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Zwijndrecht & Dordrecht, The Netherlands

Following on from my post about a bridge over the Savannah River in Georgia, USA, this week I thought I’d take a look at the area another bridge; this time the giant lift-bridge between the towns of Zwijndrecht and Dordrecht in the Netherlands.

“Grote Kerk Dordrecht” by bertknot is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

In case you haven’t guessed, it’s that white, futuristic looking structure towards the rear of the picture 🙂

I’ve probably said this already in previous posts but I’m not entirely sure I’m a fan of modern Netherlands architecture, however… it’s definitely a bridge that makes a statement, it’d be a very interesting scratchbuilding project and it’s shear size means it would make it an eye-catching model on an exhibition layout.

So let’s find out a bit more about the Zwijndrecht, Dordrecht and the bridge itself…

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Bridge Over The Savannah River (Savannah, Georgia)

I first spotted this interesting bridge a few years back when Google Map exploring the railroads and industrial spurs around Savannah, Georgia.

Something about the control tower and massive counter-weight structure appealed to me and I have always thought it would make an excellent North American river crossing module and scratchbuilding project.

I’ve also wanted to do a post about it for ages…

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Grain Silos & Feed Mills In Mount Joy, Pennsylvania

The town of Mount Joy in Pennsylvania, USA has been on my must research list ever since I found this photograph of the Wenger Feed Mill:

Wenger Feed Mill by Jim Epler – Own work, CC BY 2.0, View Image

You might think that’s strange because a closer look at the picture reveals there isn’t actually any track in the picture. While that observation is true, it’s still a very interesting and attractive jumble of buildings which would make a very nice scratch-building or kit-bashing project.

I don’t have a photo to show it but the facility is still rail served, it’s just that railcars are currently loaded/unloaded on the other (north) side of the facility. However there’s no reason why we couldn’t apply a little modellers license, add some track and create the option to model tracks on both sides of the facility.

There’s also something else not visible in the photo above that makes this location somewhat rare and interesting, at least in terms of US operations…

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Inspirational Modelling #3 (Boulder Creek Railroad)

Luke Towan & Boulder Creek Railroad

Over the last couple of months I’ve presented a lot of locations that could be recreated as modules but I haven’t done a lot of module building myself.

I’ve started a Stadtbahn module on a Gatorboard T-Trak baseboard but it’s still very early days. So I thought it might be useful to show just what can be achieved in a small space by highlighting the amazing dioramas of Luke Towan…

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Interesting Idea For A Module #11 (Erfurt Hbf)

Erfurt Hauptbahnhof

Following on from my recent post about Wolfsburg Hauptbanhof and the idea of using the ‘half-station’ approach to model a large station in a small space I thought I’d take a look at Erfurt Hauptbahnhof.

Erfurt Hauptbahnhof by Ingolf – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0, View Image

Erfurt Hauptbahnhof is an interesting mix of old and new architecture much of which could easily be modelled in a small space but what really caught my eye is an interesting tram/bus-only underpass that really lends itself to modular modelling.

Read on to find out more…

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Interesting Idea For A Module #7 (Line 24, Belgium)

Road/Rail Bridge In Belgium

Following on from my recent post about the Remersdaal viaduct and Line 24 in Belgium, I thought I’d do a quick post about this nearby road/rail bridge:

Remersdaal – Spoorwegbrug by Frans90245 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, View Image

All things considered it’s fairly ordinary road/rail bridge but it’s a perfect scene to recreate as a T-Trak module…

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Line 24 (Part 1): The Remersdaal Viaduct, Belgium

The Remersdaal or Remersdael (German spelling) viaduct is a rather utilitarian concrete structure located in the attractive rolling countryside of north-east Belgium.

NMBS 2372 on the Remersdaal Viaduct by Jan Derk Remmers – Own work,
CC BY-SA 4.0, View Image

As you can see from the picture, the viaduct is nicely framed by the surrounding hills and trees and has the potential to make a very interesting feature…

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Interesting Idea For A Module #5

Pite Älv Bridge, Inlandsbanen, Sweden

This picture caught my eye because it looks like the kind of railway operation you rarely see nowadays: a short passenger train, in a remote location and a shared rail/road bridge in Europe!

Inland Bridge by Gunvald – Own work, CC0, View Image

The bridge on it’s own would be an interesting scratchbuild but you’d probably have to scratchbuild or 3D print the rolling stock too if you wanted to recreate this scene in N scale…

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Interesting Idea For A Module #4

Modern River Bridge In Germany

I’ve always liked the idea of creating modules or cameos where you need to look through or around the scenery to catch a glimpse of the trains just as we often have to do in the real World. If you’re not sure what I mean I think the picture below sums it up nicely:

Railway Bridge by Herbert2512, CC0, View Image

It would be a real challenge to create trees and water realistic enough to pull this off and keep viewers interested until a train appeared but I think it would be worth the effort involved.

Unfortunately, whoever uploaded this image to Pixabay didn’t include enough information to find out exactly where the bridge is, but based on the livery of the carriage it looks like somewhere in Germany.

If German railways aren’t you’re thing I’ve seen similar pictures from locations across Europe and North America and the bridge is generic enough to be anywhere in the World really.