Atlas O Pratt truss bridge

THE ATLAS O PRATT truss bridge, in both single- and double-track versions, is an impressive railroad structure. The plastic bridge, made of zigzagging girders with a simulated wooden deck, would be the centerpiece on most layouts.

But what impressed me also made me pause. And when I poured dozens of girders out of the kit box onto my workbench, I sighed and thought, “Building this can’t be as easy as everyone says it will be.”
I was wrong. I had anticipating a mile-long list of tools needed for assembly, but was extremely pleased (and relieved) that I needed only a small Phillips screwdriver, a sharp knife to trim plastic flash, and glue. Most of the bridge girders are held together with plastic pins.

The heart of the kit is the preassembled bridge deck with Atlas O track already in place. The kit includes Atlas O track adapter pins to allow you to use the bridge on layouts built with tubular track.
The first assembly step is to remove screws at the ends of each corner of the bridge. The screws hold metal tabs used to join the deck and the angled girders. During assembly of the bridge, the only time I used any colorful language was when trying to re-screw these tabs into the girders. The screw holes are beneath the deck, and getting a straight shot at them with a screwdriver is no easy task.

Once all the vertical trusses are in place, the next big step is installation of the upper cross-members. Not all the pins of the cross-members snapped tightly into their respective holes, so I had to dab a little glue here and there to make a solid fit.

There are also some underside cross-members beneath the deck that go together in a similar manner, although they won’t be seen unless your bridge spans a high gorge and you look up from beneath.

The scale-sized double-track bridge is 40.5 inches long, 10 inches wide, and 10 inches tall. The tracks are spaced 4.5 inches apart, center to center; vertical clearance for rolling stock is 6.75 inches measured from the tops of the railheads. The railheads are 1.625 inches above the bottom surface of the deck. So the largest O gauge steamers should roll right on through – but you dreaming Standard gauge guys … well, keep on dreaming.

So other than my angst over the metal tabs, assembly was pretty straightforward. Not counting time to let glue dry, assembly took about 2 hours.

Better yet, construction really was as easy as I had been told. So if you have a couple of hours free and space for this Atlas O bridge, go for it!