So let me walk through what was involved in getting an article
on modifying a Central Valley bridge published in the Novem-
ber 2011 issue of MRH.
GETTING READY
The first step was to determine whether or not MRH would
have any interest in the article I had in mind. I sent the e-mail
below by clicking on the "Have an article idea" drop-down on
the Authors heading at the top of the MRH home page. In my
inquiry, I made sure to provide some background information
on the project along with a brief description of what the arti-
cle would include. This isn't cast in stone, and changes and or
modifications can be made as the article progress.
Joe/Charlie-
I'm getting ready to modify a Central Valley Pratt
truss bridge and wondered if this would be of
interest as a short how-to article. I built the
bridge shortly after the kit came out in the late
1980s and installed it on my first layout. I subsequently learned
that this specific design wouldn't be appropriate for a main line
coal-hauler set in the mid-'70's and I've been looking for ways
to modify it ever since. I recently came across a photo of an SP
train on a bridge at Winchester, OR on the CarrTracks website
and the inspiration hit. It also struck me that this is the same
bridge that Joe modeled on his Siskiyou line. I then checked
the MRH website and found the discussion regarding the CV
bridge, links to photos of Joe's bridge, and potential modifi-
cations to make it appear to be a heavier duty bridge. In any
event, here's the article outline:
1) Brief history of the bridge and the kit
