Today, Sunday April 19, 2020, I am going to chronicle the evolution of the G&O's Golden Gate Bridge. All eastbound O gauge trains leaving Depot Yard need to cross Bouey Canyon. Bouey Canyon is named for John Bouey. John is a Vietnam veteran and a Navy Sea Bee. He constructed all of the first bridges crossing the canyon including Golden Gate Bridge # 1 (GGB-1).
This is John:
This photo was taken in June 2011 showing the area that GGB-1 will occupy. The arch bridge is a model of the Bixby Bridge on the CA coast south of Monterey. It was built by John out of redwood. It carries the O gauge coast and mountain lines across the canyon. You have probably seen this bridge many times in automobile advertisements. Bouey Canyon is about 5 feet deep.
This is the same view as above after GGB-1 has been put in place. This photo was taken on December 31, 2011. John built GGB-1 out of redwood. The Bixby Bridge can be seen in the background. The bottom yard is G gauge. The upper yard that is under construction is the O gauge Depot Yard. Note the rocks at the east end of the bridge. The main line hasn't been built at this time.
This is the west bound City of San Francisco crossing the bridge and entering Depot Yard on October 28, 2012. Note that the bridge is single tracked at this time. It will eventually be double tracked.
This is a train crossing GGB-1 on July 4, 2015. The bridge is now double tracked.
This Daylight train has just left the bridge on January 1, 2014. It is passing the junction where the coast and mountain lines connect.
Another train leaving the bridge on January 1, 2016.
GGB-1 served the G&O well for nearly 5 years. Unfortunately, we found that we built the first GGB-1 to narrow. Articulated engines like Big Boys and Cab Forwards would swipe trains on the adjacent track as they entered and exited the bridge. This was becoming a serious operational hazard, especially during train shows. The G&O crew decided to replace GGB-1 with GGB-2 in 2016.
The crew is removing GGB-1 on July 27, 2016
The Bixby Bridge can be seen again after GGB-1 has been removed.
These are photos of GGB-2 under construction on May 4, 2016. This bridge was built in place out of plywood and redwood beams.
GGB-2 is very strong. GGB-2 was built by Craig Matoza, Mark Boyd and Jacques Verdier. Mark (left) and Craig are standing on the bridge.
Here is a photo of the completed GGB-2 taken in 2019. It has a much wider deck than GGB-1.
This is a photo of O gauge trains crossing GGB-2 and the Bixby Bridge. The American Freedom train on the Bixby Bridge belongs to Mark Boyd. There is a G gauge engine in the yard.
This is a Canadian train leaving GGB-2 and approaching the junction with the mountain line.
Although GGB-2 solved the G&O crew's operational problem with a wider deck, the crew never liked how it looked when compared to the real GGB. Therefore, it was never finished. For example, you can see the white poles holding the suspension cables in the above photo and the suspension wires to from the cables to the deck were never installed. Therefore, the crew decided to replace GGB-2 with GGB-3. This time the crew wanted a metal bridge that would more closely represent the real GGB. We commissioned Ray Ghio who owns a metal fabrication shop in Stockton, CA to build GGB-3 in late 2019.
The photo below taken on January 1. 2020 shows one of the last trains to run across GGB-2. You can clearly see that the suspension wires from the cables to the bridge deck were never installed in this photo.
In the meantime, the G&O crew removed GGB-2. These photos were taken February 26, 2020.
This a photo of GGB-3 before is was powder coat painted. The bridge is all steel and is welded together. It is not an accurate model of the real GGB but it is a good representation. The crew made sure that the deck was wide enough so that trains would not side swipe each other.
Here is the bridge being delivered on February 26, 2020. Ray Ghio is driving his truck. This bridge weighs about 150 pounds.
On Feb. 27 the crew had to do a lot of digging and sawing into the G gauge yard to make a place for the new bridge . It did not exactly fit the space that its two predecessors occupied. The G&O crew installed GGB-3 on February 28, 2020.
The next day, February 29, 2020, (2020 was a leap year) the crew ran some test tracks across the bridge and ran some trains. It started to rain in early March and rained on and off for two weeks so we did not get beyond the test phase. On March 16 the SF Bay Area was totally shutdown by the coronavirus crisis.
There is much work still to be done to complete this bridge. Unlike the previous bridges this one is wired for lights.
I plan to complete the G&O's GGB story after the restrictions are lifted. The entire G&O crew is looking forward to getting back to work and to running some trains. The first official train across the bridge will be a SP Daylight pulled by a GS-4.
The entire G&O crew hopes that you, your family, and friends are well and safe during this difficult time. NH Joe
