Viaduct Junction on the CUMBERLAND EXTENSION

I've been putting off this project for awhile, but this month I finally "knuckled down" and got to work on the concrete arch viaduct on my CUMBERLAND EXTENSION.  The thick subroadbed board you see is the actual first platform I made for my son's Christmas layout.  The idea for the structure is to ascend over the track some 5 1/2 inches without looking like a steep climb.  The B & O completed the viaduct in 1851, and it consited of 14 arches.  Original built wof brick, it was reinforced with concrete in 1909.  Not as ambitious, I settled on 5 arches.  Actually, if you're driving though Cumberland, you're only going to see a half dozen arches at once.

I made the basic bridge from old paneling I had on hand.  The arches were traced from a double tunnel portal.  Being a curved viaduct, the inside measured about 51 inches, and the outside about 54.

The risers were strategically placed so that they would wind up between the arches, and I temporarily secured the panelling with brass screws.

Before I got too comfortable, I tested the clearance with our Chessie MTH Premier SD40-2, the "bull in the china shop".  I was "money" on the first try.

There's a lot of retaining walls in Cumberland, which really help hide the hidden track for the train coming into town, and exitting out of Knobley Tunnel.

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Here is the completed product.  I used NOCH granite paper for the approach.  The cap stones are stripwood, and the arch fascia is some more scrap paneling.

After the arch fascia was glued on, I took the two assemblies outside and painted them with KRYLON Textured Elegance color Cream Cafe.  It is a flesh color with crackle effect. Cracks and fissures were added with an exacto knife, and multiple "washes" with artists acrylics were used to give it that "century old" feel.  Then I used artists chalks grounded down to a powder, and dry brushed the whole structure until I was happy.

Here are some of the materials I used.  The cardboard tube had been laying around in my garage for some time.  It was cut in half and used for the arch interiors, using the same painting and weathering techniques that I used on the outside.  The old box of foliage came in handy for vines, that help hide flaws and imperfections on the structure.

Well, hopefully now that the "big one" has been conquered, I can "flesh out" the rest of the town, which has been patiently occupying my pool table.