Achilles Heel
As close as I got to the original Gorre & Daphetid track configuration using Rokuhan track, I've still got one serious problem: the twin wooden truss bridges in the foreground. This and the wooden trestle are the two signature features of the G&D, so to some degree I'm obligated to do something along similar lines.
The problems are principally due to the switch geometry, and the only way to correct it would be to hand-lay all of the track—which was never an option. I was conscious of this as being the single biggest challenge of the project from the very start (it was worse back when I was using Micro-Trains track), and I've been weighing my options long before construction began.
Option 1 is to ditch the idea of a pair of wooden truss bridges, and replace them with a single skewed steel pony truss bridge, using an N scale kit from Peco (NB-38); I'd even ordered a few kits and started chopping them up. The advantage is that it would be the quickest and easiest to build, hands down. The problems, though, are that it looks too modern and it's implausibly long.
Option 2 replaces the steel pony truss of Option 1 with a heavily kitbashed Micron Art brass truss bridge. The issues here are that it would be quite tall, thus detracting from the rest of the layout, and there are so many technical errors in the kit's design (if built full-size, the bridge couldn't support itself, much less a train) that I doubt John Allen would have it on his layout.
Option 3 is perhaps obvious: scratchbuild it. This would not be outside my ability, but it would consume a considerable amount of time. The problem comes with its design: it would have to be modified from the original to accommodate my adaptation's altered track geometry. Specifically, the space for the center pier is too small to permit a reproduction of the original center pier; plus, even if a slenderized version of a center pier is used, the angle is off. Many hours have been spent making sketches and wrestling with software to render feasible configurations, and it all comes down to a set of choices: oddball truss lengths, a plausibility-stretching cantilevered center pier, or a center pier supporting the bridge at the wrong points.
Option 4 is a variation of Option 3: commission a laser kit company to make a custom laser-cut bridge. This would save considerable work, but at a hefty financial cost, and it would have all of the same geometry problems as Option 3.
At this point, I've made no decisions. I'm still evaluating all of my options, as well as seeking others; and I'd also be interested to hear the comments and suggestions from readers. Given the challenge, it may be one of the last things to be finished on the layout.
Original Gorre & Daphetid image courtesy of Peter T. Prunka.