I started on the third of five bridges on the layout. This bridge is a few miles to the southeast of downtown Houston in an older area of town.

First, a GoogleEarth view and a Bing view:

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And some prototype photos. There are several interesting things about the prototype. Since Houston is so flat, we have lots of "underpasses" at rail crossings. The ground is excavated and then the road is lowered to pass underneath the track. That is the case with this bridge. The road slopes down to clear the rail bridge, then rises back up to ground level.

The bridge supports are of interest too, with all of the shapes involved. Strange that they would have built it like they did instead of just making it like a big rectangular box all the way up.

Also, the road goes under the bridge at an angle, and the girder ends are not aligned perpendicularly across the tracks.

All in all, it seems like a really nice bridge to model. Sidenote: The grass on the slope in the first photo is a prime candidate for the GERN GrassBlaster!

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I am using the girders from a Central Valley 72 foot plate girder bridge kit, #1903. On the real bridge, the structure underneath is closely spaced I-beams, but I used square styrene strip instead, because it is cheaper and stronger than plastic I-beam, and because you can't really see underneath the bridge anyway. Then I used thick plastic sheet from an old building kit for the concrete sections leading to the girders.

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And a few minutes ago, as I was viewing the GoogleEarth photo, it dawned on me that i mis-measured the length of the concrete bridge sections. Made them too short. So, I'll have to extend them, no big deal, but a pain in the butt to have to redo them.

And, here is some landscaping at the layout. First is the empty spot in the layout.

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And the added and carved foam with the bridge.

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Oh... I am taking some modeler's license here. The road at the prototype is actually a one way street, and there is another street underpass about 200 yards from this one with a one way street going the other way. I'm modeling this as a two way street, two lanes on each side. There isn't enough room on the layout to do both bridges, so I figured this would be a nice way to compress the scene. On the layout, I felt it would be odd to have a one way street with no indication of a road going the other direction crossing the tracks.

Another bridge already?! Great start. Any idea the age of this one?

Excellent! Once again I really like the way you use proto photos to inspire your modeling. This is such a classic railroad bridge that can be seen all over the country.
Ralph

Kevin, no idea on the age of the bridge.

Ralph, I am finding it more interesting to model prototype stuff than just making it up as I go. As the hobby matures for me, my thoughts are changing too. Although my layout is freelanced, it is turning out to be an amalgamation of prototype scenes from the Houston area. Most of the new structures I need will be based on what is in the two industrial parks near where I work, instead of ready-made kits.

Forgot to mention. This is the bridge that inspired this thread: http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic...nce#p48305

Funny! When I first saw the photos of this bridge, I thoughgt it was the one that you had experienced a confrontation with some rookie cop full of new-found authority, but I couldn't find the thread to check it out!

Thanks for helping me in my belief that it wasn't me just going bonkers in this hospital (with the lady across the hall, who in a tiny little bird voice keeps yelling [at about 12dB], "Please ... please!") as I was certain that my eagle eye for detail was not failing me!

This should be another in a growing string if interesting "Gary bridge builds!"

Gary S Wrote:And some prototype photos. There are several interesting things about the prototype. Since Houston is so flat, we have lots of "underpasses" at both rail crossings. The ground is excavated and then the road is lowered to pass underneath the track. That is the case with this bridge. The road slopes down to clear the rail bridge, then rises back up to ground level.

Gary: for variation, why not do one in progress? You could have an interesting scene with the excavation done, the new bridge in but the road construction not finished with both the road detour and the shoo-fly still in place.

Ahh crap I turned my head and there is another bridge....
I really like this one and am excited to see this one completed with all the vechicles rolling under it.

Keep up the great work!!

David, although I like the construction scenes that others have done here at The Gauge, I've never considered it for my own layout. It is a thought, but I'm sure I'll model this one completed like the prototype.

mountaingoatgreg Wrote:Keep up the great work!!

Thanks Greg. I had a good day today laying out the bridge and carving the foam for the road and terrain. It went quickly! I also got some palstic glued down to represent the concrete under the bridge. Will carry on tomorrow, but will take a break at noon to watch The Texans vs Cowboys game.

Gary,

what are you using to cut your foam? I have only done a small amount of work and have used a knife. It was very messy and I was not very happy with the results. I thought I should buy a hot wire tool, just not sure if they are worth the money, or which one is worth getting.

Keep up the great work!!

I hope to be doining scenery on my layout soon...but I don't plan on catching up to you!!

Gary, Don't forget to model you getting interrogated by the Police!

mountaingoatgreg Wrote:what are you using to cut your foam? I have only done a small amount of work and have used a knife. It was very messy and I was not very happy with the results. I thought I should buy a hot wire tool, just not sure if they are worth the money, or which one is worth getting.

Greg, on the old layout, I used knives and a wire brush to form the foam. The wire brush was extremely messy - small particles of foam that stuck to everything. It was a pain in the rear for sure.

But I recently purchased a couple of Stanley Surform Tools from Home Depot. They are over in the same area with the files and rasps. One of them is gray metal tool, about 4 inches long, sort of like a wood plane. It has a metal "screen" on the bottom with teeth that cut the foam really nicely. It works great on straight and convex areas. The other tool is similar, but is a yellow plastic handle with a shorter curved metal "screen" under it. It can be used on concave surfaces.

I use a long "sheetrock" saw for making major cuts, then the surform tools to get the contours where I want them.

The surform tools capture the foam particles inside the tool for the most part, and can then be emptied out, but it is still necessary to keep a shop vac handy and vacuum up the mess every so often. I'm really glad I found these things!

There are two things these tools don't work for. They can't do skinny ditches real deep.... wire brush will do that. And, they cannot cut within about a 1/4" of the backdrop because of the way the tool is built.