I'm running out of things to model as my HO scale Hanley Spur layout gets more and more 'complete'. (You and I both know it will never be 'complete'!) I've been avoiding the River and Cataraqui Streets area - the daunting prototype Bailey Broom Factory is currently being rebuilt! Glad I photographed it with all its additional buildings in its 'original' form! But it seemed to be time for the River Street bridge to be tackled. I have a few prototype photos to go from, but no scale drawings, close-up photos and certainly no prototype to inspect and photograph! It appears that the original limestone abutments were concreted-in later. But I like the Kingston-look of them, so will retain them on my version.
My version would consist of a few components (top photo). A bridge timber deck that I constructed of matchstick-type lumber on three wooden stringers, bridge piers from a commercial pier set, and guardrails from a commercial set. I started by assembling those components, then added abutments made of foamcore, clad in limestone paper - the same as I used on my Outer Station project:
Then I painted the bridge deck, weathered the wood and constructed CN-style (left, below) and CP-style (right, below) telltales to warn rooftop-brakemen of the approaching vertical reduced clearance!
Top view:
Time to place the structure in the scene. I had the spot picked out - right above the CN-CP diamond! It was now time to finish the approaches. A bit of a moving target, but I finally got an alignment that allowed clearances for both lines while lining up with foreground and background and benchwork:
Here's CN entering the scene, showing the north side of the bridge (below). Approaches are wood (foreground) and foamcore (background)
Telltales are in place, and now to complete the approaches so the bridge does not appear to be floating over gaps! Non-prototype alert: the spur shown at the backdrop, above, did not exist under the prototype! But I wanted to squeeze in one more industry for CP to switch, representing one of the small two- or three-tank oil dealers that were located along the waterfront. So there it is! I will be concealing it as best as I can! CP waits for CN:
Placement and scenicking done! Just a few railing segments and details to add:
Scrapyards and vacant lots - signature scenes on the Hanley Spur:
Then, and only then, did I find out about the Rix Products rural timber overpass. Definitely a good option for River Street modellers!
Very well done, Eric! Truly a signature scene.
ReplyDeleteLooking today, in 2019, at the Montreal-River Streets location, it’s hard to imagine how the approaches to bridge could fit in such a small area.
However, as shown in your newspaper photo at the beginning of this post, one can see the steep grade as indicated by the transport truck stuck on the bridge.
Again, well done.
Thanks very much for your kind comments, Michael.
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked when I walked the Urban K&P Trail that it's as if the River Street bridge never existed! It was such a neat and in a way, a strange area!
https://hanleyspur.blogspot.com/2019/01/tell-tales-and-tall-tales-from-river.html
It also existed in the local folklore.
I'm certainly not saying my scene is prototypically correct in anything but an overall sense of the area. I was constrained by layout depth, and wanted the bridge approaches to look fairly complete. I also wanted ease of construction, and had to have adequate vertical clearance. Even the telltales, different between CN and CP, were interesting to model.
And I'm putting off my Bailey Broom Factory construction as if it was a visit to the dentist!
Eric