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Reply to "Weekend Photo Fun 8-6-20-????"

 

Well, I'll join in the early start. A few days ago, I was walking past the part of my layout pictured here, and wondered what it would be like to take a photo from water level. I tried it out, and it was pretty cool, so I set up this picture to post this week.  This shows the PRR stone arch bridge carrying what by now was Conrail over the mouth of Tuscarora Creek as it drains into the beloved Juniata River at Port Royal. I built the bridge over the course of a year way back in 2000. I consider it to be the most difficult modeling project I ever attempted since the model, just like the prototype, is built on a curve. This made it's construction very difficult. It is built out of 153 pounds of hydrocal plaster which required four hours to mix and pour. It took SIX weeks for the plaster to fully dry.

If you think that is a long time, consider the fact that it would not be until March 29, 2020 that I finally finished the scene! But the bridge had to go in early on to lay the track in this part of the layout.

This shows the bridge as is would have looked in the early days of Conrail in the mid to late 1970's. The railroad was created in 1976, but just kind of stumbled along until about 1980 when Stanley Crane took over as CEO and finally rebuilt the railroad after the daze of Penn Central. Before his tenure, the bridge still looked like it did in the PRR era.

The second image was taken in 2016 and shows the prototype bridge after it was reinforced by Conrail with the use of concrete columns and horizontal members that prevented outward bowing of the spandrels (side walls). They also replaced the classic PRR pipe railing with new railing made of steel angles. This didn't exactly help the aesthetics of the bridge, but it kept it from falling apart.  This image was taken during a kayaking trip on the Juniata. That is a picture of my son Steven whose kayak is at almost the exact same spot as the two canoes in the model picture.

I've managed to return to the area every year for the past 45 years. I haven't gone back so far this year with the pandemic, but I'm grateful to have the area modeled on my layout. At least when I'm in the layout room, I'm taken back to that day 45 years ago when I first set eyes on the Juniata River Valley. 

IMG_5188 [1)

Steven_Kayaking_at_Port_Royal

 

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  • Steven_Kayaking_at_Port_Royal
Last edited by PRRMiddleDivision

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