ATSF Los Angeles Division, circa 1949

[Cajonpassfan]

Oh yeah, “Them”!
Actually, there were lots of movies, good, bad, and plain godawful, filmed in the LA River. Such an iconic and convenient setting for Hollywood....
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

While waiting for my LA backdrop to be printed, I started work on the Blue Cut area between Cajon and Keenbrook. Blue Cut and the arched concrete bridge over Lone Pine Creek are one of the better known areas in the Pass and are easily accessed by the old Route 66. My version will be pre-‘53 when the highway was still only two lanes. Today, the railroad is triple tracked and the rock cut doesn’t quite look the same: the iconic bridge is covered in disgusting graffiti.
To be continued...
Otto

[C855B]

... Blue Cut and the arched concrete bridge over Lone Pine Creek ...

Ah, fond memories. Rewinding 45 years to mental snapshots of my then girlfriend and eventually first wife skinny dipping in the pond just underneath the arch. Not visible from Cajon Blvd. but I'm sure a train crew or two got an eyeful.   

[Cajonpassfan]

Lol, Mike, you must mean here. There was a low concrete dam, long since washed out that created that pond. I’ll see if I can manage to recreate it. Maybe I need to see your girlfriend’s skinnydipping  photos, you know, just to be authentic...
Fun stuff,
Otto

[C855B]

MENTAL snapshots, Otto! MENTAL. It was still an era when you might not get "those kind" of pictures back from the lab. 

I really didn't think much about what had changed there after I moved East. A washout certainly explains why it looked so different when I checked it in our last visit (2018). My reaction then was the Forest Service had messed with it at the same time they cordoned-off the "hippie campground" in the woods along the creek north of the bridge. I read somewhere a while back ('90s?) that the off-road crowds had become a nuisance at that spot and they had to reel it in, at Berdoo County's request.

EDIT: I could've made some sort of off-color comment about capturing DD's above and below the bridge, but I won't go there. Besides, she was a B-cup at best.   

[Frank Amato]

Wow, thread drift alert LOL !!!

[Cajonpassfan]

All in the interest of authenticity...
First shot at the back side. In all the photos I have, the concrete colors are all over the place...
TBC..
Otto

[C855B]

What strikes me in the bottom two pictures is the bridge discoloration and variegation is indistinguishable from the surrounding rock, obviously the result of aging. The challenge you have is determining how much of this occurred between 1950 and your photos (1990s? to current).

However, take a look here: http://www.carrtracks.com/cacj65sf5589.htm. John (Carr) has a nice shot from '75 showing much less discoloration. So cranking that back another 25 years, I think you'd be safe with a more uniform concrete gray with a mild wash. The question is when was the bridge new? I would edu-guess it came with double tracking, which would put it in the 1920s or '30s. So your bridge would be relatively young.

(John's younger brother Steve and I camped at Summit a couple of times in 1970. Nothing like waking up to a trio of new U50Cs topping the grade at sunrise!)

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks for the link,  Mike, although I’m not sure I agree about the discoloration on the basis of that photo. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to come across a good color photo from about 1950. I’m sure one will turn up as soon as I’m done staining mine😜
You are correct that the concrete arch dates to the doubletracking. The original single track bridge was a stone arch that got embedded in concrete in 1913, with rods and steel plates holding the whole thing together. The earlier stone abutment is still visible beyond the wider concrete structure, see photo below the trailing GP30.
And yea, three big U Boats in run 8 on Cajon would be a memorable experience!
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, my LA Civic Center building backdrops got printed so I’m trying to make them fit. It’s a lot harder than one would think. I took it all in the kitchen where I though I’d have room to lay things out properly. So far it’s not going all that well, one of the cats decided to relocate City Hall..🙀😜
Otto

[Chris333]

Catzilla!

[Cajonpassfan]

Lol, well, we did manage to test out multiple sizes and proportions to fit my context, and the Civic Center is coming along fine. Except, when I mock it up, it photographs weird: the Federal building in the center is fine, but City Hall “leans” to the left, and the Courthouse “leans” to the right. WTF.? My iPhone camera seems to exaggerate the perspective...
I not only want this scene to look good, but to photograph well...
To be continued, I’m sure..
Otto

[johnb]

Looks pretty good Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, thanks. I’m still not quite happy with the proportions of the Union Station building, relative to everything else. I think it’s too big for the scene, so I will have it reprinted at about 80%. I also need to cut back on the depth of the waiting room roof a bit. Otherwise, I like it. I’m also playing with giving the very shallow REA/Baggage/RPO buildings more depth, a little perspective trick. It’s the little white boxy thing... Helps to have a lconstrained viewpoint, pics below.
This has been kind of fun so far...😎
Otto

[OldEastRR]

About those leaning buildings ... just tell people your LA is experiencing a mild earthquake. 

I really like this layout, BTW.