I decided to take the long way home from the BAPM meet and
do a little rail fanning on my chosen prototype. Although I model 1944, seventy years later,
some of those same structures are still in place. But they are disappearing fast.
One such place is the Morello Avenue overcrossing just
outside Martinez. In 1952, it was
designated Bridge A1170, a 35foot Ballast Deck Deck Girder (BDDG) bridge on the
main with a 37 foot BDDG on the passing siding.
Vine Hill 1952 Track
Chart
By 1992, the bridge had not changed, although the track
chart no longer depicts Vine Hill siding and the bridge had been redesignated
as Bridge 1169.1 in accordance with then current ATSF and still current BNSF
practice.
Vine Hill 1992 Track
Chart
I first discovered this bridge on an expedition to the East
Bay in June 2011, Here’s how it looked
from the north.
B1170/1169.1 North
Face 11 June 2011
Note the Grand Canyon
Line Bridge Slogan
B1170 South Face
Note the absence of a
Slogan and the absence of the passing track bridge
Hoping to get a bit
more detail, I swung by the location after trying to duplicate the view of the
Muir trestle.
Bridge 1169.1 South
Face, 21 Jun 2014
So much for any more 1944 era details. I’m sure the replacement made good sense to
the BNSF in terms of maintenance, as the 2011 photos showed a need for a
repaint. I’m glad I caught the water
tank and A-frame signal bridge at Bellemont, AZ back in 1988, as it too is long
gone. The old stuff is fast
disappearing, shoot as much as you can today, because it may not be there
tonight as the Tehachapi Depot fire proved.
Unlike 98 when I was shooting a combination of slide and print film,
photons are free and digital storage not much more expensive.
John Barry
Cameron Park, CA
23 June 2014
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