I have a track emerging from a tunnel and through a cut roughly perpendicular to the ridge of the mountain. This is actually a dummy track which crosses my active mainline at grade and has a connecting interchange track with it. About 40 scale feet from the tunnel portal, I have a highway bridge passing over the dummy track and cut at about a right angle to it. I can’t think of a reason why this wouldn’t be done but I can’t remember ever seeing a picture of a highway bridge crossing a cut so close to a tunnel portal. Is there a reason this type of crossing would be avoided by either the railroad or the highway department. Does anyone know of a prototype case where this type of crossing is used?
JE–
It HAS to be prototypical, I’ve got the same thing, on my Yuba River Sub at Sierra City where the tracks entera cut into Butte Tunnel and Highway 49 rises up and crosses on a bridge just before the railroad enters the tunnel. LOL! Actually, there is a prototype for it on the old Southern Pacific Coast Line at Santa Marguarita, where highway 101 crosses over the railroad just before the tracks enter the Cuesta Tunnel and the highway crests the grade to the east of it. It’s a very tight fit for both highway and railroad. I’m sure there are other examples, especially in mountain territory.
Tom [:)]
Tom,
If it is on the Yuba River Sub, that’s good enough for me. It seems like a logical arrangement of track and highway but it just seems odd to me that I’d never seen a real life example. Unfortunately, I don’t live in mountainous country, and have no idea where the nearest railroad tunnel would be.
One downside to this is the tunnel and cut are a very nice scenic element and the plate girder bridge that crosses it will partially obscure the view. Maybe that is why there are so few pictures of something like this. The bridge spoils the picture.
John
Near Harpers Ferry, WV:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=39.324032,-77.721673&spn=0.00405,0.007789&t=k&z=17
How prototypical would you like it to be?
On the former NC&StL, at Cowan, TN, a branch left the main, swung out west to gain elevation, then headed east. It crossed the main, on a stone arch bridge, about one good biscuit-toss from the portal of the tunnel that punches through the ridge to the south of Cowan and about 30 feet above the railheads.
That branch is now a hiking trail, but the bridge is still in place and in use.
Actually, unless the difference in elevation is considerable, it would be preferable to bridge the cut rather than grade above (and possibly collapse into) the tunnel. When the truck bypass to Virginia City was built, NDOT daylighted V&T tunnel #5, then bridged the resulting cut, rather than take a chance on the support of a 100 year old underground structure.
Planned or not, you got it right.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
about a mile west of the Amtrac Station at Prince WVA
on the C&O mainline there is a bridge crossing the tracks just a stones throw from the
"Stretchers Neck Tunnel "
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=39.324032,-77.721673&spn=0.00405,0.007789&t=k&z=17
One of the Canadian railroads has one better in the Rockies. There is a spiral tunnel with a bridge over the lower track and a tunnel portal for each level right at the bridge.
Good find. From the overhead view, I see similarities to what I am doing. That is certainly encouraging. I think I’ll stick with the original plan. Thank you.
When I got into model railroading in the late 70’s, MR had a feature in some of their issues called “It Ain’t Prototypical” (I’m sure many of you recall it) & the above was one thing mentioned & pictured (in British Columbia I believe.)
I’d like to see that feature brought back as it had a lot of interesting proto photos of instances that if modeled, would have been called on by nitpickers.
Prince, WV on the old C&O (now CSX):
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=37.856061&lon=-81.067122&z=17.5&r=0&src=msa
Jamie