More modelling, more learning. I’m quite pleased with how my Coquihalla river crossing scene is taking shape. It’s always kind of neat recreating things that no longer exist – not just the railroad itself and its associated hardware, but also the land and water. Seeing the river come to life in a form and following a course it hasn’t been in for decades is really neat. And disorienting: I’ve been to the site a few times and the changes are significant enough that in my mind’s eye the model at times just can’t look right.
My first run at the river, as usual, ended in stalemate. I tried the usual green paint, but it looked wrong here. Photos gave the water a more brownish colour. So I tried filling the bed with brown talus, and then pouring Realistic Water over it. As it set, I’d dip a fine paintbrush with white paint on the tip in and create water ripples/foam. This produced something closer, but a bit too clear. I made a mistake too – using modelling clay to try to seal off both ends of the river so the realistic water wouldn’t pour right off the edges. The Realistic Water very realistically find every nook and cranny and pretty much emptied itself all over the table. On the plus side, the talus that began to float when I first poured it settled and the whole river bed became hard and fixed in place. I then began applying lighter dashes of green, and then when that dried, another dollop of Realistic Water, this time with the ends of the river sealed off by DAP white silicone caulk. I also worked on Union Bar Rd., which I was pleased to see existed in the 1950s and provided one more crossing to do on a subdivision that only had a few of them. Have to figure out how to handle the crossing: there are many questions. Was the road gravel? Or dirt? Or pavement? Was the crossing wood? Pavement? Black and white aerial photos unfortunately have their limitations.
While the water set, I worked on laying down the roadbed, carefully aligning it with the bridge, and doing some scenicking all around, including the dry, rocky floodplain area. From the older aerial I could see it had vegetation in a wide swath in the middle, so it probably wasn’t flooded often. It’s pretty amazing to see that that whole area is wiped out now, the river having broadened and shifted to cover it. Had the KV stuck around, I guess CP would have needed to figure out another option to the pile trestle at the west end.
Speaking of pile trestle, that’s the next project on this scene. I’m gathering details (and materials), but it looks like I need it to be about 15’ high, about 180’ long (shortened because I went with a 150’ truss bridge rather than the 130 that was there originally). Onwards and upwards!