The marsh was originally (naturally) a narrow, small, seasonal stream. When they built the mills, they also built the road to my house (& beyond) that dammed the stream, and over the past 150 years the low area behind the road has become a marsh. On the other side of the road - where the stream used to empty - is a millpond with a waterfall. The roar of the waterfall is very audible from the marsh.
Click on the image below to view a movie of millpond waterfall (0.8MB WMV)
This is the same millpond pictured here 150 years earlier.
Here's the location that the trestle will cross right-to-left.
This area has amazingly dense foliage - trees and bushes on both sides with a thick blanket of 18" ferns on the ground. It will be very cool to roll thru here 8' above the ground.
(Note: Click the large image to add a really cheesy drawing of the trestle!)
Side view of the same location; the trestle will run straight away from camera. The picture doesn't capture the slope - my feet are about 8' above the greenery below.
I've only done preliminary surveying, but it's looking like the trestle will be about 8 feet tall and perhaps 100 feet long.
Because it's so tall, I'll need to include a walkway alongside the track.
Some trestles have wide decks with railings, making it as much a pedestrian bridge as it is a RR trestle:
I want to have a narrow deck to create that "up in the clouds" feeling of real trestles, so my current plan is to have an 18" wide deck with 18" walkways on the cap (about 6" lower than the ties):
The first piles:
A few more piles:
All piles for the first five 1st-story bents:
Adding 1st-story caps and sway bracing:
1st story bents, head-on view:
(Note: Click the large image to add a cheesy drawing of a 2nd story bent)
