On the way to Harrisburg

[ak-milw]

Nice tour so far Mike, Thanks!!

[Sawdust]

Thanks Mike, Having fun!

[GS4]

Mike, unless I'm mistaken, the bridge that you're enquiring about is the roadway's equivalent of a "ballasted deck girder bridge" on a railroad. I stand to be corrected.

Cheers, Simon

[LiveSteamer]

Great photo's Mike.

[Eastern Roads]

Well, I mentioned we'll be looking at some bridges, and we have a few more in this post. We're going to start out with an interesting bridge that I suspect was originally designed for railroads, as we've seen these used in that venue. The Turnpike has been getting "creative" with their colors of bridges of late, there's even a bridge painted in a bright red! Note the "Jersey Barrier" has been replaced a few times on this curve.



Here's one type of concrete arch bridge used extensively on the Turnpike. Note the weathering, and the lime running out of the post ends by the roadway. The second picture is another one at a higher elevation, note the ridges in the wings holding the earth back. Note the chain link fence on top of both as well.





In our next two pics, check out the steel beam placement, and the weathering. I'll apologize in advance for the second pic. The camera has like a two-second lag between hitting the button and it shooting.

This is a US Highway Bridge that crosses the Pike.





Okay, now onto the scenery!! Here's a really nice farm. Note the fans in the end of the building. Check out the fieldstone house, and the well.



Here's a pretty barn out in the countryside...



Now if you're modeling rivers in the eastern US, there's lots of lush vegetation. If there's been lots of rain, the rivers don't show much of their banks. Case in point:



Here's one of two houses I think are pretty nice along the road to Harrisburg. It has a commanding view of the entire Susquehanna Valley, and the out building looks like something you could put a great layout in!! (Just like our buddy Domiluk!)



And there are wide open vistas in Pennsylvania as well. You can see how big this field is by the size of the car. Southern Pennsylvania along I-81 south of Harrisburg has lots of open ground as well.



In our next (and last) installment, I have some pictures of barns with advertising on them along with some other stuff. Hope you're enjoying the ride!!

[MikeC]

I sure am!

Mike

[GS4]

I for one am lapping up this ride.Thanks for sharing the pics with us Mike. One question !! Are those genuine silos or are they cell phone towers in pic #6 ? lol

Cheers, Simon

[Sawdust]

Having a great time Mike. Can we stop & use the restroom & get some more coffee? I like the farm scene, I always wanted to do a farm house or barn in stone. I have some nice styrene sheets of various types of stone but just haven't got a plan yet.

[Eastern Roads]

Well, I'm glad you all have been enjoying the trip! In this, our last installment, we will check out some interesting sights, and see some ideas that can be used on your layouts! Seeing Farms are popular, I thought I would start out with one that has REAL silos! I like this place mostly because it has a 1963 Ford F700 tandem stake body out in the yard that looks like it's still in use! It was in a tough place to get a good shot of though...

Here we go:



Here's an older place that has been refurbished and all the buildings have the same color roofs!



Remembering we're looking at people's back yards, I'm not too sure I would love to have a cell phone tower to gaze at each day...unless it was on my property, and I was making some $$ on it!! This guy also is making some $$ by having a billboard as well! The hand?? Well, it was an attempt to take that model barn home



Sorry about the next pic, shutter lag got me again. But I wanted to show this, as the owner is making some money advertising like crazy here! He has the billboard on his property, but also has a hand painted sign on the side of the barn advertising the local campground! That's easy enough to do with a paint pen, marker, or whatever writes!



As a kid, I remember seeing lots more of the next style of advertising. This particular one has obviously been around for a few decades, he was advertising dog food. Hmmm, I wonder if he's still getting anything (other than a visit to TWP..) Both the barn and the silo got the treatment.



Home Sweet Home...

Check out the detail possibilities with this house!! This is the farm house for the advertising barn and silo. Note the fuel tank alongside the house, as well as the chairs, and give the roof a good look!



On to some industry...
Here's a manufacturing facility, note the silos on the side of the building.



This place which is too big for my viewfinder is Denver Cold Storage, right alongside the PA Pike. The semi is parked in a truck inspection area on the road, and the facility is just over the fence from the road. I believe they haul meat out of there, as I've seen the Monfort from Colorado trucks in there.



Also on the way, there is a corrugated pipe plant. Here is the storage yard. These are easy to model, all you need are various size machine screws, and some foil. Wrap the foil around the screw, then unscrew the screw out. Voila! Corrugated pipe!!



Then, out in RRManiacs neck of the woods, there is a short line.. I think this is it, and for the first time I saw Covered Hoppers on the siding.



Then we have a view out the windshield as we head Eastbound for the coast. The hills in Pennsy are really green this year due to all the rain, and the Keystone State is a pretty place to visit.



So there you have it, a bunch of good ideas, that I hope will help all of you out somewhere. If any of you happen to be on the road this year, show us what you think would be good for modeling! I had fun with this, and I'm glad you came along!

Oh, and Sawdust?? I'll try to get some pics of the OUTSIDE of the restrooms for you... (I don't do inside pics of those...)

[Sawdust]

Great job Mike I really enjoyed it!