Couldn't sleep last night so I drew this up, lasered it this morning, and finished it a little while ago. Fun build.
That looks great! I've been trying to work out how to build the CSX James River bridge. Going the 3d printing route came out to about $220 per span. How does lasering a model work? What kind of materials can be used? What about the level of detail? And lastly, would you take custom jobs? I'm in need of a less expensive route to do all of my road grading and this might be the ticket.
At some point I am going to have to build this bridge. All concrete and built in 1908. I would think this basic solid structure might be a much easier task to laser out than others.
Concrete arch bridges are beautifuk but in todays world I think the construction expense would be against them. Back in the depression though such was not the case. The George Westinghouse Memorial bridge near Pittsburgh was built in two years from the awarding of the contract in May 1930 until completed in 1932. It carries the Lincoln Highway over the Turtle Creek Valley and the roadway is 240 feet above the Valley floor. The bridge is over 1500 feet long and composed of five arches with the center arch spanning 460 feet. Believe it or not, the bridge, when built, cost only 1.75 million dollars. You got a lot of concrete for 1.75 million in 1930!
The bridge in background reminds me of those built pre-Interstate highway system. 1940's and earlier.
You are probably looking at one. A lot of the area did not have much in the way of roads for a long while. And I can remember the interstate being built in Montana in the late 1950s. So this is probably a pre 30s bridge.
It's those railings. And then you could always see the year built, molded into the concrete at one end. I small version of this style, in two lanes, might be an interesting model. Or might even sell if commercially done.
They may not make this style of bridge anymore but there are probably hundreds if not thousands across the US and Canada to this day. Here is the photo I took of the bridge I made the model from. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAABDs/q6qFq90ZuRY/s640/20120710_162222.jpg The price; I can keep it a tad lower if I don't use dealers but dealers are going to want them. List will be in the $55 range, direct from me will be $45. Shipping might be a little more because it will not fit into a small flat rate box. Kit includes matching concrete looking extensions and a longer road base to help blend into the terrain on either side. This thing is so sturdy you could practically drive a real car over it ;-}
You could easily use this method to model the Milwaukee Road's twin concrete arch bridges at Rosalia, Wa. http://www.railpictures.net/photo/382701/ or Cabin Creek. http://www.carrtracks.com/wamilw508milw2060.htm I've been very fascinated with the Milwaukee's concrete bridges, and would love to someday make an N Scale scene or an Ntrak module with a concrete arch in it.
This is already in the process of being manufactured for commercial sale and is now evolving into cast resin sides allowing for an even finer detailed product than the photos I posted. It is 2 lanes with a very lightly etched double line down the center. As for where the train fits in, the real bridge from which I designed this one has tracks going under it but off to the side. There is plenty of room for a train to fit under each arch and if there are any of these bridges in existence with tracks on them there is room for 1 track and plenty of room on each side. I would love to see photos of this style of train bridge, if you have any photos please share.
True. You can also try sending him a "conversation" (PM) and possibly establish contact via that route.
