The Twin Crossings are located between MP 45 and MP 43 on the Oregon Trunk. This is the only spot in the Canyon that both the Des Chutes and Oregon Trunk operated separate lines on the same side of the river. At one point each railroad had their own tunnels side by side through the hillside. After the agreement made in 1935 for joint operation of the line the Des Chutes / UP side of the line was removed from North Junction all the way to Moody and the UP and SP&S shared the track between these points.
The original crossing at this point by the Oregon Trunk railroad was a wooden trestle, this was replaced by steel bridges in 1910. As the track approaches from the North it crosses from the west bank to the East back on a 400' curved bridge over the river, the tracks then immediately enter Tunnel number 2 which is 610' long. After exiting the Tunnel the tracks the river again on a 500' bridge returning to the West bank of the river.
Here is a photo of the bridge on the Southside of the Tunnel 2 at MP 44
We had our first independent group setup on May 4th and 5th of 2014. The only problem was that we only had two 45 degree modules and no other modules to complete our U shaped plan. So with only a week to build it I decided to build two 45 degree modules paired together as a 90 degree module. The module is based on a curve south of MP 44 and will be worked into a set of modules I may build in the future. I am tempted to build the bridge at MP 44 which is the second crossing of the Deschutes River.
For now I will just be working on my 45 degree modules which will feature a cut and some basic scenery representative of the Oregon Trunk.
May 5th 2014
Here is the modules as they stand, I look to get scenery started soon.
