What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Wow, there are still hobby shops in that little time-warp town of yours? Amazing.

Paul, I now live north of Pittsburgh. The “local” hobby store is probably the largest in the area. It’s VERY WELL STOCKED - last man standing, if you will.

Detail Associates brass wire and flat stock available???

[G3750]

George,
Beautiful locos.
Except for one thing.
I never saw a Pennsy loco, especially an I1s, that clean.

No, you wouldn't find a Decapod that clean, would you? I'll have to think about how to weather it. I've never done that before.

Did you check out the video?

George

[healey36]

Reach out to Sarge, George...he'll dirty it up for you:



MTH RailKing L1a...

Paul

[rogruth]

George,
Remember that I was kidding.
None of my train stuff is weathered.
It seems to me that once you start weathering everything must be.
Of course there would be exceptions. New equipment and passenger trains from certain eras.
I have no problem with weathering if it is done properly. Some seem to think making a piece look dirty is all that is needed.
Scenery must always have some weathering.
Not a word I would normally use in everyday conversation but your Decapod shown above is to me gorgeous.

[healey36]

Weathering is definitely an acquired taste (and skill), and, as Roger said, it's a slippery slope. Subtlety is the key. I've built hundreds of plastic models over the years, weathering most of them. Mess it up, chuck it in the bin and start over. Not so easy to do that with this stuff.

[G3750]

George,
Remember that I was kidding.
None of my train stuff is weathered.
It seems to me that once you start weathering everything must be.
Of course there would be exceptions. New equipment and passenger trains from certain eras.
I have no problem with weathering if it is done properly. Some seem to think making a piece look dirty is all that is needed.
Scenery must always have some weathering.
Not a word I would normally use in everyday conversation but your Decapod shown above is to me gorgeous.

Thanks! I think it's gorgeous as well.

As to weathering, I'm probably going to practice with some cheap plastic models first.

George

[G3750]

This Saturday marks the end for the Weirton Steel Basic Oxygen Plant (BOP). In 1967, Weirton Steel erected its "Mill of the Future", replacing the Open Hearth with what was then a state of the art facility. Pieces of it have been demolished over the past year or so, but the rest goes on Saturday.

https://observer-reporter.com/news/loca ... 5ccdd.html

George

[rogruth]

A way of life that helped build the U.S. is gone. Sad.

[G3750]

Weirton's BOP is now gone. Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ruEWyfvAo

George

[rogruth]

George,
Do you have any idea of what is left of the steel industry in the upper Ohio Valley?
That includes the Allegheny and Monongahela vallies and the Youngstown area.
Knowing what a large part of the economy and life of the area for so long it is
hard to realize it is almost all gone. It is also hard for me to understand what
the people in that area do now. I do know that many left that area.
I left Ohio in 1969 but the worst had not hit Ohio yet. I left that part of the valley
pretty much in 1952. I did go back often to visit relatives until 1969. I have one
cousin left in Ohio at Stuebenville and seldom see her now. IMHO it was a good
place to live except for the air pollution.

[robert.]

It's all but gone in eastern pa.
http://www.wfmz.com/news/lehigh-valley/ ... /994666218

[G3750]

George,
Do you have any idea of what is left of the steel industry in the upper Ohio Valley?
That includes the Allegheny and Monongahela vallies and the Youngstown area.
Knowing what a large part of the economy and life of the area for so long it is
hard to realize it is almost all gone. It is also hard for me to understand what
the people in that area do now. I do know that many left that area.
I left Ohio in 1969 but the worst had not hit Ohio yet. I left that part of the valley
pretty much in 1952. I did go back often to visit relatives until 1969. I have one
cousin left in Ohio at Stuebenville and seldom see her now. IMHO it was a good
place to live except for the air pollution.

As to what's left of the steel industry, the answer is "not much". Edgar Thomson is the remaining operating steel mill within Allegheny County. The former site of J&L along the Mon has been re-developed. A number of businesses including Union Switch & Signal (or whatever they're called these days) is located there. The Mon valley no longer looks like the bombed out remains of the Rohr, but there are lots big empty fields and rusting foundations. I've posted photos of the McKees Rocks (where the B&LE 2-10-4 sits) area; that's pretty typical of these ex-steel mill towns. Bars, strip joints, convenience stores, dollar stores, and a few older businesses hanging on are the typical mix.

You've seen my photos of Steubenville. The biggest activity down there is generated by traffic going in and out of the courthouse. Weirton is truly depressing - strip clubs, gambling, convenience stores. As to what people do there, many work in these low-paying service jobs. Some commute regularly to the Pittsburgh area, which has "recovered" somewhat. The number of jobs has rebounded, but the quality of them is much lower. Areas of employment around Pittsburgh center on the universities, medical centers, some technically-oriented start-ups, and the service economy around them.

George

[G3750]

Updated 3/14/2019:

The test pour(s) of Crystal Sheen (water material) are on hold while I consider my options. In reading the Crystal Sheen directions, I learned that the room must be at 70 F for 3 days for the stuff to harden. The basement is (at the moment) around 62 F and gets colder during the night (our programmable thermostat lowers the house temperature while we are in bed). I am not comfortable with letting a space heater operate (mostly unsupervised) for 3 days.

I am re-thinking my approach. Woodland Scenics Deep Pour material has a 24 hour cure time.

More when I know it.

George

[chuck]

An oil based heater could be used to keep the temp above 70 degrees. If you are happy with the Crystal Sheen test pours I would not recommend switching the product out because of the cure time/temperatures.

I've found the oil based heaters to be very safe and capable of providing very adequate heat for small to medium sized rooms. We used one to keep our bedroom warm when the main furnace crapped out in the middle of winter (when else would it do this). The house has R-50 insulation rating and we only need to keep the one room warm to sleep comfortably for the three days it took to get the furnace replace.

[G3750]

An oil based heater could be used to keep the temp above 70 degrees. If you are happy with the Crystal Sheen test pours I would not recommend switching the product out because of the cure time/temperatures.

I've found the oil based heaters to be very safe and capable of providing very adequate heat for small to medium sized rooms. We used one to keep our bedroom warm when the main furnace crapped out in the middle of winter (when else would it do this). The house has R-50 insulation rating and we only need to keep the one room warm to sleep comfortably for the three days it took to get the furnace replace.

Chuck,

I have not yet done the test pours, but when I compare Crystal Sheen against the Woodland Scenics Deep Pour product and the 3-day cure requirement, I am dubious. The DIY nature of Crystal Sheen vs. the system of products has me rethinking the decision.

George