Signature scene

That will also be a cool spot to railfan on your line! I really like the mix of wooden trestle, steel girders, and fairly size decks. 

Following along with great interest. 

Neil E

Signature Scene

Hey Joe,

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this scene develop.  Bridge scenes are always challenging but when done are often the most rewarding.

-Neil Schofield

Thanks Neil (x 2)!

Thank you to both Neils.  It worked out that this scene falls adjacent to my most spacious aisle area, so hopefully it'll prove to be railfan-friendly.

I'm still debating whether to compress the bridge at all, and would appreciate the thoughts of the good folks here in that regard.  I have room to model it full size (or as close as the Micro Engineering components will allow), but I'm not sure if doing so will overwhelm the surrounding scenes.  Below are a couple views of the bridge scene and surrounding area, with ME components and Grand Central Gems trestle bents propped up to give a sense of scale.

McPherson Ave. beneath the bridge, was painted on to mock up its original location, but will actually fall between the two right-most towers.

Go big or go home!

I personally would go full scale. If you have the room, then do it! At the end of the day, the more realistic it is will probably make you feel more satisfied that you accomplished your mission. Also, the full scale one doesn't seem out of place or too demanding of the eyes, it draws the viewer in while also blending in nicely on that corner. If it's the signature scene, then do it. Keep us updated and good luck sir. 

Full scale for me too!

Your modeling is so consistently "on the mark" I know you can make an uncompressed scene that will be a beautiful focal point for your layout.

Nice

And me!

I agree, there is plenty of room for the whole bridge including the trestle portion. The open country (to the left) allows this to be a eye-catcher without detracting from other areas. Yup, go big!

Dick

Another full scale vote

I agree go full scale if it wii fit

Bill Michael

Full scale here also. You

Full scale here also. You could probably move the bridge to the right to keep it straight as the prototype is. 

Big Big Big!

I love this scene Joe and if you have room for it, go for it!!

I know it will look fantastic either way.

Thank you

Thank you all very much for your guidance!

Good thought.  The closest structure to the right of this scene is the bridge behind the Micro Engineering box in the first layout pic above.  To the left, the nearest objects will be structures in the town of McClelland, on the far left of that photo.

My biggest concern with modeling the High Bridge full scale was actually that it might make the distance between Bluffs Yard (just out of view on the far right) and McClelland seem shorter.  However, after reading your comments, I think the compression would be so insignificant that it wouldn't really help in that regard, while the loss of realism would hurt the scene.  

Thanks again for your input!  You've all been very helpful.

Moving the bridge

I considered that previously, but as the photo below shows, the High Bridge is right across the aisle from Bluffs Yard.  Since the prototype yard jobs never pull all the way to this bridge when working the yard (a couple miles out), I wanted to avoid doing so on the layout.  To that end, I placed yard limits at the west (right) end of the bridge, meaning that yard crews can't proceed onto the bridge without a track warrant.  Even the current arrangement with the bridge on the curve only allows for 9 cars of headroom, so moving the bridge closer to the yard would shorten that even further and create a real pain for the yard crew.

I love the "mixed media" type

I love the "mixed media" type bridges like this one that use a combination of wood and metal. There's a very similar bridge on the NKP's Adena Branch that I plan on building. So, needless to say I'll be watching your progress and and hope to pickup some tips or ideas.

It looks like you have a lot of room you could add on the right side of the bridge scene if needed to achieve a full size rendition. Like others have said this is your signature scene, so go for it!

Just wondering

Joe, are you going to model the unique looking culvert and what appears to be some interesting stair-step retaining walls?

Culvert

Hi Scott - That's the plan.  I actually had never found a vantage point from which I could see the culvert (Little Mosquito Creek) until reviewing my pics again today, as it's usually hidden by thick brush.  It should make for an interesting detail addition for this scene though.

 "To that end, I placed yard

You might have to move the left end of the bridge a bit left to get a scale length then?  With the large radius of that curve I doubt most  people would realize the bridge is not straight ( maybe only someone who's walked across it :> )  If you could re-align the curve to keep the deck girders/towers segment straight then the trestle parts could curve with less obvious visual effect. Once it's built and you are running trains I doubt you recall all the planning decisions that went into it.....DaveB

Curved bridges

Thanks for your thoughts Dave.  Unfortunately, if I move to the left, the bridge, which is a well-known Council Bluffs location among local railfans, ends up being closer to McClelland. 

I like the thought, but to be honest, the curving of the model bridge doesn't bother me.  Every bridge I've built so far has been curved, but all have been based on straight prototypes, and I've never given them a second thought.  Our layouts generally have so many more curves than our prototypes that it seems natural to have bridges in some of those curves.

  "Our layouts generally have

Hi Joe, I agree, and your curves look quite generous in radius so I think it will look fine. Do you have enough existing length across that watershed to build it as a scale length bridge? Looks like it would take about 3 1/2 feet  of bridge plus the tall fills to build it to scale? .....DaveB

2016 MRP article

The 2016 Model Railway Planning has an article by Mark Dance on planning and building large bridges that might be useful for you.  His planning process looks at the various options you can employ with the plus and minus of each explored.  I operate semi-regularly on his layout and can vouch that his bridges are top notch and very well designed and executed.  

Marc Simpson  

Full Scale!

Joe,

You already answered your question of "full scale" versus "compressed" in the subject for your post:  "Signature Scene".  Since this is your signature scene, you will not be satisfied with anything less than full size, even though you must build the bridge on a curve instead of straight.  The height and bulk of the bridge will play with the size of your locos and other rolling stock only at full size.  

I, too, have a similar signature scene, one that will wait a while (though I hope not 16 years!).  

Go for it!

Bill Decker

https://espeecascades.blogspot.com

How does the length of the

How does the length of the entire bridge break down by each type of construction?

And how long is each tower? ME components ruin scenes for me because to my eye the towers in their viaduct kit are too long in parallel to the bridge for many applications.

running distance from the yard

Greatscene

Joe

That is going to be a magnificent scene..Add my kudos to your work again

                                                              Ray

Thank you

Thank you all very much for your replies and suggestions!  I really appreciate your participation in this process.

Thanks Dave.  I misspoke earlier when I said that all the bridges I'm modeling are straight.  I knew there was a reason I located the High Bridge on this curve in my original plan!  Here's a photo of the prototype looking west (to the right on my layout):

The total width of that watershed is 35".  I should also clarify that I was admittedly being pretty liberal earlier in my use of the term "to scale".  The ME 50' girders and some Evergreen girder stock looked like they'd get me pretty close to the look of the prototype, which is really all I'm after.  So, my earlier quandary about compression wasn't so much a question of whether or not I'd hit the prototype's measurement to the foot as it was about whether I should leave out a segment - perhaps the skinnier girder section supported by the left-most tower, trimming the tower to a single pair of legs, and maybe shortening the trestle sections on both ends - all of which I've decided against.  

Building the High Bridge with all four girder segments, using ME 50' girders for the larger sections, may still fall a bit short of the prototype's length, but my hope is that it won't be obvious.  Looking at the second prototype photo at the top of the page, it looks to me like that larger girder on the left is comparable in length with the 55' covered hoppers, and the segment over the road is shorter yet, so hopefully I'm close.  I'm sure I have the exact prototype bridge dimensions around here somewhere, but given all the compression we have to make in our scenes, my goal with structures is to just get as close as possible to the right proportions and overall look.

Thanks for that reminder Marc!  I'll have to give that another look.

Out of the box, the ME bridge is about 77' tall.  From the looks of the second photo at the top of the page, comparing the length of the covered hoppers to the height of the bridge, it looks like it's about 60-65' above the roadway, but the two towers to the left of the road extend below the road into the creek banks.

I'm not sure what you mean there Peter about being “too long in parallel”.  Would you explain further please?

Thank you, that helps!