My first Covid/post-retirement train project was to add "girders" to my elevated track which had been "suspended in mid-air by magic" for 18 years. Recently, inspired by all the great work I see on the forum, as well as by learning some new painting techniques on YouTube, I decided it needed upgrading already in less than a year.
Here is the first attempt, which I consider now to be rather amateurish and a bit cartoonish:
Here is the "new and improved" version:
It was also quite simple and inexpensive. It is strips of cardboard cut from tablet backers. The verticals are just narrow craft sticks cut and glued on with PVA glue at a consistent distance via a jig (a piece of scrap wood). Then, all was painted with 2 coats of gray craft paint, then dry brushed with a burnt umber/red mix of craft paint, and finally washed with a black wash. Glued onto the ties with Gorilla Clear Grip Glue (my new favorite glue!).
I toyed with adding horizontal sticks top and bottom between the verticals to be more prototypical, but 90% of the track is curved, so bending to fit and holding in place for gluing with those on there seemed to be far more trouble than it was worth. Not to mention how much longer the cutting/gluing of sticks would have taken.