Looks like a river Good job. What is that small bridge in the last photo leading to a stop?? For that matter, what is that spur destined to be?
Good job. You've almost got a double track all the way around. Why not complete it & re-route the remaining siding slightly away from the river so you can eliminate the bridge for RR use but build a road and have it cross the river there....just a thought. BTW, I really like how you've done the river embankments. Cam [ March 30, 2006, 07:30 AM: Message edited by: conagher ]
the track with the small bridge will be the interchange track, the main line engine will cross over briefly, back into that track and drop off cars then return to the main line so that the switcher can go to work....not perfect but I think it will work....
eman - Looking really good. Interesting that it probably took you more effort to shape the foam than lay the track/roadbed with the unitrack. That's some great stuff. Looks like you're on a door size layout. Welcome to the club. Keep up the good work.
I, too, have to question why a railroad would spend several hundred thousand dollars to bridge a ravine to only lay ten feet of track on the other side. It is just not logical. Remember, railroads are businesses and try to avoid spending money on things that do not contribute to the "bottom line".
A Stanley SureForm shaper is WAY faster than a hot wire cutter for shaping riverbanks. http://www.redhillgeneralstore.com/A10700.htm You should be able to find it at your local tool vendor.
Good job. Looks really fun. With lots of switching too. I see no problem with the straight bridge. Sometimes model railroading is more about expressing the look of a model railroad. Without that bridge that river crossing might be less dramatic. Maybe there used to be a line cutting across both cruved tracks and it was later abandoned but the bridge remained as a place store old cars. Use your imagination and there must be a reason. You could get a double oval running with one cross over the way it's set up right now. But the look for the tracks is very pleasing as is. I look forward to seeing the scenery develop.
I too questioned the dead-end bridge, but now Geeky made an excellent suggestion. You could remove that bumper and mockup some railroad ties and lay them across the tracks where the bumper is now. Make it look like there once was a crossing over that mainline but is now abandoned. There is an old shortline that did that very thing right behind my house.
I know that I could get a true second oval and I've thought about it both ways..... Seems like 2 full ovals in a 2 x 4 space is a bit much and it would add expense (double crossover from kato is like $55) plus I'd loose some siding space...... I can operate the one main line train round and round and the switcher can work independently back and forth...
What you have there looks good. Nice job on the foam. Quarry or abandoned track seems like a good idea.
While it's not typical, it's not impossible either. There was a small industry in Jamestown/Falconer, NY, that had a two-car siding on the 'wrong' north side of the Chadakoin Creek. Erie built the siding in there, and really there was only about 200' of track on the other side of the short girder bridge. Never seen anything else like it; the track never went a foot further. The bridge is still there today and had me so puzzled I had to research it. Look for the north-south spur that crossed the creek and just abruptly stops. It never went any further: http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=17&X=809&Y=5829&W=1&qs=%7cFalconer%7cNY%7c It's not uncommon at all with track abandonments to have wierd situations; my current favorite is the end of the Oil Creek & Titusville at East Titusville, where the 'wrong way' spur meant they had to keep the bridge there, but it is abandoned right at the FAR end of the bridge: http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=17&X=766&Y=5760&W=1&qs=%7cEast+Titusville%7cPA%7c That's not a typo; there's track on the bridge and it stops RIGHT AT THE END. But at least there was a railroad going elsewhere in the past. So I think the 'abandoned track/crossing' beyond the bridge end is a great idea. Either that, or also show the bridge as 'abandoned in place' with the rails removed. The same railroad has the 'other end' that goes across the main street of town and has about 200' of track on the far side, not even long enough to put a car on, but the crossing is intact and the flashers are there. The situation is that they need the extra distance for reverse switching moves. [ March 30, 2006, 10:53 AM: Message edited by: randgust ]
I like the look of that bridge (which is why I put it in because it looks "fun") and its really the only place on the layout where it seemed like it could go.......I have enough stress in my personal and professional like to worry about making sure that stuff like this is prototypical..... That siding will serve as my "interchange" and I'll consider making it look like it was supposed to go further but didn't...or perhaps my short line needed a few more feet of track for an interchange siding but the river was in the way.....so they got a great deal on an older girder bridge......... anyone have a picture of something like that..... also, the quarry idea is interesting although not sure where you think it should go....
I'll see if I can take a picture of the abandoned track behind my house this weekend for you. As for the quarry, I would maybe put up a structure on the riverbank and maybe some huge one-of-a-kind excavator that stretches across the river and loads the railcar right on the bridge or something... I've seen these cable-pulley type excavators out here where a bucket is attached to a cable and some type of motor (old tractor or stand-alone diesel motor) drags the bucket across the river bottom. [ March 30, 2006, 11:45 AM: Message edited by: FiveFlat ]
