Post by Joe Saggese on Jun 16, 2020 18:35:26 GMT
I love bridges on train layouts. For me not only does it bring about fun and realism but great memories come to mind. When I posted a picture of a bridge in the "You Snooze, You Loose" thread it got me thinking of a bridge in my neighborhood growing up..........
The above picture is a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 movie "Shadow Of A Doubt". The Jackson Street Bridge spans the Passaic River connecting Newark and Harrison NJ. In the background you can see the PRR lift bridge just past Penn Station Newark.
The bridge was built in 1900 and must have been monumental to see in person.
From some information I read the bridge had wood block pavement. I remember we saw some of these wood blocks coming through the pavement.
But come the 1970s, this was the bridge my friends and I knew. Stripped of all its ornamental beauty just the decaying skeleton remained. Twice a month we would cross this bridge to see a movie at the Warner Movie Theater in Harrison. I couldn't tell you what movies we saw but I remember stopping at a pizzeria on the way home that had a large pie for 3 dollars or a small on for 2.50.
There was another time when we crossed the bridge and were half way to the theater when a police car pulled alongside of us. The office rolled down his window and asked, "Where you boys going?"
US: "Were going to the movies."
Officer: "Get in the car, Ill drive you there."
This is great!!!!! We thought. So we get in the back of the police car and it takes off. The officer turns the car around and drives us back to the bridge, stops the car and tells us to go back home. That happened a few times but most of the time we made it to the movie theater. On the days that we did get to the theater we used to hope that the officer would drive by and drive us home but that didn't happen lol.
The most fun (or fear) to these trips was to actually walk across the bridge. There were holes in the walkway and you could see the river below. Of course we would push each other towards the holes to see which one of us would scream.
Then there was the actual flimsy, rusted railing that swayed towards the river when your friends picked you up against it and made believe they were going to throw you in.
The bridge was rehabbed in 1991 but its no longer "my" bridge. Today you can walk across it without fear
When I look at my layout and imaging where I'm going to put a bridge, these are the stories that run through my head and make me smile.
The above picture is a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 movie "Shadow Of A Doubt". The Jackson Street Bridge spans the Passaic River connecting Newark and Harrison NJ. In the background you can see the PRR lift bridge just past Penn Station Newark.
The bridge was built in 1900 and must have been monumental to see in person.
From some information I read the bridge had wood block pavement. I remember we saw some of these wood blocks coming through the pavement.
But come the 1970s, this was the bridge my friends and I knew. Stripped of all its ornamental beauty just the decaying skeleton remained. Twice a month we would cross this bridge to see a movie at the Warner Movie Theater in Harrison. I couldn't tell you what movies we saw but I remember stopping at a pizzeria on the way home that had a large pie for 3 dollars or a small on for 2.50.
There was another time when we crossed the bridge and were half way to the theater when a police car pulled alongside of us. The office rolled down his window and asked, "Where you boys going?"
US: "Were going to the movies."
Officer: "Get in the car, Ill drive you there."
This is great!!!!! We thought. So we get in the back of the police car and it takes off. The officer turns the car around and drives us back to the bridge, stops the car and tells us to go back home. That happened a few times but most of the time we made it to the movie theater. On the days that we did get to the theater we used to hope that the officer would drive by and drive us home but that didn't happen lol.
The most fun (or fear) to these trips was to actually walk across the bridge. There were holes in the walkway and you could see the river below. Of course we would push each other towards the holes to see which one of us would scream.
Then there was the actual flimsy, rusted railing that swayed towards the river when your friends picked you up against it and made believe they were going to throw you in.
The bridge was rehabbed in 1991 but its no longer "my" bridge. Today you can walk across it without fear
When I look at my layout and imaging where I'm going to put a bridge, these are the stories that run through my head and make me smile.