Officially speaking, the first structure built for The Hills Line was the deck of the CRANDIC’s lattice truss bridge over the Iowa River. That needed to be completed so I could lay track and get the railroad running. It was a few more months before I finished up the truss itself.
As I previously mentioned, I’m a less than stellar modeler. Many of my builds are somewhat sloppy, or designed to limit viewing of things that don’t need to be seen. A view of the CRANDIC bridge will reveal less than stellar construction methods. Paint hides a lot of sins, but the imperfections are visible on closer inspection.
For a long time I was accepting of what I had built. Since lattice truss bridges are not common on the prototype, there aren’t a lot seen on model railroads. Even with its defects, it was still unique enough to serve as a secondary signature scene on The Hills Line… as long as you squinted your eyes.
Then Scott Thornton came along and destroyed my justification.
My friend and fellow Iowa Interstate modeler is building an absolute masterpiece of a layout based on the IAIS Milan Branch located in and around Rock Island, Illinois. The Milan Branch also features lattice truss bridges (two of them to be precise) over the Rock River. Unlike me, Scott was not going to accept anything less than perfection.
Working with a mutual friend, Scott designed his own version of the Rock River bridges using laser cut acrylic and styrene shapes. The result is fantastic. One glance at what he had accomplished made me realize that I needed to step up my game.
Fortunately, Scott is as generous as he is talented. Turns out there was one more span available, and he was willing to support my cause. I’m going to need to determine how to integrate this bridge into my scene without having to completely start over… but it’ll be worth it in the end.
The Hills Line 
Nothing like having a friend in the business. When the community is supportive we can improve our modelling. LV
LikeLiked by 1 person
James
Go for it! I know you will work it out and we who follow you will all benefit from your experience.
It will look terrific!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Measure twice…maybe three times…cut once.
Seriously, I look forward to seeing how this all comes together.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I saw Scott’s bridge, I pulled up a photo of the former Rock Island bridge in Harvey which is still there. There are many similarities.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Regarding your statement that “lattice truss bridges are not common on the prototype”:
The Rock Island and the Chicago & Northwestern used them extensively, with them being their standard truss of choice from the 1870s through the 1890s. In the Northeast, ERIE was known for using them. Heck, the B&O designed, fabricated & used the Bollman truss, and that’s a really fancy lattice truss.
It’s not a lack of prototypical examples, it’s that scenery companies don’t seem to care enough about their bridge offerings to offer something not a Pratt/Warren/plate girder
LikeLike
I’d love to see any plans or drawings for the lattice truss. I’m planning a layout depicting a branch line of the B&M which features a lattice truss crossing the Connecticut River in Northampton MA. (The prototype has eight spans; I’m planning on two). As you noted above, these are hard to find commercially, but when I saw your bridge in Model Railroad Planning 2024, I almost jumped out of my chair! It’s encouraging to see that it’s at least possible to scratch build this design.
LikeLike
I’m working on a series of posts covering version 2 of the Iowa River bridge. Stay tuned!
LikeLike
Walthers Cornerstone has created a model of the bridge for N scale that I’m currently building but it’s not as detailed as the original. It will pass for my train display and it’s made for two tracks to cross. There is one similar to the bridge in Cranston, Rhode Island for Amtraks Northeast corridor which spans from Boston to Washington DC and is one of the busiest in the region.
LikeLike