Hi All: Still laying rail in my virtual 1880's Central Division project. Didn't get a response on my Rogers inquiry... so did the best I could laying the track for Rogers with the info I have onhand. Now I'm struggling to get the rail through that surprisingly rugged hollow just north of Avoca. The large fill at Brightwater is already evident on the Digital Elevation Model that forms the terrain, so locating the line accurate across the existing fill landform was great. The line descends northbound from Avoca to at least Brightwater bridge. BUT... This is where the confusion comes in. Where is the lowest point in that hollow before the line starts climbing again? Do the rails flatten at Brightwater and climb from there... OR... do the rails continue to descend northbound over the Brightwater fill to a point further north before it bottoms out and starts up again toward Garfield? My rail profile that I'm working from is unclear as to the bottom of the grade in that hollow. Can any of you assist? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any help you can share. Andre
Andre, I was up on the north end of the Brightwater bridge, but it was about twenty years ago. My foggy impression is that the grade to the immediate north was flat, can't visualize it going down. I have slides from that day somewhere. I had plans to build a model of the three spans with MicroEngineering girders on an NTrak module. I still have the bridge kits, but never got that module started. Perhaps others know more about the grade. I need to talk to Gale, will try to ask him. I'll try to find the slides also. Would the fill to the south be in for your time period? I don't remember any source telling whether they had temporary trestles or did the fill originally. I call the county road through the fill "Benton County's only tunnel."
Hi Steve: Thanks for the assist. Trying to harmonize known data and digitally created terrain isn't always easy, or "perfect". The hard data indicates the grade descends from Avoca at 1.03% for two miles, then starts right back upgrade to Garfield at the same gradient: 1.03% So far, I can't seem to do that and follow the contours of the digital hills. In my virtual world, either the rails will have to be level for a ways... or descend some more north of Brightwater before they start up. This portion of the Ozarks has been surprisingly tricky... and I'm a LONG ways from reaching the upper Ozark Plateau north of Seligman! As for the large fills at Brightwater: I suspect they were NOT there in the early years, for most lines spanned such a depression with a trestle FIRST, then came back years later and filled in the trestle and added the more permanent steel spans. However, I could always be wrong. (Stranger things have happened. ) Andre
