Talk:Bridge plate (mechanism)

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Question[edit]

When were bridge plates invented, where, and by whom? When did they first come into use in various places? When did they become ubiquitous in various placs? Is there a patent on them?

Isn't this far too narrow a scope?[edit]

This article describes a bridgeplate as a "wheelchair ramp" for rail wheelchair access. But isn't a bridgeplate any kind of ramp that spans the gap between a rail vehicle and a platform, for wheelchairs or for people?

I'm used to the 14+ -foot long bridgeplates used to allow temporary access to an interior railroad track from a high platform, passing over the the track that is adjacent to the platform, like shown in the picture here: https://twitter.com/MetroNorth/status/1150027228392185856 (see top). These get used when the platform-accessible track is out of service so trains that stop at the station stop at a track that normally has no platform access. I suppose there could be another article for these, but they seem like they are the same thing, only this article describes a very narrow aspect of them. (If I had to guess, I would have thought the larger, longer, temporary kind was more prevalent, although I could imagine that might have changed in recent years as there are more [light] rail vehicles with built in wheelchair ramps?) jhawkinson (talk) 14:47, 14 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]