Where I Started

Here's the scene as it stood previously:

I built the ravine, and left a place for the culvert on the branchline track at bottom: I know some of you were wondering in my earlier scenery thread about what would eventually happen to ensure water could drain around the roadbed after flowing over the check dam below the trestle.  I mocked up several culvert and bridge ideas before finally arriving at a decision on how to proceed.

Installation

I built a culvert in two sections to fit on either side of the roadbed.  I used .060" styrene for most assembly, doubling up on the center support.  The side walls were extended to protect the fill from washing away.  Note how the wall on the right hand side behind the track is angled to increase the gathering area for oncoming runoff.  I also added some Evergreen styrene channel on the sides to retain the fill/ballast material.  What you see here is pretty much all there is to the structure.

I cut slots into the plaster shell for the walls and center support, and painted the edges of the roadbed black to disguise it in case somebody tries to look through.  I considered removing the roadbed but felt it wasn't really necessary.

I used Power Grab adhesive caulk to glue the culvert in place, and also used the caulk to fill around any gaps so dirt and ballast wouldn't spill everywhere during the next steps.  The track still needs paint and weathering.

Adding Fill

With the culvert installed, I could proceed to adding fill material.

Rock and dirt fill was piled up to get the railroad across the ravine.  I added rocks first, then some lighter sand, followed by darker sand representing compacted cinders and old ballast.  All of this was glued in place.  I'll add ground cover around the rest of the scene before finishing the track weathering and ballast.

Compare to the earlier photo of the same location without fill.  The structure should now look like one continuous thing, and the fill should appear to be adequately protected against erosion by the wing walls.

That's it for now, I come back later with additional photos as I finish more of the scene.

Seriously Rob your a machine...

You ability to make everything look so real is amazing! I'm really liking your rock and talus work, the arrangement is superb and scenically spot on!

If I can suggest one thing to you, and its from my experience as a plumber & drainer that culvert may be a little undersized. It's up to you but have a look at the volume of water that would be coming off that gorge, and more importantly the width of the actual gorge floor.

The culvert should be at least as wide if not 4-5' wider than the width of the gorge floor. And when the wing walls are in place the should be angled in such a way that they are into solid ground and eliminate any chance of water eroding away at ballast or sub track structure or ground.

I've added a photo below that will help explain it, if you need any further information would be happy to help out.

Jas...

Re: Jason

Looks like I may need to clarify where things are in the unfinished scene.

Although not entirely obvious from the other photos, the channel of the wash is very narrow, maybe 10' or less.   The culvert opening is 20'.  This isn't a perennial stream, and supposedly wouldn't carry too much water even at peak runoff. 

The wing walls extend well into the slope above the wash bottom.  Since the track is running downhill from left to right (and front to back), the short ditch at the back of the fill doesn't have a chance to channel much runoff, and there's heavy rip rap along the ditch.  I also thought of building up something on the concrete check dam to force water to flow in a narrower area.

All of this is probably hard to visualize from the photos thus far because so much is left to complete.

Its always hard to visualise when not there in person...

Rob,

If its only a trickle all year round then it should be no problem, I guess it all depends on how much in depth your willing to take things.  As my previous profession allows me to consider more aspects that is why I thought I'd offer the advice.

The way I was looking at it was allowing for the flash/freak/once in a hundred year downpour that would see the majority of the gorge floor inundated with a serious volume of water.  Railroads and road builders would allow for this type event just in case (may never happen), when engineering and constructing infrastructure to avoid the whole liability thing.

In short what you have done does and will work as you described what would be the annual rainfall for the area, what I was offering was to ensure for the "what if" scenario.  And it still looks seriously good, prototypical, and I wish I was up to that stage on the JL&T cause it's little things like this that can be so rewarding scratch building it yourself.

Just thought if someone had any doubt that you would appreciate a different perspective and other ideas or advice if there was a possible improvement.  But as has been mentioned several times this week on the forum, "it's your railroad"... 

And its a mighty fine one at that too...

Jas... 

Culvert Width

Rob,

My first thoughts were similar Jason's. However, judging from the distance between the bottom of the concrete pier on the left side of the trestle bent to the stream bed, it appears you will have to build up the scenery base from the edge of the stream to the pier. This would narrow the apparent water course significantly. I would assume that the scenery base to the left of the stream would also cover a bit of the left side of the concrete spillway, which would reduce its width. Then again, it's difficult to judge distances and perspective from photos. I'm looking forward to seeing more progress in this area. And the rocks look fantastic.

Tom Patterson

Width

Yes, that is the case.  The bottom of the ravine will be much narrower when complete than it looks now.  There will be a large amount of talus and alluvium on both sides, especially the left.

And I do appreciate you guys looking with a critical eye.  Since I'm basing the scene on various prototype photos (try an image search for "block culvert" for example), I'm thinking there will be sufficient capacity to cover anticipated flow, but it's never bad to get a reality check.

Above is one source of prototype inspiration for this scene, a typical dry wash in the Great Basin (as shot through the car window).  Compare to the first photo in the thread.  Another is Red Rock trestle on the WP in California.

Above is a channel of similar size crossed by the UP in Echo Canyon, UT.  Photo credit Paul Leach (click the image for the original).

Thanks for the update Rob

Looks like it's coming along well. I really like the Adding fill picture.  It really sets the table for what's to come

Steve

Very nice

No critiques here, but a question on the piers that you are using under the towers. where did they come from? did you make them yourself, casting or something like that? I am in need of 20 of them so looking for ideas other than paying $5 a pair.

Thank you

Re: Neil

The concrete piers are scratched from styrene sheet, either .030" or .040".  I made a rough drawing from prototype photographs of such footings under some WP trestles in California such as the Keddie wye, and I don't recall the exact dimensions.

The top is a square piece of styrene, and each side is a trapezoid of the same size that is cemented to the top.  Every side piece  overlaps one edge of the adjacent piece (say the left edge of each one) so the assembly stays square.  I filled any gaps with Squardon putty and sanded the completed footings smooth before painting with Testors "Camouflage Gray."  They were very quick to build.

More Happenings

In case you missed in the  Weekend Photo Fun thread, there has been some backdrop progress behind this scene.

I had to remove the trestle to paint behind it.  The trees will be extended into the 3-D scene to help hide the backdrop joint, and to bury the shadow cast on the backdrop by the trestle.  This photo cannot be duplicated, as I've since started adding ground cover.

Still More Progress

I've been adding ground cover and such to the scene.

This is how the wash looks now, with basic ground cover added.  There's still a lot more to do to finish up.  The wash channel should look narrower than it did when only plaster was visible.  I used a different color of sand and rock at the bottom to suggest material being deposited from uphill somewhere.

Here's the view from the opposite direction.  Note how the watercourse passes below the trestle tower compared to earlier photos before talus and dirt were applied.  In addition to more vegetation, I also need to finish weathering the trestle, including staining on the concrete footings.

Very Impressive!!

I too had some questions on the culvert, but with the rest of the scenery in place it really tells the story of which way the water will flow. As with many places that are dry washes, any amount of rain may change the course of the waterway with flash flooding, so unless it starts pouring down rain in your basement  I think the small culvert will handle it.

Keep up the great work!!

Thanks, Greg

I hope Jason and Tom check back in as well, at least before the next thunderstorm hits.

Very Nice

WOW, and its spot on too...

Thanks Jason & Tom

I appreciate the feedback.

It All Comes Out in the Wash

The scene is just about done.

I added sagebrush and 3-D trees to blend with the backdrop.  I weathered the trestle and concrete supports.

Additional trees were planted downstream.  Their location is strategic, as they block a viewer from looking straight into the culvert, which doesn't extend all the way through the roadbed.  While I had the airbrush out to paint some track, I lightly sprayed Floquil "Railroad Tie Brown" along the center of the wash to represent recent mud deposits.  Dried mud can stay behind and affect coloration in the channel for some time.  Additional weathering of the culvert was done with powdered pastels.

Very Nice Scene

Great work!

It reminds me somewhat of the trestle in Bear River Canyon.

George

I like it ...

It all comes out in the wash - quite poetic. I really like to looks of that manzanita (I think that is what it is) toward the bottom of the wash - quite realistic for the upper desert regions.

Looks great Rob!

I really like this one.  It should be in the MRH  subscriber photos

The wash...

...looks great, Rob. All various elements have really come together well. How about a shot of the overall scene? I noticed the weathering on the bridge and the abutment. I also noticed some weathering on the top of the pier on the left hand side. It might just be the angle and the light, but it looks like the piers might benefit from a little more weathering. If the rest of your railroad is going to look like this scene, it's going to be one spectacular layout!

Tom Patterson

Looks very nice

The addition of the brushes and trees really completes the scene!!

So only one question.....where are the trains?? =)