Something for Pennsy fans...(with lots of pictures)

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I recently posted some of these photos on another forum and thought that Pennsy fans here might enjoy a look, too.

Years ago, when I started out in model railroading, I wasn’t particularly a fan of the Pennsy: in fact, I didn’t like it much at all. [:P] With their strange-looking locomotives, unusual-looking rolling stock, and an electric locomotive that looked like an escapee from a toy train set, they were just too “different” for my tastes. And for them to proclaim themselves the “Standard Railroad of the World” -well! [sigh]

Eventually, though, through reading books and magazine articles about the road, I developed an appreciation for the Pennsy and its many accomplishments. While I don’t model the Pennsylvania Railroad, it’s certainly well-represented now on my layout in the form of freight and express cars. If you’re modelling a common-carrier North American railroad in the era of the PRR, you should have at least one of their cars on your layout - the prototypes were, literally, just about everywhere.

Recently, a good friend in Pennsylvania announced his intention to retire at the end of this year. In addition to being a Pennsy fan and modeller, he’s also the Supervisor of Operations of the KISKI JUNCTION RR, a shortline freight and tourist hauler. On the road’s property is an ex-PRR/REA X-29 express boxcar, still equipped with her high-speed trucks (with locking centre pins) and outfitted with a diesel generator for her current role as a HEP car for the tourist trains. It seemed to me that this car would be the perfect candidate to model as a retirement gift for my friend, although, since he’s modelling the late '40s/early’50s I decided to backdate the car to her former “glory days”.

Here’s the prototype as she appears today:

I started with a Red Caboose kit (actually, thr

2

Absolutely amazing work. Thanks so much for posting this project and for the pics.

As a die hard Pennsy fan, your earlier mis-appraisal is indeed forgiven! [(-D]

3

Your weathering is fantastic, and you did a superb job on the modeling. Very nicely done!

John

4

My thanks to both of you for the kind words (and for the forgiveness, too [;)] ).

Wayne

5

Do you have more photos of your layout online somewhere?

6

John, there are quite a few photos on this Forum, although the search function is hit-or-miss, probably because most of the pictures are in my responses to other posters.

Here are a couple that I found:

Urban layouts on pages 1, 2, 7, & 8

Track to edge of layout on pages 2 & 3

I also have lots of pictures HERE, including a gallery of albums which are viewable only by Members. There are just over 700 photos there, and the ones posted in that Forum’s threads are, again, only visible to Members. I do, however, also post pictures there (and all of the ones here) from photobucket. Here are links to a couple that have photos viewable by non-members:

A few pictures… (pictures are spread over the first three pages)

A few boxcar upgrades… (the unabridged version of this Pennsy thread here, with more pictures)

There are two threads in this Forum that show the entire layout, one a “Layout (room) tour” and the other a “flyover” of most of the layout, and a couple more in here covering steam loco rebuilds, but the pictures in these are linked from the Gallery there, so are viewable only by Members.

Wayne

7

Mission accomplished! The Pennsy REA car makes me feel like I’m downtown at the PRR’s Union Station and its side industries. There is just something about that Tuscan Red done right to make you feel like all is well in the world once again.

8

Outstanding, Wayne!! [tup] [:P]

9

Oh yes, I’ve seen your layout-- but thank you very much for the links to photos-- I’m having a good time looking it over in detail !!

10

How are you able to slice buildings in half so cleanly to put along the backdrop?

11

I’m not sure to which buildings you’re referring, John, but most of them were either scratchbuilt or kitbashed to fit their particular locale.

GERN Industries, below, is Walthers ADM grain elevator, modified and combined with sections built from .060" sheet styrene. I size the walls to fit the site, and once they’ve been assembled, with lots of internal bracing (strips cut from more .060" material - I buy it in 4’x8’ sheets), I make the roofs, often by the trial-and-error method, from .060" sheet.

The icehouse at Lowbanks (the white structure, at left in the distance) was scratchbuilt from various types of Evergreen siding and strips specifically to suit this location. Like GERN and most other such backdrop structures, it’s set at an angle to the backdrop, but its far end is also curved to match the ouside coved corner of the backdrop. Again, cut-and-fit for the roof. It did help that I chose to represent just a little more than the front half of the structure, so the cut is on the back slope of the roof, out of sight.

For the urban scene in Dunnville, National Grocers, in the foreground, was built from Design Preservation modular wall sections for the visible walls and .060" sheet for those facing the backdrop. The walls, curved to follow the track, look reasonably presentable when viewed from the aisle, especially at eye-level. Once the walls were assembled, they were placed on the layout, then curved and blocked in place with weights while some basic bracing was added. Once the cement had set, the section was removed from the layout and additional bracing added, then a roof was cut to fit.

Beyond that is the station, scratchbuilt from, you guessed it: more .060" sheet styrene.&n

12

Well… that answers that! [:)]

I’m very impressed. It hadn’t occurred to me that they were scratch / kit-bashed. I was trying to imagine some setup for slicing the building down the middle :slight_smile: But I guess in those cases you simply build as much of the building (walls) as necessary, slice it, either before or after, as needed. And then scratchbuild the roof to fit.

13

Thanks for the kind words, John. I usually try to accomplish things in the simplest manner possible, but, often-times, my first attempts are rather convoluted. By the time I hone-down the process to a fine art, the need for such a project has been fulfilled, and is unlikely to ever rise again. [banghead] At least it keeps me busy learning new stuff. [swg] [(-D]

Wayne