Tag Archives: Bridges

Carbon Run Bridge

June 10, 2013 22:30 | Leave a Comment |

While we are on the subject of bridges, I’ll make a brief mention of another bridge project, this one the SNY bridge over Carbon Run just east of Laquin, PA. Below is a topographic map of the area from 1945. Note the S&NY railroad is not there, but the roadbed follows the course of the unimproved road ( and IS the road in places) seen on the map. When I visited this area in 2000, the State game lands and township roads were in many places on top of the old SNY roadbed. Since the recent flooding in this area, this may no longer hold true, and the old R-O-W may have been obliterated in places.

USGS Map 1945. Powell Quadrangle

USGS Map 1945. Powell Quadrangle

Below is a photo of the Carbon Run bridge from my field trip in 2000:

 

Photo by Author

I had room for a representative model of the bridge at the east end of the model version of Laquin:

 

Photo by Author

Photo by Author

 

The model version is a stock Walthers through-girder bridge on scratchbuilt abutments, and is quite a bit larger than the real bridge. However, the goal is an operational model railroad, and in this instance a reasonable stand-in was put in place, rather than take the time attempting to scratchbuild a more accurate model. I hope this will be a reasaonable compromise once scenery is in place.

 

 

 

Posted in: Bridges, Locations, Model Railroad | Tagged: , , ,

Mystery Bridge

May 31, 2013 23:08 | 2 Comments |
High_Bridge_Sm-1

Bill Caloroso- Cal’s Classics

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

I am not sure of the exact location of this bridge along the SNY right-of-way. I have seen “High Bridge” mentioned in some sources, but I am not sure if this is the referenced bridge. I have traced the RoW with the aerial photos from the late 1930’s on the PSU Penn Pilot website, but the resolution is not adequate to resolve the details of any particular bridge.

Author's photos

Photo by Author

Bridge_Abutments-2

Photo by Author

In December of 2000, I shot these photos of abandoned bridge abutments along Pleasant Stream between Marsh Hill and Masten. This could be the location of the bridge; hard to tell since the surrounding vegetation has changed so much. Also, there is no higher vantage point on the west/north side of Pleasant Stream to duplicate the angle of view in the original photo, unless it was shot from the other side of the creek. There was major flooding along Pleasant Stream in the fall of 2011, washing out road bridges and greatly altering the landscape of the narrow valley. I attempted to repeat the trip in the fall of 2012, but the road was still in such bad shape (I was driving the family’s Honda Odyssey van, not my 4wd truck) I was forced to turn around and head back to Marsh Hill after covering only about 2 miles. Consequently, I have no idea if these crumbling abutments still exist.

Photo by Author

Photos by Author

Photo by Author

These photos illustrate my feeble attempt at representing this bridge on my model version of the SNY. It was kitbashed using an Atlas Warren truss deck bridge, Micro Engineering bridge bents, and a Micro Engineering deck girder bridge. The concrete abutments and pier are scratchbuilt from wood and styrene. Unfortunately, I realized too late the real bridge used a Pratt-type deck for the longest portion, not a Warren like the Atlas model, and the overall proportions of the model are pretty off, compared with the prototype. Nonetheless, my goal was a “good enough” representative structure, not an exact replica. The main goal is an operational (model) railroad, not a museum diorama, so the bridge was put in place, some scenery forms roughed-in so the fascia could be applied to the benchwork, and I moved on to the next project.

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