East Nishnabotna River bridge

First of all, here's a composite of a couple Bing images from http://binged.it/1Eh0UNO .  The bridge falls right on a seam between two satellite angles, so it's not possible to get a single close-up image of the whole structure from this direction.

 Next, a quick and dirty attempt to selectively compress the prototype photo to represent the bridge as it'll appear on the layout:

 Finally, my representation as it stands today, supporting a pair of the new Athearn Genesis IAIS GP38-2s bracketing a kitbashed IAIS GP16 and home-brewed P2K GP38-2 shell on an Atlas GP38 drive.  Lighting in this portion of the layout is pretty poor thanks to all the overhead ductwork, so I tried to give the clouds the appearance of a developing thunderstorm to fit with the darker feel of the area.

I use Homasote splines for the majority of the layout, and wanted to preserve the integrity of the spline through this bridge and curve.  To accomplish that, I cut the spline down vertically, then reinforced it with aluminum stock before laminating the Micro Engineering girders on to hide the whole thing.

I had to get this bridge back in service before next month's OS Omaha ops weekend, so now that that goal is behind me, I'm going to move on to other projects for a bit.  I'm planning to be back in this area by about July or August to finish the backdrop photos and complete scenery through this area.

Excellent

Very nice work Joe! From that angle you really can't tell that the curve is present.

James

Nicely done, Joe

Modeling a prototype bridge of that size and selectively compressing it is always a challenge. Looks like you got 'er managed.

Say, Joe, your ops session weekend doesn't happen to coincide with Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in May, does it? I understand that's a tough weekend to get any accommodations in Omaha and environs.

Looking great!

Joe,

Looks like you are off to a great start.

At some point I will have some bridges to tackle and I am not sure what I want to do. I really like the idea of laminating the sides like you have to using aluminum and or spline. Do you have any in progress photos before the sides were glued on?

Thanks!

Love the bridges

Lookin’ really good, Joe. It’ll be fun to see the full scene come together soon after OS Omaha. 

I like how your clouds look. Have you documented your painting process?

Thank you

Thanks gentlemen.  James, I wish I could say that the curve is well-hidden from normal view angles, but at least from my eye level, that's a problem.  Given the space limitations, I figured I was better off extending the bridge into the curve than trying to compress it further to fit on the tangent.  I considered doing away with it altogether, since it's virtually inaccessible except by rail or canoe, so not a structure that most railfans are terribly familiar with.  However, it's a really memorable part of any ride over the line, so it seemed wrong to ignore it completely.  Here are a couple of Andy Brown photos from a ride we took over the West End in IAIS business car "Hawkeye" as part of a 2010 fundraiser for the Rock Island Technical Society.

 Paul, the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting is the first weekend in May.  Thankfully, OSO fits nicely between it and the College World Series, June 13-23/24.

A lot more going on. . .

 . . in Omaha that I ever figured, at least in May.

For what it's worth, Joe, I think you made the right decision to include the bridge, even with the slight modifications to accommodate the geometry.

In-progress photo

Hi Greg - I didn't take any this time, but the technique was identical to what I used on the smaller Walnut Creek bridge last fall.  I don't get any points for neatness , but here's a pic from a few months ago at the earlier bridge.  I promise that the cut in the current structure looks better. Live and learn! 

Looking good

Joe,

Looks great!  Are you planning to raise the plywood sub-deck and reduce the vertical distance from the rail heads to the river water?  It looks a bit deep (not that you can tell from satellite photos) and it may make the compression of the length seem a bit less.  Great idea about the thunder clouds too; how often have i seen those midwestern storms roll in like the Edge of Night.

Geof

Clouds

Thanks very much Scott.  I did a brief write-up at  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/backdrops-painted-vs-printed-12194884 , but Charlie Duckworth's my mentor on that work. Hopefully he'll chime in here with actual expert guidance.

Thank you Paul, that's great to hear!  I've been at this layout for so long (15 years in June), and it's sometimes sobering to face the consequences of decisions I made in the initial design.  I've found that sometimes I just have to accept my rookie mistakes from back then and do my best to minimize them.

Valley depth

That's the plan Geof, or else build up the valley with foam, which might have less fallout to the surrounding scenery at this stage of construction.  I built my benchwork before I had the piers in hand, and drastically overestimated the valley depth.  I'll also need to replace my fascia in front of this scene.  

I hadn't thought about the reduced depth making the bridge seem longer, but I believe you're right!  Now I'm really looking forward to getting back to this scene.

Progress

With the Hancock bridge over Hwy. 59 and the Oakland Branch now behind me, I'm once again making progress on an adjacent scene I began last April:  Hancock Jct. and the East Nishnabotna River bridge, immediately west of the Hancock bridge.  The first item on my to-do list was to extend my backdrop photos further west from the previously-completed bridge, which I finished this morning.  Here are a couple photos.

Hancock bridge over Hwy. 59 and the Oakland branch on the left, Hancock Jct. on the far right.  The new backdrop photos begin just behind the trees and extend to the right.

Hancock Jct. in the center, and the East Nishnabotna River bridge on the right.  The bridge girders are already in place, laminated to the outside of a thinned and aluminum-reinforced portion of Homasote spline.

The next step will be to raise the river floor so I can add the piers, abutments, and surrounding scenery.

Photos

If there were photos in this post I am not seeing them on Firefox. Same on the WPF.

Missing photos

There are two photos, but I don't know why they're not appearing for you.  I noticed the same thing in the OSCR thread at  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/oscr-moving-forward-12203048 earlier, but I'm seeing the pics there now.

OK

but I'm seeing the pics there now.

I am now seeing them also. Strange things in MRH land.

Progress tonight

Weird!  But I'm glad they're back anyway.

With tonight being Oscar night, I was once again dismissed from the general vicinity of the TV since my wife doesn't appreciate my unsolicited commentary during such shows.  Same thing happens whenever The Bachelor is on.  Anyway, that meant more layout time for me tonight, so I got the E. Nishnabotna River bridge piers in place.

I decided to leave the plywood base where it is and instead build the river bottom up with foam to avoid as much mess as I can.  That work begins this week. 

The addition of the piers is a small step, but it helps me to begin to visualize the completed scene.  I'm excited to see the progress that I hope this week will bring.

Missing photo mystery

Photos that are reduced in size for display are sometimes "lost" when the MRH cache gets stale. When I saw Brians post, I asked Joe F to refresh the cache which restores the photos.

One way to avoid the issue is to upload photos at 750px wide instead of setting the width in the image dialog.

Cheers!

Update - backdrop pics at E. Nishnabotna River

This morning I was able to finish installing the backdrop photos behind the East Nishnabotna River bridge scene.  Below are a couple quick pics of the progress.

Once I've completed the scenery base, I plan to cut a new section of fascia to hide the foam used to build up the higher-than-expected river bed.  My hope is to finish this scene in the coming week, so we'll see if life cooperates. 

Saturday update

I got the basic land forms in place this morning, so it's finally starting to look like a bridge.  A bridge that's been scenicked by the Easter Bunny, but still a bridge.

I still need to build up a bit of a sand bar around the right-most pier and widen the channel a little to the right of it.  Once that's behind me, I just need to build and paint the abutments and retaining walls and replace and repaint the fascia, and then I can finally get started on scenery here.

I really like the curves

The curve on the first section of bridge and the curve outgoing/incoming on the track section adjacent to the two straight bridge sections add an elegance to the entire scene. Add to that those bridge supports and you've got a real winner there.

Thank you

Thanks very much Rick!  It wasn't my first choice to model this bridge on a curve (since the prototype isn't), but I do like the way it's shaping up.  In fact, I think this is becoming my favorite scene on the layout.

One unforeseen benefit to this scene is the view of the backdrop side of the bridge from the end of the peninsula, further around the curve on the right of the bridge.  This vantage point gives a nice view of the S-curve you pointed out, from the opposite of the bridge.  I'll plan to post a photo with my next update.

Fascia and abutments

Progress has been slow thanks to an unexpected business trip overseas and an even more unexpected (and unwelcome) bout with the flu after I got home late Thursday, but I was able to get a bit done just before the trip, and again this morning.

First up, a view showing the new fascia before paint, as well as the abutments and a thin scenery base coat of plaster to address the gaps in the foam insulation.

Side view.

Here's the view I mentioned to Rick in my previous reply, from the end of the peninsula.  Pretty messy as things stand today, but I think it'll provide an interesting vantage point once this scene is finished. 

As much as I'm looking forward to having this bridge in service, I'm just as excited about finally being on the verge of filling this gap in my finished scenery.  Only one more to go! 

Inspiring Progress Joe

Joe,

Looks like a busy weekend, looks great.  Can't wait to see the finished scene.

-Neil Schofield

Neil

Thanks Neil! I'm hoping to put down ground goop, paint the river bed, and add water later today, and hopefully finish scenery before the weekend. I have a feeling this scene is going to soak up more trees than I originally anticipated.