
     (brim:                       not required for smooth sheet)
     (print orientation:   left or right side)
     (colour:                    Gentleman's Grey) 

Assembly

[Straight Rail-C 360mm Support Element complete]

[ base ]
The straight Rail-C 360mm rail support base element is printed in two identical parts
(H0_Bruecke_gerade_360mm_HalbBasis_v00).
Place the elements on a smooth surface in opposite orientation, plug-in-noses facing to each other (noses touching the surface).
Break off the print support element to fully open the opening for the plug-in-nose of the opposite part ... the break-line is thinned, so this can be done with little force.
Clean the break line of the base part with a sharp blsde, so the nose of the opposite part os not blocked when sliding in.
Slide the two base parts together, plug-in-noses sliding into the opposite opening, and gently push until both base parts touch each other.
In assembly position, a small locking mechanism should keep the parts from sliding out again when gently pulling, but disassembly is still possible when using some more pulling force.

[ steel-grid covers ]
Then you need to place the four steel-grid parts in the top sides of the assembled base element
(2 left and 2 right).
Simply place the steel-grid parts (left+right) in their related positions on the base element and carefully push in the snap hooks.
(the steel-grid parts are identical and do fit into their related position in any orientation with hooks facing down)
The assembled steel-grid-covers give a nice impression of a steel girder bridge construction.

[ connectors ]
The snap-in-connectors go into the small openings (left+right) at the ends of the rail support element.
The connected rail support elements fit on top of the pillar system.

[ rails ]
The Märklin straight Rail-C elements 172mm (24172) and 188mm (24188) are simply placed in the center position after snapping them together to form a straight 360mm railroad track.


Play & Enjoy!!!