What's New on the PRR Panhandle Division?

[healey36]

George - A buddy of mine flipped me a link to this pic of the Western Maryland/Maryland Midland bridge on the Monocacy...thought you might like a look at those "bridge-shoes"...



I need a pic of this bridge for a project...it's a triple-span Baltimore truss. Can't find a pic of the entire bridge on the web. I guess I'll have to borrow a kayak and get down there myself.

Healey

[G3750]

Thanks Healey!

Those bridge shoes appear to be bigger (in proportion to the bridge) than you will find in the O Gauge world. Hope you find appropriate ones for your bridge!

As for jumping in a kayak or canoe, that's a great idea. Someday, I want to get a boat ride under "my" bridge on the Ohio. I was actually thinking about trying to coax a friend of mine who has a plane to fly under it. But I seriously doubt he would do something that stupid.

George

[G3750]

Updated 6/15/2016:

With the help of the artist, I managed to install Backdrop #3 in its permanent position.

W_Rebuild_95_.JPG (41.69 KiB) Viewed 3490 times

The white color you see below is wet paint reflecting the light, not a snow cap.

W_Rebuild_96_.JPG (29.04 KiB) Viewed 3490 times

W_Rebuild_97_.JPG (38.85 KiB) Viewed 3490 times

After installation, the artist applied some touch-up paint to bring the ridges into line. When Backdrop 3.5 is installed, she will blend all the sky portions so that they match appropriately.

We are getting there!!!!

George

[Steamfan77]

Looks great George! It's really coming together.

Andy

[G3750]

Looks great George! It's really coming together.

Andy

Thank you, yes. It's surprising how fast it's happening after all these months. Getting some problems behind me has really freed up some brain cells for something productive.

George

[Rufus T. Firefly]

..... freed up some brain cells for something productive.

Do be careful!

Nothing has caused more trouble on this planet than when a few brains cells have become freed..........

[G3750]

Some random thoughts:

I am in Weirton, WV tonight for the family reunion. The town looks pretty ragged, to be honest. It's hot and the cicadas are out in full force. Visited the folks' grave. I guess it's true: they say you can't go home again.

I spent some time at the Weirton Museum, scouting the new area reserved for the model train layout. It's a big improvement over the prior site in both space (25'x13') and as accessibility. There's a lot of potential there. Yeah, it's much better and I think the exhibit will turn out pretty well.

Learned a little about the GM buses used by the P & W Bus Company (Pittsburgh and Weirton). They were 1951 GM "old look" buses, TDH3612. Here's what they look like. Wish someone made them in 1:50 or 1:43.

4157888313_e60a777fc9.jpg (104.65 KiB) Viewed 3446 times

Also learned that Weirton's #39 Birney trolley that ran from Weirton to Steubenville in the 1930s and 1940's is alive, well, restored, and running at a transportation museum in Maine. I need to research that a bit more.

George

[healey36]

There's a great traction museum at Kennebunkport...been there once or twice over the last twenty years. They have a ton of equipment...your #39 might be there.

https://www.trolleymuseum.org/

This place and Owl's Head are wonderful places...should be on the bucket list if they're not.

Healey

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Closer to George, albeit lacking the specific trolley of immediate interest is the museum in Rockhill Furnace right across from the East Broad Top. Well worth a few visits and becoming a member as they do an excellent job of preservation/restoration with the intent of running their collection. Get certified and you can go there and run 1:1 scale trolleys!

http://www.rockhilltrolley.org/

[rogruth]

Rufus,
Are the trolleys pictured in the Rockhill Museum info ones that have been restored?
That is another place I wanted to visit.

[J. S. Bach]

They were 1951 GM "old look" buses, TDH3612. Here's what they look like. Wish someone made them in 1:50 or 1:43.

4157888313_e60a777fc9.jpg

George

Corgi makes (made?) a very similar bus in 1/50; too small really. I had a chance some years back to drive a couple of those 4507s/4509s in Wheeling, WV when a friend and I had considered purchasing one. The lack of power-assist steering and very slow speed (maneuvering them out of the garage), one almost had to stand up and pull the wheel around.

[G3750]

They were 1951 GM "old look" buses, TDH3612. Here's what they look like. Wish someone made them in 1:50 or 1:43.

4157888313_e60a777fc9.jpg

George

Corgi makes (made?) a very similar bus in 1/50; too small really. I had a chance some years back to drive a couple of those 4507s/4509s in Wheeling, WV when a friend and I had considered purchasing one. The lack of power-assist steering and very slow speed (maneuvering them out of the garage), one almost had to stand up and pull the wheel around.

Funny you should mention that. I was sitting around with the museum director yesterday and he told me the buses were very underpowered - 4 cylinder diesels? I don't know what displacement, but I do recall as a child their very slow speeds up the hill to Weirton Heights. Torturous.

George

[J. S. Bach]

A 4509 would (more probably than not) have had an inline 671 diesel. Some of the smaller GMs would have had the 471.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus,
Are the trolleys pictured in the Rockhill Museum info ones that have been restored?
That is another place I wanted to visit.

They restore almost all that they have out running and maintain them as well. I think that the CA&E 315 car is in the process of being restored. But, as with all such operations, it's a question of time and money, and willing volunteers with some skills or at least strong backs and weak minds.

Let me know if you get up that way and I'll meet you there! It's just over the mountain and up the road from my place in PA.

[G3750]

Here's a photo of Steubenville, OH in the mid-1950s. There are 5 GM "old style" buses in the photo. They are in the livery of the P & W (Pittsburgh and Weirton) Bus Line, owned by Mike Starvaggi.

1950 Steubenville.jpg (113.81 KiB) Viewed 3378 times

The photo looks east. That's the Market Street Bridge in the center with the West Virginia hillside in the background. Turn left off the bridge onto WV Route 2 and drive up river, and you get to Weirton. Turn right and Follansbee, WV is a short distance downstream. Wheeling, WV is about 45 minutes further south.

My railroad bridge is north about half a mile upstream.

George