Cisco Bridges: a new layout concept

[Scottl]

Flipped the diorama around and started to work on the east bank.  Still some tweaking to do on the landforms and bedrock, but I am mostly happy with it.  I have also been experimenting with sanded grout as a base layer for soil and I like the effects I can get.  Finally, I think that I have settled on a colour for the Fraser River as well.  It will be the turbid brown of full spring runoff.  The river is so opaque that it appears uniform brown from bank to bank and just some breaking waves on the surface in some spots. 

Dragged the SLR out and tried to take a shot of the entire scene.  Backdrop and foreground will be major issues for a convincing scene, and I probably need another few hundred watts of lighting.

[nuno81291]

  now THAT is a bridge! Looking forward to seeing this progress! Talk about a focal scene/module right there...

[James Costello]

Need any more photos Scott?

I took a bunch if bridge and scenery photos from the vestibule of the Rocky Mountaineer on Saturday morning. Once I get some time and a good internet connection I can put a gallery up. It really is an amazing structure amongst breathtaking scenery.

[Scottl]

Thanks James, I'd love to see some different shots, especially the west bank trackage, or any deck shots.  It would be an amazing trip to take, I'm envious!

[robert3985]

In response to your reference about needing a "few hundred watts" of lighting for this scene.  Five years ago, my fellow-crazy Gregg Cudworth and I decided that we needed to standardize our portable layout's lighting.  Since both of us have swing arm drafting lamps over the layout...at least two per 6' section...we decided, after a bit of experimentation, to go with 27 watt 5,000K compact fluorescents.  "Daylight" is determined to be at noon and is accepted as being 5,600K, but warmer light is usually more pleasing to the human eye, so the 5,000 Kelvin color temperature is a bit warmer than noon-time daylight, and is representative of mid to late afternoon or early to mid morning daylight.

I went to so far as to replace all of my lights in my layout room with 5,000 K lights, so when I take photos there aren't any weirdly colored shadows or lighting effects I don't want.
Another side benefit is that my total wattage is only about 1/4 what it used to be with 100W incandescents.  That means my total layout lighting wattage has decreased from 1,800 watts to  486 watts...and my Summertime layout room is also noticeably cooler.

I didn't go back and read the entire thread before commenting, and if layout lighting has been discussed here earlier, I apologize.

[Scottl]

Thanks Robert for your comments.  It is good to hear what others use and I pick up some indications in threads here on occasion.

The lighting in the room is rather minimal:  4 X 13W warm LED spot bulbs in ceiling fixtures.  The room space is about 10' X 7', so I find these LEDs adequate for general tasks, and they are set up on two switches so I can actually halve the output when someone runs in to grab something out of storage or other short task.

It is when I try to take pictures that I find this lighting is inadequate.   I recently acquired a pair of old photo light fixtures, and I used one with a 22W warm fluorescent spiral bulb in it for the last picture in this thread.  The increase in light on the subject makes a huge difference in the image acquisition and cut the exposure from c. 10 seconds to 0.5 seconds (with aperture set to maximum for depth of field).  I still would like to shorten that exposure and I hope to add the second photo fixture and purchase a set of lights for it.   Of course, I use a timer and a sturdy tripod.

Given that I like the room to normally be in warm light, I think the best solution will be to use two high powered daylight spectrum bulbs in the fixtures, and to photograph without room lights (or one set on).  Large wattage spiral fluorescent bulbs are what I am aiming for- I think 28 or 35W would give sufficient lumens for photography.

I have not had an incandescent bulb since I lived in Massachusetts in the early 90s.  The local power company had a conservation campaign and gave us a dozen fluorescent bulbs.  I have been so impressed with how much power we have saved over the years that I have not purchased a halogen or incandescent bulb since, although I am replacing them with LED bulbs as they fail.  Four of those original bulbs still work, including one that does 4-5 hours of duty in our TV room most nights.  It takes a while to warm up, but not bad for 22 years of service!

[Scottl]

Limited progress in the summer with a lot of travel for extended periods.  This week, I secured the bridge to the scene and built up the foam substrate around the pillars.  This was a major psychological barrier for some reason, and I had been putting it off for months.  I'm glad I did delay given how prone the structure is to potential damage.

I then started to lay down the first coat of ground cover composed of brown paint topped with various tints of grout powders.  I like the rough texture and the subtle colours I can produce this way, and a quick spritz of water afterwards sets the residual cement.  This work will go quickly, but I'm off for vacation for ten days.



Thanks for following, even if the progress is slooooow!

[rsn48]

Scott its been a while since I've been in the canyon, still grieving the closure of the restaurant at North Bend even though its been more than a decade.  You could sit in the restaurant with other railfans and crew and eat while you watched the traffic blow by.

On to my question, does CN use cement ties in that area, I thought I remembered something different about the ties but couldn't remember what.

[Scottl]

I love places like that.  I suspect I might have been there in the past, but I can't recall.

As far as I can tell, CN uses concrete ties in the area, except for the bridges.  I walked on them on the approach to the bridge and cutoff.  I am not absolutely sure (my pictures were all lost to a bad camera), but I recall the CP line was still wood ties.

Heading home soon and hope to advance the bridge project in the weeks ahead.  Lots of CN-inspiration in the Rockies around Jasper on holidays.

[rsn48]

I came from a military family and when my father was on extended field maneuvers in Gagetown or peace keeping in the Suez canal, my mother and I would return to her family - mother and father - who lived in Jasper.  My grandfather's house was on the main street, across from the liquor store, now a retail area.

My grandfather and uncle were CN engineers out of Jasper, my uncle eventually moving to Edmonton but continuing with CN.  My grandfather would take the Super Continental train from Jasper to Edson and back in one day.  It was idyllic living in Jasper as a youngster with mountains to explore, lakes to swim in, and bears to chase.  Almost every kid I have met who grew up in Jasper has a "chase the bears" story.  Bears used to be allowed into town because the tourists liked to see them.  It wasn't at all unusual I would walk to school in grade four and pass one or two bears on my way, and like wise back home.  I knew it was garbage day when I could hear garbage cans being knocked over.

Being around bears in the late 50's and 60's was routine, now if I saw the same bear I'd be more leery of it.

I used to walk my grandfather to the area where engineers signed in and received "orders" and then get on the engine while he did his thing getting ready to take it out.  When the time came for the train to leave, I'd climb down and watch it go.  I'd then greet him when he brought the Super Continental back from Edson, and we'd walk home together, me occasionally scoring ice cream cones that were 5 cents each.

When I was younger he'd take me on the steam engines, occasionally for a trip, but more often to ride the turn table as the engine was brought in for servicing.  Of course me and my buddies hung out around the yard, would go through passenger cars on the siding, play in the small stock yard and generally rail fan anything that came through.

[Scottl]

Thanks for sharing that.  What a fantastic place to grow up, especially in the railway family.  I just returned from 10 days in Jasper and can say it is probably my favorite spot in the country, perhaps anywhere.  Lots of trains and unspoiled back country.  And hot springs...  Perfect!

[James Costello]

Here's a start Scott - and more to come.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8265399@N05/sets/72157646582425920/

[Scottl]

James, these are fantastic, including detail shots of the CPR bridge structure.  Thanks so much for posting. 

I can see they are starting to repair the maintenance walkways and have installed one of the new signal masts on the west bank.

   

[GaryHinshaw]

Quite the set James.  Does the Mountaineer stop there, or were you just going all out? 

It would appear that Scott is not the only one modelling this bridge, as every vestibule is full of photographers.   

[Scottl]

Those pictures are pretty inspiring.  So much so that I hit the bucket 'o static grass and other scenery materials and worked up the east bank today.  I put in a few short trees to see how the colour works, but the main ones will be twice as tall.







Need to work on that backdrop for these shots and take the shine off those locos.  Back to grinding talus and spinning tree armatures