I got this picture in one of those email chain letters. Looks like a real life helix to gain altitude to cross a bridge. Does anyone know where this is?
I don't know where the bridge is that you are asking about but Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, Japan does somewhat the same thing. It is a double deck bridge with the rail lines using the lower deck (in between two lanes of traffic). A different roadway uses the top deck. You can see the helix portion in this link. Rainbow Bridge Tokyo, Japan
Wouldn't an interstate cloverleaf qualify as a helix? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fd/Cloverleaf.jpg/200px-Cloverleaf.jpg Not on the same massive scales as the two photos referenced above, but much more familiar to the traveling public! Darrell, quiet...for now
No clue as to location. There may be other locations for a proto helix. How many mountain grades have a spiral tunnel? If the train is long enough, you can get a picture of the lead unit over/ under the rest of the train? On the NC&STL there's a picture of a branchline curving over the mainline. So there may be a prototype for a Gorre & Daphetid type layout!
One of the Canadian roads does a 270* partial helix inside a mountain, in the Rockies near Rogers Pass.
Here's another one Here's another highway helix in Japan but in a more rural location. It's alongside JR's Kisuki branch line south of Matsue, the railway gains elevation here by using a switchback. It's a bit hard to see for the trees even though the driver slowed the railcar to give his load of aussie railfans a better view (there was only one local passenger aboard). The trains on the Rainbow bridge are driverless, rubber tyred trains.
No clue where that is, but the New Jersey approach the Lincoln Tunnel is a helix (Every time I drove down that thing into the tunnel, I envisioned "The Big Guy" pulling on the "flush" lever!)
Well, Tehachapi Loop comes to mind. Along with the lesser known Williams Loop and Arnold Loop on the Western Pacific (one in Kalifornia, one in Nevada). Not multiple levels but helices none the less.
The photo itself offers one clue...the traffic drives on the right. So it's not England or Japan, for example. I'm tempted to suggest Germany, or somewhere else in continental Europe, based on the style of the bridge, but I don't know.
Another example of a single loop helix in real life. http://www.alaskarails.org/historical/the-loop/index.html
I got that picture about a year and a half ago. It's either in Shanghi or Bejing. Can't remember but it was mentioned in the email I received.
I think I saw this picture somewhere before, and it was said to be in Shanghai, China. But I am not sure.
it is the Nan Pu Bridge in Shanghai, China more photos here: http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=Nan+Pu+Bridge&btnG=Search
Hate to disappoint you but both loops are in California, the Williams loop is located between Quincy and Portola in the Sierra's.
