Daily Archives: April 15, 2020

Whitehurst Freeway footage from 1986: No Way Out

History, Prototype

An astute viewer on YouTube, Bill D, clued me in to a film starring Kevin Costner called No Way Out which was partially shot in Washington, DC on and under the iconic Whitehurst Freeway. Now, as we all know, the Georgetown Branch had seen its last train in the summer of 1985 so being that this film was filmed in the summer of 1986, it was only a year later and the line still hadn’t been officially abandoned.

EDIT: BUMMER – the film clip has been removed from YouTube, probably for Copyright. Oh well. If you do catch this thriller, you’ll get a glimpse of the Whitehurst just after GB abandonment.

A few fun notes: the Whitehurst is seen in its original configuration, as-built. A few years later, in 1993, the freeway would be rebuilt topside, adding reinforcements and additional safety enhancements. The large brick plant that is seen when Costner jumps from the Freeway is the old DC Incinerator which is now the Ritz-Carlton. (you can eat dinner inside the chimney!) I got a real laugh when Costner runs along the C&O Canal and then heads into the Georgetown Mall, which is disguised as the “Georgetown” Metro station. Also, they obviously couldn’t get permission to film in Metro, as they used some non-DC subway cars. Nice find!

Updated Version of the Rock Creek Trestle Plans

History, Model RR, Prototype

Here is a link to the latest version of the plans I created for my model of the Rock Creek Trestle. I spent tens of hours over a few days refining the last version. This new version was carefully corrected (there were many small errors) and updated to include a new girder height and lots more hardware and correct lumber sizes. I also developed a side view, which took tremendous effort, as the photos just do not exist.

Remember that these are not perfect; since there is so little information available about the trestle in the era I am interested in (early 1940s) I had to use educated guesses and the few reference photos and drawings I have to make the best attempt. The plans were drawn in Adobe Illustrator. Each of the first 20 pages is a separate bent. The last few pages show a side view. I am gearing up to begin building the model and will share my progress as it is made. Comments and questions are welcome!

EDIT May 22, 2020: I have updated the plans once more: File is now available on Dropbox.