TomlinsonRunRR posted:Trumptrain,
Awesome trains, awesome photos! You've chosen great angles to show off your layout. That actual bridge is amazing. I didn't catch the caption. Where is it?
tomlinson Run Railroad
Thanks so much TomlinsonRunRR!!! I appreciate your kind words!
The real bridge, designed my Wendall Bollman, is located in Savage, Maryland and is the last surviving bridge of this kind. A National Civil Engineering Landmark, this bridge is on the National Park Services list of National Historic Sites. It takes a spur over the Little Patuxent River from the B&O Patuxent Branch line. This bridge design was the first railroad iron truss bridge in the US. The B&O had about 100 of this type of bridge throughout it's system. Check out photos of Harpers Ferry W VA during the Civil War and you will see Bollman Iron truss bridges taking the B&O mainline across the Potomac River from Maryland into WVA. The spur was to service the Savage Manufacturing Co. which was a textile mill that produced canvas for sails and tents primarily. You may also read more about this bridge on Wikipedia. I live about a quarter mile from this bridge, so naturally I have a model of one on my layout.
The Patuxent Branch Line ( which was about 4.5 miles long ) comes off the Washington Branch main ( now called the Camden Line under CSX ownership ). The PB ran somewhat northwest along side the Little Patuxent River into what is now Columbia, Maryland to service a granite quarry. The tracks of the Patuxent Branch are long gone but there is a nice rails to trail which traverses through park lands. Some remnants of the old B&O line are still intact such as the Bollman bridge and a Pratt suspension bridge near the end of the line. An old trestle ( now rotting away ) exits where the PB connected to the Washington Branch.
