I know there are a lot of Pennsy modelers here at trains.com, and I’d like to hear more from you good folks!
I thought for fun, we could start a thread here about challenges/rewards of modeling The Standard Railroad of the World.
By way of intro, I model a fictional segment of the PRR’s Middle Division (mostly resembling the Lewistown to Tyrone segment) in N scale. My tiny layout’s on a hollow-core door, so I’ve had to reduce the four-track Broad Way of Commerce to just two.
My other project, on hold, is lettering a Fine N Scale Models’ X31A boxcar in Shadow Keystone Phase 1a scheme. I’ve been “kitbashing” the decals, cutting the dimensional data letter by letter, since no one offers this scheme as pre-made decals. I’m using a Microscale set designed for X26,X28, and X29 variants in SK1a & b.
Hope to hear from other SPFs (if you don’t know what SPF stands for, you aren’t one!)…!
I have a soft spot for the Pennsy. My grandfather hired with them. My father with Penn Central. Myself with Conrail.
Although, my primary modeling focus is the Reading and Delaware & Hudson in HO, I do model a short section of a Pennsy branch on my layout. My last PRR project was painting a pair of Atlas GP7s in the pre-PC Keystone scheme.
The Pennsy was a leader at the turn of the last centrury for standardizing its locomotive and freight car fleets. For example, the L1s 2-8-2 and K4s 4-6-2 shared the same boiler; combined they represented over 800 of the more than 10,000 steam locomotives the Pennsy would eventually buy or build during its life. The Pennsy also standardized structures, bridges, and even lineside details like PRR pipe-railing fences. This was done under the leadership of Alexander Cassatt.
The PRR was not standardized with, nor set the standard for, any other RR in America (save for the LIRR and other PRR-owned subsidiaries). But in terms of internal standardization, by the 1910’s, the PRR had no equal. So the railroad took to calling itself “The Standard Railroad of America.” Later it became “…of the World.” It was a self-proclaimed designation, but when understood in proper context, probably a deserved one.
While most people believe it was because of internal standardization, my opinion is that it was because they considered themselves to be The Standard by which a railroad should be judged. Several foreign governments more or less copied the PRR’s operations and business model when they were looking to create their own national railways in the late 1800s.
As a business, the PRR was very successful. They developed and adopted true cost accounting before most other businesses. For many years, they were the largest corporation in the world. They paid a dividend for over 100 consecutive years, a record that may yet to have been broken.
I am modeling the PRR’s Marginal and Oil Street branches in 1961. These were located in Beaver Falls PA and came off the Ft Wayne mainline. The Marginal went north east and interchanged with the P&LE at COLLEGE yard. The Oil Street came off the Marginal and went south east to also connect to the P&LE via a track that ran through the middle of a factory building. The total length of both branches was only around two miles, but in 1945 there were 20 listed industries along the way.
While ideal for a switching layout the problem has been determining what was still shipping by rail in 1961 and which to model to get a good car mix. If I had about 150 feet, I could model the whole shebang in 1/87.1. . .
I’m modeling the Indiana Branch of the PRR and you can see pretty much where I am by checking the link at the bottom of the page. Actually, I’m a little past that now.
I don’t model the Pennsy, in fact, for years I was bugged by the prevalence of Pennsy steam locos (with that - ugh - Belpaire firebox), Pennsy rolling stock, and, even though I had no need for one, Pennsy GG-1s. But then I started to read about prototype railroads, and Pennsy kept popping up. Even that was annoying at first, but I slowly came to an appreciation for the Pennsy and their way of doing things. I have to admit that my first impressions were wrong, and I have become more and more impressed as time goes by. A couple of visits to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania sealed my fate as a fan of the Pennsy.
So now the Pennsylvania Railroad is represented on my freelanced layout. The old Train Miniature X-29s that I painted for my freelance road were redone as Pennsy cars:
One was even converted into a X-28
And I bought some Red Caboose kits and lettered them for the Pennsy, too:
I’ve got Bowser hoppers and gondolas in Pennsy paint, and an X-31a, too. There’s even a Pennsylvania R50B in amongst my headend equipment:
So, while I still don’t model the Pennsy, I do make sure that she’s well-represented on my late-'30s era free-lanced layout.
In addition to modeling CN and CP circa 1974, I also have my own short line railway in HO scale. It has a roster of eight ex-PRR locomotives, all of which are still in the Brunswick green paint scheme.
Dave Vollmer and doctorwayne,
Nice pictures of your PRR hardware!
I am freelancing a PRR HO layout myself, the late 40’s to mid 50’s.
Made some significant progress this week.I’ll try and post some pictures when I get a few more things done.
Got my freight yard and engine service terminal areaa layed out, and getting ready to drop in my 130 foot Walthers turntable next with machine shopadd on.
Just finished up a Walthers City Station kit for my passenger terminal coming soon.
It was, pure and simple, a PR ploy; sometime around the turn of the 20th Century someone in the Pennsylvania Railroad public relations department decided that it would be good advertising to label the Pennsylvania Railroad The Standard Railroad of the World implying, of course, that all other railroads stood in emulation - which, of course, they didn’t!
So it boiled down to this: who called the Pennsylvania Railroad The Standard Railroad of the World? The Pennsylvania Railroad called itself The Standard Railroad of the World.
I come from a long line of railroaders, my grandfather worked for PRR and PC, my uncle worked for PC, CR and now NS, and my father just retired from CR/NS a few months ago. I grew up on the Horseshoe Curve road and spent many summer days on those mainline tracks. One of my fondest memories comes from a day when a train load of tanks stopped right above our house( the main line was like 500 yds from my back door) and my dad took my sister and me up the tracks to see them. That was cool. I’ve even explored the area where that circus train, or was it a passenger train crashed back in Scotch Run back in the 40’s. So yeah, I like the Pennsy alright. I’d like to model something about the PRR for my next railroad, this first one is going to start out as a free lance until I get more experience. You’re post title got my attention because I would REALLY REALLY like to model the downtown shops with the few industries it still serves, but it’s hard to find good aireal photo’s of it. Well, there ya go, you want to know something about us PRR fans I hope I didn’t let you down.
BTW Dave, I think you’re N-Scale work is pretty awsome.
…talkin’ about what PRR projects you guys are working on!
You know the old saying… If you model North American railroading prior to 1968, you model Pennsy, since 10% of the freight car fleet had PRR keystones on them.
Here’s a PRR X31A double-door I built from a Fine N Scale Models resin and brass kit:
