Three-D Modelling for Railways

If you want a simple footbridge that spans two tracks there are lots of options available - I have made three myself. But often the rail is not as simple as that. What if there are three or four tracks? What if the railway is in a cutting? What if there are two tracks going through two platforms, then four tracks in the sidings, and you need to span them all? Just use this modular footbridge! Here you can see a longer span on the left to stretch a bit further over the platforms, while the centre and right spans are designed to go across two tracks, but not platforms. The two sets of steps to the left are short, as they go down to the platform level - and one allows a bridge either side, the other on just the one side. The steps on the right go all the way to track level. There is also a pier. Here is the full set of parts that I have so far. A: platform level steps, end on. B: platform level steps, turning right (but could be printed to left as well) C: bridge to span three tracks D: b...

 This was in response to a request, though was something I had vaguely been thinking of doing for while. The model is pretty straightforward. A simple repeating unit makes the tower itself. Cabling is NURBS with a bevel; not sure how visible at this scale. There are several different designed, this is loosely based on one at Settle Station. I do not know about mobile phone masts, but I guess the thin rod on top is a lightning conductor. The white boxes are microwave transmitters, which have a wide spread, so between the three they cover the area for mobile phone connects. The dishes, on the other hand, are directional, and presumably connect to a base station or another tower to form a network.

This is a "Bascule" bridge built in 1932, a little north of the centre of Liverpool, on Regent Road. Bascule bridges are a type of lifting bridge where the lifting section rocks back on a curve. It pivots on the centre point of that curve, but the pivot point moves during the action, and indeed the bridge is raised by moving the pivot. The bridge features in Captain America. Shortly after the eponymous hero is super-sized, he chases a villain in a yellow taxi, and they end up here - with Brooklyn Bridge "photoshopped" in behind it. This is the view from the north. When it lifts, it moves away from the view point. And the view from the south. From here you mostly see the control room, and, I guess, the mechanism is inside. You can just about see the rocker on the right side. Here is a better view. The structure under the building. You can see something that looks like a spindle to the right, but now is not used. I am not sure if the bridge still has the capability to...