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 We had a show this weekend in Novi MI. The usual clubs were there except for one new one. Except for the corners the layout was completely made of scratch built metal bridges.
 Yup. The man is now 77 years old and replicates bridges from plans and photos to O scale. The first picture is one bridge in 3 pieces,  Oh yea, it's 40 feet long. No you didn't read it wrong, it's 40 feet with over 50,000.00 welds. Well brazed, I guess it depends on how you define welding. The detail is just incredible.  To give a better idea on how big this is, look at the hopper cars on the bridge, they are O scale.
 
 Enjoy
   Bruce...
 
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Original Post

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Mega kudos to the guy that built these and the guys that assembled them for the layout! Awesome does not begin to cut it! I'd love to see how this thing comes apart and gets transported. Not to mention an article on how he builds one of these. Having been in modular railroading for many years, I can appreciate the effort that went into this display!

Chris

LVHR

 

 

The builder's name, Harold  Woods, Jr., appears in the first photo.  A quick Google search led to this link featuring his 45' Standard Gauge Hellgate Bridge model--that's right, 45 feet of Standard gauge Hellgate bridge:

https://www.artprize.org/65041

The link also shows his O scale, 15' long scale model of the Illinois Central Bridge at Metropolis, Illinois.

Astonishing!!!!

Edit:  Per Matt GN027's post below, Mr. Woods' middle name is "Virgil."

Last edited by Pingman

I wonder if there might be a Guinness World Record here? Maybe the Guinness Company would give them the world record for the longest train layout built entirely of bridges. I wish someone would send these pictures to the American Society of Civil Engineers ( these are people who design bridges for a living ) to get their take on it. They might publish it in their magazine called Civil Engineering.

tncentrr posted:

I wonder if there might be a Guinness World Record here? Maybe the Guinness Company would give them the world record for the longest train layout built entirely of bridges. I wish someone would send these pictures to the American Society of Civil Engineers ( these are people who design bridges for a living ) to get their take on it. They might publish it in their magazine called Civil Engineering.

 He said he builds all those based on pictures and any other drawings he can get a hold of.  So everything in the pictures already exists someplace...

Pingman posted:

The builder's name, Harold Woods, Jr., appears in the first photo.  A quick Google search led to this link featuring his 45' Standard Gauge Hellgate Bridge model--that's right, 45 feet of Standard gauge Hellgate bridge:

https://www.artprize.org/65041

The link also shows hisO scale, 15' long scale model of the Illinois Central Bridge at Metropolis, Illinois.

Astonishing!!!!

 Thanks for the link Carl. My sister does not live to far from there... I'm going to make a little side trip....

I'm a bridge troll and I love this. Steel trusses are beyond my capability. However, I'm looking at building this one to scale when I retire. In O scale it will be 20' 6" (984 feet) and about 25" high at the deck. Definitely a back yard project. I'm thinking part of a river/waterfall/pond thing would be nice. The only thing I'd change, which would make it proto-freelanced is I'd put two tracks on it. I'm thinking PVC construction for stability.

4156.1203343200arch_detailfull_bridge

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Last edited by AGHRMatt
Stoshu posted:
Pingman posted:

The builder's name, Harold Woods, Jr., appears in the first photo.  A quick Google search led to this link featuring his 45' Standard Gauge Hellgate Bridge model--that's right, 45 feet of Standard gauge Hellgate bridge:

https://www.artprize.org/65041

The link also shows hisO scale, 15' long scale model of the Illinois Central Bridge at Metropolis, Illinois.

Astonishing!!!!

 Thanks for the link Carl. My sister does not live to far from there... I'm going to make a little side trip....

Stoshu, I believe (incorrectly as pointed out by Matt  BN027 in the post below) the large bridge that spans the operating layout in your first photo, and bears the builder's name is, in fact, the O scale model of the 708" span of the Metropolis, IL bridge referenced in the link I provided.

From Wikipedia:

Total length of the bridge is 6,424 feet (1,958 m). The largest span stretches 708 feet (216 m), and remains the longest pin-connected simple through truss span in the world. Cost of the bridge when built was $4,000,000. 

O scale being 1:48; 1/48 of 708' is 14.75'.

Check the photo in the Wikipedia link.

Thanks for bringing this gentlemen's extraordinary art form to our collective attention.

 

 

Last edited by Pingman
Pingman posted:

Stoshu, I believe the large bridge that spans the operating layout in your first photo, and bears the builder's name is, in fact, the O scale model of the 708" span of the Metropolis, IL bridge referenced in the link I provided.

@Pingman, it is not the Metropolis Bridge. The bridge in the first photo is, as @luvindemtrains says, the C&O's Sciotoville Bridge. (And, as luvindemtrains surmises, the photo that he found on the web is the same model. Here's the article that the photo is from, crediting Harold Virgil Woods Jr.)

Neither is the bridge in @Stoshu's second photo the Metropolis Bridge. The Metropolis Bridge has six through trusses, the tops of which are all rounded/arched. The bridge in Stoshu's second photo has five through trusses, four of which have flat tops.

Stoshu, thank you for sharing your story and your photos. Mr. Woods's creations are extraordinary.

Last edited by Matt_GNo27

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