What's New on the PRR Panhandle Division?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

A string of 10 of them would look good on a spur. I wish someone would mass produce UP CA-1's in 3 rail. I believe 3rd Rail did them 10 years ago or so but they're pricey (300 or something).

2-3 of them on eBay right now starting at under $175.

Thank-you! There are two versions. One with a baggage door and one without. The one with the baggage door is the one I want and it's the pricey one (165, 6 days, and zero bidders). I wasn't aware MTH did CA-1s but they don't have the baggage door I see. Typical of MTH.

Beats $300. You may get lucky depending on just how badly you want it. These have been showing up pretty frequently for some reason.

[jlong]

Yes. I've done occasional searches for 3rd Rail CA-1's with the baggage door and rarely came up with anything. Could be Weaver or someone is tooling up for one and it leaked.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Yes. I've done occasional searches for 3rd Rail CA-1's with the baggage door and rarely came up with anything. Could be Weaver or someone is tooling up for one and it leaked.

Maybe, but I don't let things like that stop me if it's something I actually want. 3rd Rail quality/price is hard to beat.

I just acquired a older Sunset PRR N5 that I will back-date a bit to an as built pre-1920 version - heretic act of hacking up brass.......but cheaper than the rejected Kohs that is being sold for ~$500.

[jlong]

We were wondering why an unusual number of 3rd Rail CA-1's popped up so I speculated. I don't have a problem with $175-$200. It's probably south of what Weaver would charge for brass.

The most I ever paid for a caboose was $200 for this prewar semi scale model.

[rogruth]

Nice looking car,John.

[jlong]

I have the hopper and tank car. Just need the boxcar. There are two coupler variations to those cars and getting a match at a decent price takes patience.

[rogruth]

I remember those as very nice cars,nicer than anything else being made at that time.I had an uncle that had the Lionel cars of that type [semi-scale?]
and a AF passenger train pulled by a Hudson.I don't remember what Lionel loco he used with the freight cars.He didn't care that the two brands were
not really compatible because of the couplers.One was freight and one was passenger so it was not a big deal to him.

[G3750]

Updated 6/22/2014:

Not a whole lot to report, I've been busy with family and job activities. However, I did come across something that might be useful.

One of the "structures" in Weirton was the Honor Roll. This was a small circular plaza with a series of boards carrying the names of whose who served in World Wars I and II. In the center of the board was a wooden eagle, carved by a contemporary of my father's. The man even helped me (without an artistic bone in my body) earn my Art merit badge. When the Honor Roll was disassembled for relocation to Weirton Heights, the eagle was lost. My father helped recover it and it sits in Weirton Area Museum today and serves as its logo.

Because the structure really belongs on the layout in North Weirton, I have been searching for a reasonable representation of the eagle. To this point, I have had no luck. Various figure makes have eagles, but they are always sitting or in some pose that really didn't mimic the one on the Honor Roll.

Here's a photo of the Honor Roll shortly after dedication in 1944.

Memorial1-compressed2.jpg (100.51 KiB) Viewed 3905 times

Until now, that is. Last weekend in going through some of the stuff at my parents' house, I found a flag kit. The kit had a figure at the top of the pole. It's a little out of scale (too big), but with some carving and painting I think it will work. See what you think.

Honor Roll_01_.JPG (44.15 KiB) Viewed 3905 times

Naturally, this will have to wait while the bigger, higher priority pieces of the City of Weirton module come together, but it's a start.

George

[rogruth]

IMHO that would be a really nice scene for the museum layout.
It probably would remind many of the post war era.
Why was the memorial moved to Weirton Heights?
My guess is that is where the people are now.
Do you know the size of the eagle on the memorial?
Can you get by with close enough?

[Roy]

The eagle you have might be reduced by scanning and 3D printing.

[G3750]

IMHO that would be a really nice scene for the museum layout.
It probably would remind many of the post war era.
Why was the memorial moved to Weirton Heights?
My guess is that is where the people are now.
Do you know the size of the eagle on the memorial?
Can you get by with close enough?

The Honor Roll might well fit on the museum layout - good idea, Roger!

The memorial was moved to Weirton Heights because the bulk of new development and population is there and because North Weirton was bought by the mill and razed. There's literally nothing there anymore. The only two buildings standing are the old City Building and the Mill Administration Building.

Here's a much better shot (the one I couldn't find earlier) of the Honor Roll, plus it shows the eagle as part of the WAMCC logo.

1950_MAB_honor_roll.jpg (140.05 KiB) Viewed 3892 times

The eagle on the memorial is about 4' high (I'm guessing from memory) and 6' wide. I can measure it this Saturday when I'll be in Weirton. And yes, I am going to make do with close enough.

George

[G3750]

The eagle you have might be reduced by scanning and 3D printing.

That's something to think about too, but it's likely I will take the easier way out. My life is too complicated by half as it is.

George

[rogruth]

George,

That scene could have been in many towns in the late 1940s.
The one in my hometown was not much different. Even the people are similar.
Must have been a parade of some sort.

[Roy]

The eagle you have might be reduced by scanning and 3D printing.

That's something to think about too, but it's likely I will take the easier way out. My life is too complicated by half as it is.

George, All you would have to do is take the flagtop to the 3D printer, tell them what scale you want it reduced to, and what material you want the reduction made from. They do the work.

[G3750]

George,

That scene could have been in many towns in the late 1940s.
The one in my hometown was not much different. Even the people are similar.
Must have been a parade of some sort.

My guess was that it was an Independence Day parade. The city and the museum all benefitted greatly from Weirton Steel's monthly magazine, the Bulletin. It was a Life magazine sized format, black and white (some grayscale and sparse use of color), and it chronicled mill news, sporting events, Boy Scouts, church groups, ethnic festivals, employee's doings, you name it. Bulletin photographers seemed to attend every public event in the area. You couldn't go anywhere without bumping into one, it seems. The magazine was very well edited and won awards as it captured the Weirton version of the American Dream. It's a tremendous resource and the museum has their archive. No doubt this photo came from it.

This and similar photos have given me insight into telephone poles, buildings, street layout, signs and many other details that I hope will transform my City of Weirton module from a series of items into a scene. As our friend Murph often tells us, its the details and the composition that make a scene.

George