My Horseshoe Curve - finally sceniced!

Looks great!

Congratulations, Ed. 

It looks superb.

Wonderful!!!

Note:  To view larger images, left click on the photos in the text or those in the "attachments."

Ed,

   Great job buddy, just fantastic I love it!

PCRR/Dave

I've been wondering where you have been, now I know!

It just keeps getting more amazing Ed, I can't imagine how many trees you have on the layout now, let alone fantastic buildings.

Nice Layout!!  

Whats the measurment off the floor to the upper most tracks?

Fantastic!     And, congrats for finishing!

Peter

Very Nice!! 

Looking great, Ed!  Wish I could have gotten there Sat., but as all too often the best laid plans of mice......

It looks great Ed. 

Nicest re-creation I have seen.  You can hear the engines hammering up the grade !!

Ed,

That looks great!  I love the fascia too!

Dave

Very, very nice! Thank you again for sharing. Looks just like the curve to me.

Great action pics too.

Who made the centipedes under the signal bridge?

Is that hidden staging that you're uncovering? I forgot the layout plan. I'll have to look back at the build.

wonderful

workmanship is extarordinary

jerry

Enjoyed my visit on Sunday. Thanks for opening your layout.

Ah,Erculiani's !  Great stuff,Ed.

Norm

Beautiful well done, congratulation for finish it and thank you for sharing.

Andre.

WOW! Beautiful !

Bravo, spectacular job.  And very nice images too. 

Great layout with fantastic attention to detail.  Thanks for posting.

Amazing work! 

Really nice work, Ed!!

Very nice Ed. Know that you are glad that this is completed.

Great job on the layout and modeling of Horseshoe Curve.  I especially like the detail of the store with the work-in-progress addition under construction (with the nice woody wagon parked in front). The trees and ground cover throughout the entire scene look very realistic.

Whew - That's terrific!

You've really captured the beauty of early PA with your scenery here Ed. You have certainly helped us to be able to 'see back in time' 

Nice job, what really is nice to see is the absence of too many buildings. Less is more definitely. 

I constantly get trapped in modeling too many buildings...

Great job and keep up with the photos.

Great shots, Ed.

The trips down to see the layout progress never disappoint. It is an outstanding layout.

Wow!!   I couldnt fit half that in my small loft!!

MIKE

Extremely cool!!   (screamed at the top of my lungs!)

I like it!  Nice job!

Larry

I saw this in person on Saturday.  It is the finest O Scale layout I have ever seen.  Horseshoe Curve is a highlight, but only one of many.  My favorite trains were the "Broadway Limited" with the Santa Fe transcontinental sleeper and the "General" with the "California Zephyr" transcontinental sleeper.  Ed has brilliantly a particular month and year in time...all to exacting detail.  Top drawer all the way!

Outstanding Ed!

It exceeds the impact of your previous version of the Horseshoe Curve, which was amazing in its own right. Your craftsmanship and dogged determination to completion is inspiring.

Congratulations and well done!

Ed, that is spectacular!  Outstanding job.   

You made this SPF's day.

George

An exceptional effort based upon a very well honed understanding of all facets of the great PRR. A rare combination of constant research and execution, and as Chris noted "dogged determination" that stayed on course and yielded excellence. This is Pennsy modeling's finest example in my humble opinion.

Bob

My, my, my! That is stunning!

Way to go Ed.

Malcolm

Can I come over?  really nice.

Gorgeous work.    You must be very satisfied with your creation.

Thanks for the kind remarks guys. 

Chester: The Middle Division and Altoona yard are at a base elevation of 47".  The Pittsburgh Division climbs at 2.2% westbound out of Altoona to a height of 78" where after entering the Gallitzin tunnels the railroad crosses over the main aisle (77" clearance for tall folks) and fans out into the Pittsburgh Division 5 track staging loop which is suspended from the ceiling.  I built a 12" raised floor down the Horseshoe Curve aisle to get a better rail fan view of the trains. 

On the opposite side of the backdrops in the Horseshoe Curve aisle is a single track representation of the PRR's  Tyrone and Clearfield coal branch.   It also climbs up and over the main aisle and then down to the Osceola Mills yard serving area coal mines.  A 3.75% grade on the branch requires doubling the hill (as they did on the prototype).

Joe: the Centipedes are repowered early Overland units and will mostly serve in the Altoona snapper (helper) pool.  The coupler on the pilot is pinned open so that it can push without coupling.  That yields two advantages.  If the snapper stalls suddenly it won't string line cars ahead of it on a curve, and it also enables dropping off the snapper on the fly. To facilitate this PRR cabin cars typically had a pair of chains on the end platform (one to the uncoupling lever, the other to the brake lines) so the rear end crew could pull the pin while the train was moving. 

For those that may be interested, I've re-posted the track plan. To keep it somewhat legible the hidden staging trackage isn't shown.

Ed