Greetings everyone! I am a relatively new model railroader. I’m modeling a railroad based on the Pinelands of New jersey, since I’m a resident of that area. I myself live in southern NJ, but want my HO scale model railroad town to be located on the west side of Central, New Jersey and not in the southern part. The reason for this, is due to the fact that I want mountains in my layout. No mountains here! NO mountains in the western part of NJ either! so this part of my layout is fiction. However it’s more true to realistic fiction, because my town is near the border of Pennsylvania! Anyway I have already accumulated a small collection of PRR rolling stock and engines. Okay now for the question. I have a PRR switcher and a PR-27 Diesel engine. In my layout, the PRR delivers coal to a Blue Coal Deot and this depot is owned by the main Coal Operation Plant and Coal mine in PA. Sound right so far? I’m creating this scenario for my railroad. Anyway, PRR Diesels deliver the coal, and an EMD Model switcher with PRR markings on it works the coal yard. This same switcher takes on any switching tasks needed by the coal operated power plant, just nearby, round the corner, so the switcher doesn’t have to go out onto the mainline, to pull the switching tasks! Should the powerplant in New Jersey have it’s own switcher, or does the railroad lease these out, for the workers to use? Also, would it make more sense for the fictitous, Pinelands RR trains to take on these and other switching tasks, being as the rail lines in that area are owned by the Pinelands railroad, which is giving the right of way to the PRR on a regular contract basis as well, to help in these tasks? Also would the workers at the Blue Coal Depot, be employed by the Pennsylvania Coal Company? Does any of this make sense? Please let me know, if anyone has any detailed info, on the workings of the railroads. Thanks, Andy
Railrun, [#welcome] to the forum.
I certainly don’t want to discourage you, but the questions that you ask seem like they would be better directed to the model railroaders forum. I say this mostly because you are asking a lot of questions that the average Railroads forum reader isn’t going to be interested in responding to.
I perceive, however, that at least one of your questions does indeed pertain to railroad functionality. Perhaps you could extract those questions and ask them separately from the model railroading stuff. I think that your flood of information has caused many readers to disregard your post.
Also, your font size and type make your post hard to read.
If you are going to run the PRR in New Jersey it was probably nonexistant in New Jersey after about 1929. The Reading and PRR formed the Pennsylvania Reading Seahore Lines (PRSL) due to declining business among other reasons. So anything later than that is notgoing to be PRR. Engines were 2 to 1 in favor of the PRR but most were relettered for PRSL as was all rolling stock which mostly passenger equipment. It is highly unilkely that any coal company had a redistribution point other than the source namely the mine. Why route a car to a location like that than to a user? Yes the railroad could and did switch out dealers. In Philadelphia on both the Reading and PRR mains were local coal yards where the railroads were elevated on fill through the city. The coal yard had a trestle arrangement so the cars could dump through the treetle into bins or walled off areas for different sizes. The Reading had far more than the PRR often seveal in a block or two. The PRSL used primarily Baldwin diesels so those would be the most prototypical. There are several books on the PRSL that can help you with locomotive rosters and types in most of them. The PRR did deliver cars to the PRSL at Pavonia yard in Camden and ran a lot of engines on their last legs from Greewich yard in Philly to Pavonia among them Alco PA’s and DL640’s as well as GG1’s and E44 electrics. The yard was switched with B6sb steam and then Baldwin switchers. Rather than the coal mine idea you could consider modeling the Capbell Soup Co. on the Delaware river that was a major receiver of fruits and vegatables as well as tinplate for the cans. They were also a large sender of carloads of canned soup all over the country.
“If you are going to run the PRR in New Jersey it was probably nonexistent in New Jersy after about 1929.”
I think you meant to say it was probably nonexistent in Southern New Jersey. The main line from Philly to NYC stayed under the Pennsy banner until Penn Central came about.
The Campbell Soup Company plant is a good idea.
thank you so much for your thorough response! It is well appreciated! Andy
Andy:
You might want to check the website for the PRR Technical and Historical Society (www.prrths.com) for information on PRR’s operations out of Trenton and along the Delaware River up through Phillipsburg, NJ where the PRR connected with Lehigh Valley RR and the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway (both carriers from coal country) there should be a lot of prototype operations (including industries) for you to model as well as some rugged terrain (at least for NJ).
As to your question regarding switching services, unless an industry had enough work to justify the expense it would be more economical to have the RR switch cars as needed. There were exceptions, though. AT&T owned a 44-tonner that it used to switch cars in and out of the Western Electric plant in Chicago and I would guess that some of the larger coal mines had their own equipment. I would think that Model Railroader has probably run some articles on this, you might want to check the article index.
Good luck!