What's New on the PRR Panhandle Division?

[G3750]

Light it up!!!!

Can't really see that the lamp is lit in this photo. I'm using a 3VDC source (2 AA battery holder from RadioShack).

Telephone_PolesW_10_.JPG (34.82 KiB) Viewed 3233 times

This photo is a little better. The glow in the foremost pole is visible.

Telephone_PolesW_11_.JPG (30.7 KiB) Viewed 3234 times

Just to make sure the lit pole was visible, I put a backdrop behind it.

Telephone_PolesW_12_.JPG (22.18 KiB) Viewed 3233 times

We're getting there!!!!

George

[G3750]

Updated 2/23/2014:

• On Friday, the last of the sidewalks were painted.
• Yesterday, I managed to scribe two of the sidewalks for Crawford's Crossing.
• Today, I coated them with an India Ink / Isopropyl alcohol mixture (see photo)
• Also cut two of the bottom supports for the overpass' uprights. The ends need trimming and sanding prior to painting.

SidewalkW_02_.JPG (36.01 KiB) Viewed 3201 times

George

[jlong]

George, awesome. The lights set off the poles nicely. They remind me of lighted HO poles Atlas did in the 60's (I have a set stashed somewhere).

[G3750]

George, awesome. The lights set off the poles nicely. They remind me of lighted HO poles Atlas did in the 60's (I have a set stashed somewhere).

Thank you, John.

I still have a few of these to make. After they are all assembled, I'm going to fill the holes with squadron putty and sand them smooth. Weaver has sold me some telephone pole brown touch-up paint, so that's the next step.

Once the forest of telephone poles is done, I will assemble the overpass roadway. The diagram below shows the cross-section.

Overpass%20Drawing%20v002.jpg (52.34 KiB) Viewed 3175 times

The telephone poles will be installed in holes drilled through the sidewalks. I plan to make a hole to (barely) fit the pole about 1/4" deep. Within it will be a hole all the way through overpass to accomodate the "pin" at the end of the pole and the wiring. Wiring will be connected to a buss and then taped to the bottom of the overpass.

George

[rogruth]

George,

I am really looking forward to seeingm more photos of any part of your layout.

We have seen just a few teasers.

What vhave you decided about the smoking mill etc?

[G3750]

George,

I am really looking forward to seeingm more photos of any part of your layout.

We have seen just a few teasers.

What vhave you decided about the smoking mill etc?

Well Roger, these are the projects in progress and their status:

• Open Hearth Mill: smoke & sound animation is in design phase. Have most of the parts; circuit is being designed.
• Strip Steel Mill: have frame constructed. Have prototype photos of roof. Need to design roof and start construction.
• City of Weirton module: have floor for it. Needs the following:
  • Telephone poles: under construction, need to finish 7 poles, putty, and paint them
  • Sidewalks: under construction, need to scribe and India-Ink wash remaining 14 sections. Also need to cut and fit to module.
  • Crawford's Crossing Highway Overpass: 1 roadway section and 2 sidewalk sections done. Need to assemble roadway, sidewalks, and siderails. Need to complete uprights construction. Need to install poles and wire. Need to design and build end of incline support.
  • Traffic lights: need to order, wire, and install.
  • Mill wall: have prototype photos & measurements. Need to make prototype for mold for mass-reproduction.
  • Various buildings for North Weirton: concept phases.
• PRR double-track bridge: Have painted floor and track supports. Need to de-install metal bridge floor, replace with wooden floor, install track, and wire it up.

Still lots to do.

George

[jlong]

George, any plans to entertain us with nudie scenes?

[G3750]

George, any plans to entertain us with nudie scenes?

Funny you should ask, John.

Friday I was driving home and having my usual after work phone call with my parents (they live in Erie with my sister). We were discussing downtown Steubenville and the somewhat seedy Imperial Hotel which was the site of my sister's christening party. It was their consensus that this particular part of downtown Steubenville (on 6th near the station) was suspect (it got a lot worse in the 1970s). I mentioned that the Imperial Hotel was going to appear on the layout and be treated in a rather shabby fashion (no details). My mother (of all people) remarked that it would be appropriate.

Boy, I've got to remember not to show her the finished hotel or its scantily clad occupants!

It's probably not too late to get my mouth washed out with soap!

George

[rogruth]

George,

I don't remember the "business" names involved but I do remember the area.
Steubenville had/has quite a reputation.Wheeling W.Va. was a big rival for
that name that Steubenville had for so long.My hometown,Bellaire,Ohio,was
never a factor in the types of activities found in Wheeling and Steubenville.
When I was in high school I could go into any bar in that area of the upper
Ohio Valley and get anything I wanted to drink.I did NOT look older than I was.

It has been over ten years since I have been in that area and I was very
saddened to see what had happened to it.This area was huge in the American
economy and a major factor in WW II.The mines are closed.There is still coal
in those hills.The mills and factories are not just closed,they are gone The area
is probably more economically deprived now than during the Great Depression
of the 1930s.
My hometown had in 1950 @18,000 inhabitants.Today it is @ 4,000.Some towns
in the area have turned off all or half of the street lights at night because they
can't pay for them.Some towns are nearly ceasing to exist.
There are now only two railroads in the area that mostly pass through with no
commerce with the towns and cities.They are NS and W&LE on the Ohio side of
the river with CSX in W.Va.

I am getting old and most likely will never return to this area again.I must say
that I have a great deal of nostalgia about it.

I think a lot of this could be considered thread drift and for that I apologize.

[G3750]

Roger, please don't apologize for what you call thread "drift". I consider it useful and interesting background material that, for me, deepens the understanding of the region and the model railroad. In some cases, and maybe this is true for me and for you, my model of the Panhandle captures a time when reality was more in line with truth and aspirations, when America's might was defined by the massive industries and works in front of us, and the horizon was the only limit on our view. Or at least that was our perception.

George

[G3750]

George,

I am really looking forward to seeingm more photos of any part of your layout.

We have seen just a few teasers.

I anticipate having more photos from the structure / scenery projects I listed a few posts back, but can't predict when that will be. In the meantime, I have a bunch of photos from the construction of the benchwork and laying of track that I could post if anyone would be interested.

What vhave you decided about the smoking mill etc?

I just heard from the EE who is designing / building the animation circuit for the Open Hearth Mill. We're going to meet next week, hopefully to get some work done. I think all the parts are here.

Last night I managed to finish the next-to-last class of lighted poles and start on the last one. There are now 5 lighted poles. I got 1 of the lighted poles w/ 3 wire standoff done. There are 4 of those to go and 1 lit pole with 4 cross-arms left. I will try to get those done and post another photo very soon.

George

[G3750]

Updated 2/26/2014:

I got the last of the poles with double cross-arms, light arms, and two 3-wire stand-offs done last night. Unfortunately, it was late and I didn't get a chance to photograph them. That class of poles is done!

Hopefully tonight, I will get the last 2 poles for the City of Weirton module done.

Of those remaining, one is a 3 transformer job with standoff. I find that drilling parallel holes in a pole to accomodate the transformer pins to be the hardest task. Invariably, the holes are not completely lined up.

The second is a pole with criss-crossed insulator cross-arms (90 degrees to each other) and a light arm. That shouldn't be too much trouble.

After that it's putty time. All poles need to have their wire scars and extraneous cross-arm holes filled with squadron putty and then sanded and painted. The telephone touch-up paint from Weaver arrived two days ago.

George

[G3750]

Updated 2/27/2014:

Didn't get a lot of time to work on the layout last night, but I did:

• Manage to glue 3 transformers onto the one utility pole. Aligning them was harder than I thought and they're not perfect. But they will have to do.
• Screwed up making a groove in a pole for the final lighted one and had to remake it. Looks a lot better.
• Selected a piece of wood for the diagonal end of the overpass ramp. This part is referred to as the abutment in the diagram I posted about 5 posts ago. That will be cut tonight.
• Collected all the upright supports that will be trimmed tonight.
• Confirmed the total height of the overpass. The highway upright, with the additional support, will create a height of 5 7/8". Subtracting the height of the Vinylbed (3/8") and track (1/2"?), we're looking at a clearance of 5" from the top of the rail head to the ceiling of the overpass. Good thing I'm not running double-stacks, eh?
• The height of the abutment will be 3.5" tapering to the module floor.

George

[Berk765]

How small are those wires inside of the telephone poles with lights??

[G3750]

How small are those wires inside of the telephone poles with lights??

The wire is insulated 30 gauge twisted pair magnet wire (red & green).

George