I found a pretty good prototype to use as a base for my bridge location it's the Astoria-Megler Bridge across the Columbia River in Washington state!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Very nice! But I need something much, much wider!
Google Cisco crossing in the Fraser Canyon. Amazing.
Stu
Streamlined steam, oh, what a dream!!
Very intresting!
Very far afield, but an interesting concept.
The river valley is staircase steep on both sides of the river, which is about a hundred feet below track level and about 150 feet wide. White water, definitely not navigable (except by kayakers with death wishes.) Both valley sides rise hundreds of feet.
The railroad appears out of a tunnel, crosses a footpath, leaps across the gap, crosses a road (two ruts in the mud) and is swallowed up by another tunnel. In the prototype, both tunnels are long and S curved, their far portals on the same side of the mountains but in a somewhat flatter area. The track is on a <2.5%< grade. Think Horseshoe Curve, but mostly underground.
The actual bridge (which I will selectively compress on my own layout) is a reinforced concrete spandrel arch on a sharp curve. However, for a freelance model scene there's no reason why the bridge has to be curved, or concrete. IIRC, the MILW had several similar scenes on relatively tangent track in Idaho.
So, where is the prototype? On the abandoned extension of JR-East's O-me-sen near the end of active track at Okutama - in the wilds of far western Tokyo-to. Tokyo-to is a prefecture, not just a city, and the far west end resembles West Virginia, not West 42nd Street in New York.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I'm not sure this fits your criteria, but try the Ohio Connecting Railroad Bridge. This bridge crosses the Ohio River just west of Pittsburgh. Google Earth or some other aerial view will show an interesting track layout.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Very nice! I'm looking for something maybe a bit wider. I have included a rough sketch of my bridge.
Quebec Bridge in Canada?
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Hi, I have designed a bridge for my HO scale Cascade Northern R.R. set in western North America and I am looking for a prototype river to base the crossing on. My criteria are: wide river or other body of water with steep bluffs on each side, preferably the bridge connects to land on each side (no approach trestle), and finally a reletively high point of crossing. Thank you, any information would help!
NOTE: The prototype does not have to be in the west!