~ Andy
We were recently invited to an open house at DJ Arlia's Union Railroad layout. We have followed DJ's interesting YouTube videos (YouTube channel: djstrains) and website (www.djstrains.com) about building his layout, and finally met him this past winter. In addition to being an over-the-road engineer for CSX, DJ shares our interest in this local uniquely-Pittsburgh railroad. He has captured the essence of the Union Railroad with the Clairton Coke Works, Irvin Works and the Homestead steel mill in N gauge, using a lot of books, research materials and maps he has collected. We hope our layout can include at least some of the meticulous detail and scenery of this layout. It was an enlightening visit, including a nice lunch buffet (thanks Theresa!) and souvenir gold railroad spike! ~ Andy Thanks DJ for a very pleasant visit. We sure learned a lot about the Union Railroad through your neat layout. We look forward to more of your "how to" videos on YouTube! - Andy, Charlie & Kevin
9 Comments
Charlie and I had a rare and special opportunity this week. My lifelong school friend Henry Posner, partner with Bob Pietrandrea in Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corporation, invited us to a cocktail reception onboard the Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) Inspection Train in conjunction with the U.S. Open Golf Tournament in Oakmont, Pa. The train, consisting of two locomotives and two private cars, and dubbed the "Golf Tournament Special," is spending the week parked on the Allegheny Valley Railroad's main line next to Allegheny Avenue in the heart of Oakmont. It was a very posh affair and we had a wonderful time. Here are some photos of the train. ~ Andy The train was led by locomotive #716, a GP38-2 originally built for the Penn Central Railroad in August 1972. Under Conrail ownership, this unit was numbered #8017. The second unit #711, also a GP38-2, built in July 1972, was also previously owned by Penn Central and Conrail. Both were gleaming in their black paint with red and yellow accents. There are many more (and better) photos of IAIS motive power at www.iaisrailfans.org. The Iowa Interstate is one of eight railroads around the world operated by RDC. It is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and operates the former Rock Island routes between Chicago, IL and Omaha, NE. IAIS is one of the few railroads that connects with every Class 1 railroad in the U.S. We enjoyed some good conversation, delicious food and the pristine private railroad cars. Thanks for including us Henry and Bob! We wish you safe travels back to Iowa aboard the Golf Tournament Special.
Ever since climbing on board a Conrail SD80MAC locomotive at South Fork, PA during a CR Historical Society Convention, I have been fascinated by Conrail's largest locomotive model, the SD80MAC. These thirty locomotives unique to Conrail each harness a whopping 5,000 HP and weigh in at 420,000 LB. Conrail bought these locomotives equipped with radial trucks and AC traction motors to haul long coal trains over steep grades in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Conrail was very impressed by the locomotives and planned to order more before NS and CSX took control. The locomotives were split up but were reunited on NS last year except for one wrecked unit. These units are likely to be rebuilt soon so I am working to catch all the units I can. I have seen 25 out of the remaining 29 units so I'm almost there. Anyways, I acquired a Kato SD80MAC in Conrail a while back. I just installed a "Plug and Play" DCC decoder at first but recently had the time and money to install sound. I chose a Tsunami TSU-KT1000 decoder. This is a simple board replacement requiring very little work. Unfortunately these decoders are being phased out. I used a TCS UNIV-SH1-C WowSpeaker and enclosure which I am very satisfied with. More details and a video are below. -Charlie After hearing word of the Norfolk Southern executive train approaching, my dad and I went to Wilmerding (CP-WING) to catch the business train and also saw some other neat trains. -Charlie With the recent cake to celebrate Conrail's 40th birthday, we can't help but share the train-themed cakes that have become a tradition for Andy and Charlie's birthdays! Each one has been better than the one before. These cakes were all made by our local "cake lady" Linda Kovach, who does a tremendous job. They are almost too nice to eat! In case you wondered, both Andy and Charlie are partial to spice-flavored cake.
~ Andy Since we needed to complete more design work before continuing construction, Conrail's birthday seemed like a good time for an operating session. Here are some photos. ~ Andy Conrail commenced operations on April 1, 1976, forty years ago today. Happy Birthday Conrail! This is the first advertisement for Conrail that appeared in a trade publication, Modern Railroads, in May 1976. Note the original logo with a capital letter C and R. This logo was only in use for about a month before the familiar steel wheels on rails logo appeared. Thanks and a hat tip to Robert S. Waller for preserving this piece of Conrail's history. His Conrail Cyclopedia website at www.crcyc.railfan.net contains a wealth of information and photos. The January meeting of our local NMRA Division was hosted by the Ohio Valley Lines Model Railroad Club in Ambridge, PA. There is always something new to see on their layout and it had been a few years since my last visit, so I was glad to be there. Charlie, Kevin and Tom Steiner, a new member from our area, made the trip together. Here are a few photos. ~ Andy As you may know, I have been working on a small bedroom switching layout for the past few years in addition to working on the PML. It depicts Conrail's Allegheny Industrial Track in the early 1980's between Verona and Oakmont. The line is now run by shortline Allegheny Valley Railroad, a subsidiary of Carload Express Inc. A major customer on this line for over a century was the Edgewater Steel Inc., a major producer of steel rings and railroad wheels. In the past, many large companies served by railroads had business cars to wine and dine customers and in the golden age of railroading, executives used the cars for travel. So, I decided last summer that I wanted to make a business car for Edgewater Steel. I only did a few things to transform this car. Eventually I'd like to add an interior to it as well. See the pictures below for a more detailed look. -Charlie As opposed to repainting the whole car, I wanted to make the final car look like it was just a relettered PRR car. To remove the factory lettering, I applied Microsol to the letters, let it sit with a piece of tissue on top, then rubbed off the now saturated lettering. I learned this technique from the video at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjXzspgRkz0 |
The Train Nerd's Blog is dedicated to bringing you the latest railroad news and railfanning adventures of Andy and Charlie!
CategoriesArchives
December 2023
|