Horseshoe Curve in N Scale: April 2010

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Trip to Altoona for Baseball and Rail Fanning

On April 11, John Drye, Brian Brendel, Jake Brendel and Bernard Kempinski were in Altoona to see Steven Strassberg, the $15M man pitch for the Harrisburg Senators. While they were there, they did some railfanning on the PRR Horseshoe Curve, demolished several buffets and generally had a good time. This film clip covers some of the highlights, except for Jake's lost Peanut.

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The layout represents the Pennsylvania Railroad as it was in the mid-1950s. There is still some steam on mainline trains but diesels are definitely taking charge.

Passenger service is still viable and the railroad is still running its "Blue Ribbon Fleet" of first-class passenger trains.

However, the Pennsy makes its money with coal and steel, hauling tons of coal and iron ore to the mills in Pttsburgh and all over the state, then hauling the output to industries all over the nation, as it has done for over 100 years.

The "Standard Railroad of the World" is traditional, but the railroad is showing some signs of innovation. In 1954, the PRR introduces TrucTrain service, hauling trailers on dedicated flatcars. GM also has introduced the innovative AeroTrain, essentially bus bodies on rails. It remains to be seen which of these ideas will last.

The layout includes the PRR mainline from "Works" in downtown Altoona, past ALTO and SLOPE Towers, to the "Brickyard", and up the hill to the curve itself. The line continues past MG tower and the four-track interlocking, around McGinley's curve to the three tunnels at the top of the hill. The eastbound and westbound main lines seperate to create room for the helper turnback loop in Gallitzin. The lines re-join in Cresson and continue downhill towards Johnstown and the west.

Links

This layout would not be where it is without the help of some great people and organizations. Here is a partial list and some links:

The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society

Source for all things Pennsy. The society encourages preservation of technical and practical information concerning the PRR.

prrths.com

Northern Virginia NTRAK

The world's largest NTRAK Modular Railroading club, NVNTRAK was the inspiration for my getting out of the model railroading armchair about 15 years ago. A dozen modules and four layouts later, the group continues to provide friendship, advice and great times.

nvntrak.org

The NMRA Potomac Division

Local arm of the National Model Railroad Association and another group of good friends and inspiration.

home.comcast.net/~Potomac_NMRA/

Horseshoe Curve in N Scale

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Introduction

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Trip to Altoona for Baseball and Rail Fanning

Table of Contents

Layout Design

Layout "Modules"

Cresson Module

The Slide

Creating the Allegheny Mountains in miniature

Links