Model Railroading > Secret Town Trestle for the DF Museum

Wait....    Boilingman is a model RRer?!   Kinda Sorta Sometimes, , I guess, yeah.

This is a diorama I'm building for the museum in Dutch Flat, CA.  The subject is the CPRR's Secret Town Trestle.  The 1st photo is the famous photo we all remember from or 4th Grade textbooks- the part about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.   My goal is explain two things:  1.  The photo depicts not the building of the trestle, but the BURYING of the trestle 15 odd years later.   2. Thousands of motorists drive right by the site today, but don't recognize it because it's now unrecognizable!
The diorama is in N Scale.  In that scale the trestle would be about 7ft long, but the museum has only given me 4ft of real estate, so I'm doing the West end (it's really the end we all know, so no prob)  I've divided the scene in 3 parts-  The trestle as built, as seen in the old photo, and today with I-80 in the foreground.  the dividers are smoked grey Plexiglas.  The rail will run continuously just across the top of the dividers.
With any luck I'll deliver it for display by May 10, 2019.
SR

There was some discussion early on about approaching the UPRR for grant money, and had that happen the "modern" train would have been Yellow whatevers.  But the County passed on the idea and decided to pay for it out of pocket, so there's no obligation to go Yellow.
It's my call, so I'm going with SP Tunnel Motors- it only seems right...   right?

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Neat, can't wait to see the finished product.  And yes, it should only be SP Tunnel Motors!

Nathan

Black Widow F's dammit!

Where is the location at? Wouldnt mind checking it out if possible.

On I-80 it’s maybe 8mi East of Colfax at about 3000’ elevation. Look for the Secret Town exit and it’s not quite a mile East of the exit.
On the RR it must be about MP 151 or 152?
SR

A burning question. Are the trestle timbers still there? Is the track still on (connected to) the structure, or has the full been compacted over time and is essentially a standard fill? SP did this to quite a few original trestles.

Posted from iPhone

Well, the trestle is certainly in there, but it’s been over 100yrs, so it’s hard to believe there’s much of it left.
In the model I’m depicting the #1 Track as continuous, just to make it clear that the #2 was added later. But I suspect that the original line would survey out to be right down the center of today’s fill.
SR

SR-
You still have your camera drone?  How about taking it up and getting a current photo to match (or as close as you can get to match) the famous photo?

Jeff

Actually, I did just that a year or so ago- if I get a chance I’ll see if it’s on the laptop I have with me and post it here. And you can only get the shot w a drone- the hill to original shot is gone! Removed for I-80.
SR
Live in Chama, NM