In the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, there is a very famous railway bridge. The bridge is called “Delfshavense Schiebruggen”. This railway bridge is a double steel drawbridge with a clearance height of seven meters. Normally, the bridge only opens at night, so that train traffic is not disturbed by shipping during the day. Because this railway bridge is a landmark in the area of Rotterdam, this bridge was a challenge for a new model railway layout for the members of the Dutch model train club “MaasBuurtSpoor”.
The model builder Mike van Raaij has carefully designed this model railway layout in HO scale. The detailed landscape on the model railroad layout has been reconstructed almost in perspective. Although there are even cyclists, boats and other loving details, the focus is on the railway bridge. The bridge consists of two leaning drawbridges lying next to each other. These drawbridges are placed diagonally across the railway line. However, the model bridge has the same functions as the original bridge. The model trains are controlled by a digital computer system. The train control is realized by the program “Koploper” and the block detection circuits are based on an S88 system.
