What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

[G3750]

I've been using Loctite multi-purpose spray adhesive for awhile and it seems to work pretty well. I use it primarily for mounting printed graphics on heavy cardstock and matt-board. I haven't had any of that come apart, and some of it has taken quite a beating. The stuff Elmer's markets seems to be the opposite.

Agreed. One of the glues I tried first was Elmer's Glue-All. Did not live up to the name. The 3M has worked so far, but I'll file away the Loctite suggestion.

George

[G3750]

Updated 2/17/2022:

Awhile ago, I commissioned Tommy Gilbert of Gettysburg (Tommy Gilbert's Hobby Shop) to paint 2 Corgi buses into replicas of my hometown bus line - P & W (Pittsburgh & Weirton). The second one arrived today. Check out the photos. I think Tommy did an absolutely spectacular job.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0mGWBC59TrCTx

My regret is that Roger is not here to see them.

George

[healey36]

They look sharp, George, and should look right at home on your city streets. Slight variations in the scheme is something I remember seeing on the old Baltimore Transit Company's equipment back in the 1960s, although theirs wasn't quite as ornate as these.

I've never been to Tommy Gilbert's shop, but I spent considerable time and treasure in the old Gilbert's shop that was on Steinwehr Avenue. I have fond memories of buying Airfix and Revell 1/72 kits in there, the boxes tied shut with a bit of twine (I have a partially built Bf-110C sitting on my desk that came from there some 30+ years ago) along with a lot of N-gauge gear.

[G3750]

They look sharp, George, and should look right at home on your city streets. Slight variations in the scheme is something I remember seeing on the old Baltimore Transit Company's equipment back in the 1960s, although theirs wasn't quite as ornate as these.

Thanks! I was just blown away by the job he did on them. They are very complex paint schemes - deceptively so. In fact, he told me they were the most difficult paint jobs he had ever done. I think he made several attempts, going back to bare plastic on paint jobs he didn't like.

My only contributions were the bus company logo (decals) and the prototype photographs. The skill was all his.

I've never been to Tommy Gilbert's shop, but I spent considerable time and treasure in the old Gilbert's shop that was on Steinwehr Avenue. I have fond memories of buying Airfix and Revell 1/72 kits in there, the boxes tied shut with a bit of twine (I have a partially built Bf-110C sitting on my desk that came from there some 30+ years ago) along with a lot of N-gauge gear.

His shop is on E. Water Street. I went in there years ago, maybe as part of a trip for the kids to the battlefield or their favorite tourist trap, Land of Little Horses. I was impressed by his photos of previous paint jobs. Exquisite. So I commissioned him to paint my Lionel Alco S-2. He transformed it from Western Pacific #553 to Weirton Steel #208, including a rebuilding of the stack to match the prototype's engine-specific modification. That was another spectacular job. I figured the buses would be easier. Boy, was I wrong.

George

[healey36]

The old Gilbert's shop and the still extant Carver's Toy Trains hold a lot of great memories for me. My kids still talk about trips up to Don Carver's shop to drop off/pick up stuff he repaired for us. We always got a test run on the multi-gauge loop in the back room, along with whatever else was sitting around (and there was a ton of stuff sitting around). On a quiet day, you were lucky to get out of there in less than an hour or two. I need to get back up there to see him.

[G3750]

The old Gilbert's shop and the still extant Carver's Toy Trains hold a lot of great memories for me. My kids still talk about trips up to Don Carver's shop to drop off/pick up stuff he repaired for us. We always got a test run on the multi-gauge loop in the back room, along with whatever else was sitting around (and there was a ton of stuff sitting around). On a quiet day, you were lucky to get out of there in less than an hour or two. I need to get back up there to see him.

I think I may have been in Carver's at one point - a very long time ago. I recall it as more of a toy shop, so my memory might be vague. I did check it out on Google maps and it looks like the place I visited - a small house on the street that extends back away.

For now, work continues on the Open Hearth. Some decisions and changes in approach:

• I've decided that it makes sense to clean up all the remaining roof trusses before continuing work on the furnaces themselves.
• There are 3 half trusses left to build. These will represent the Pouring Floor extension on the south side of the prototype. I can't determine exactly when the extension was constructed, but it appears in the 1957 photograph of the mill and valley. It's visibly cleaner than the rest of the mill in that photo, leading me to believe it is very new, but I've no way to verify its actual date of construction. So we're going with it; I am making the assumption that it was built in 1950.
• There is still no sign of the bulk of my Plastruct order. Hobby Express has been vigorously pursuing the components through their distributors and other sources, but so far nothing. The most significant of the missing parts are the 1/2" (2 s') H columns and all the column feet.
• Once the half trusses are done, and assuming the column components named above are still AWOL, all efforts there will go on hold and that workbench will be cleared of its jigs and tools. It will become a holding area for the 4 furnaces which take up a lot of real estate.
• The center table will continue to stage materials. The remaining work bench will be used for the actual construction.

If it sounds like this model is taking up a lot of space, that is absolutely true. Over the past few weeks, I've cleared the workshop of other projects and cleaned up some storage boxes. I was also able to deliver some items I had sold, freeing up more space. That's good, because I'm still building pieces and sub-assemblies of the open hearth, with the floor and integration yet to come. And we still have electronics to work through.

George

[healey36]

I think I may have been in Carver's at one point - a very long time ago. I recall it as more of a toy shop, so my memory might be vague. I did check it out on Google maps and it looks like the place I visited - a small house on the street that extends back away.

They had a lot of vintage toys in the shop back when Don's wife Mary Ann was living. She was an avid toy collector, and some of the stuff was pretty fantastic. He also maintained a good stock of Thomas gear for the tourist trade, as I recall. Don seems to have a leaning toward Marx and Flyer gear, some Lionel, primarily prewar. It was right in my wheelhouse. After Mary Ann died, my impression was the shop moved more toward a train motif, but then I haven't been in for a number of years.

I'm looking forward to watching this mill project take form. I know nothing of the alchemy of making steel, so I'm hoping to learn a thing or two.

[G3750]

I'm looking forward to watching this mill project take form. I know nothing of the alchemy of making steel, so I'm hoping to learn a thing or two.

Paul, steel is perhaps the most fascinating industry associated with model railroading. There are many attractive features:

• If you like unit trains, you have a wide choice of them:
  • Coal hoppers - loaded and empty
  • Iron ore can be handled by jennies - loaded and empty or gondolas - loaded (i.e. half filled) and empty
  • Hot metal - 8, 12, or 16 wheel torpedo cars to move pig iron from the blast furnaces to Open Hearth or Basic Oxygen Furnace (depending upon the era modeled).
  • Slag "thimbles" - loaded and empty. These move waste (slag) to a slag dump. Dumping these loads is a spectacular event. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhJF_hTJ2Rw All hell breaks loose at about the 1 minute mark.
  • Product trains - again this depends on the era. You can have boxcars (with wrapped tin / plate sheets), open gondolas with pipe loads, open gondolas with exposed or wrapped coils, covered coil gondolas, or cast items of almost any variety (fittings, naval guns, you name it).
• Intra-mill moves among the different steps in the process and lots of switching (if that's your thing). Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9DwCBkd4p4&t=4s Weirton Steel ran Alcos from the 1940's through the 1980's. They started replacing them with EMDs in the mid-80's.

Weirton was an integrated steel making facility. The blast furnaces are portrayed on the backdrop. The physical structures will be the Open Hearth (currently under construction), the Blooming Mill (built and the subject of an OST issue on 3D backdrops), and the Strip Steel (a hot rolling facility still to be built). There will also be a yard office, a rack of oxygen tanks, at least one pipe bridge, a quality control lab building, and the mill admin building.

George

[G3750]

Updated 3/5/2022:

• Positioned the base of the Weirton Steel Open Hearth model on the layout to determine exactly where the model would reside. It’s a big footprint! But I was able to finalize its position on the bench work. This will help determine all the other buildings’ positions relative to it and the divider.
• With the base of the mill on the layout, I also determined the position of an access hole that will be used to service the model. The Strip Steel building will sit next to the Open Hearth on top of the access hole. It will be removable and while large, hopefully relatively light. For whatever good it will do, I did measure at least twice.
• Found what Fastenal calls “Type B Connector Bolts” on their website. These have a flat, thin circular head (with a hex socket) and are often used for “knock-down” or easily disassembled furniture (the stuff often made of melamine). These will jut up from under the base and hold the “Lean-To” in place on the model. After disconnecting wires entering the main structure at its terminal strip, the “Lean-To” will be removable for separate transportation. This is necessary, otherwise the model won’t fit through standard 30” width interior doors. The Lean-To will hold electrical components, power supplies, the Arduino, and all the smokestacks. It will be anchored on a 6” wide piece of poplar. I ordered the bolts and flange washers. They will arrive at the local Fastenal outlet for pickup sometime next week.
• I briefly toyed with the idea of cutting out the bench work top around the base of the Open Hearth and fitting the base down directly onto the frame, but rejected the idea. Doing that will make the model harder to move on / off the layout (not that it’s going to be a regular or easy operation). Instead, I plan to install handles at the rear edge of model (jutting up from the base) and a fixed caster dipping into a hole cut in the bench work. That will allow a person standing in the access hole to lift the model so that the caster sits on the bench work. The model can then be pulled forward and off the layout from the front.

Not that there's a lot of visible progress to show for all the steam that's been pouring out of my ears (i.e. thinking), but I'm hoping that with this planning out of the way some real forward work can be accomplished soon.

More when I know it.

George

[healey36]

Hey George, have you laid all of your "mainline" track, or is this dependent upon finalization of the mill's position/base?

Paul

[G3750]

Hey George, have you laid all of your "mainline" track, or is this dependent upon finalization of the mill's position/base?

Paul

No, I haven't. And while the mill has moved around slightly (a range of inches here and there) about on the layout, it has not been the sole hold-up. Given the room size and the layout placement within it, I pretty much must build from east (Staging Area) to west once the long wall (the bridge and approaches) was completed. So I will focus on these areas in this rough order:

• Weirton Steel mill buildings and yard (the section on this side of the divider)
• City of Weirton, Weirton Junction, and Standard Slag (all west of Weirton Steel)
• Steubenville (from station area towards the stairs)
• Water Street

And because of limited access once these sections are built, I have to focus on their scenery construction shortly after laying track. This is a radical departure from the way I built Panhandle 1 (plywood jungle and then scenery). At this rate, I'm guessing it's going to be a while until the entire mainline loop is operational.

George

[healey36]

While I haven't done it, I don't think it's unusual to fashion/build scenery section-by-section, or back-to-front, etc. I was just curious how much the mill project impinges on getting some stuff running.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

While I haven't done it, I don't think it's unusual to fashion/build scenery section-by-section, or back-to-front, etc.

Just like I did mine; section-by-section working clockwise around the room while also then working back-to-front....a few exceptions working around the big lift-out.

[G3750]

While I haven't done it, I don't think it's unusual to fashion/build scenery section-by-section, or back-to-front, etc. I was just curious how much the mill project impinges on getting some stuff running.

Well, it is a big project, no doubt. So yes, it’s having an effect. You are right. But constructing the building later would be much, much more difficult.

George

[healey36]

A huge project, for sure.

BTW, just looked through the latest OST. I look forward to Part 5 of "Pour Me A River", when the river will, at last, be poured A process I’ve mucked up every time I’ve tried it, looking forward to seeing how it’s done properly.