PRR Panhandle 2.0

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

Looks good George. I like some of the old cars, buses and trucks you can find out there in the world. Just takes a bit of looking. A few years back I bought a trailer and truck from Brooklyn Models(in the UK IIRC), they are really nice, but expensive. I wanted to keep in line with being around 1949, and I think the two were supposed to be 1948. Some other stuff I have bought are older in the mid to late 30's or early 40's, but it wasn't uncommon to see such older vehicles back then in certain areas of the country.

Dave,

Thanks! 

I recall my early years (2000-2003) attending York.  In the Gold? Hall (Grandstand Annex), someone had gazillions (that's a technical term ) of inexpensive die-cast vehicles of all eras.  I bought a bunch of 1940s and 1950s 1:43 cars in the $4-6 range (Yang, Road Champs, etc.).  Wish I had bought more of them.  Nothing lasts forever.   Nowadays, if you can find them, such vehicles are in the $30+ range.

George

Sorry it's been so long since my last progress report, but much has been happening (some of it even train related &nbsp.

Updated 8/2/2020:

• After much wailing and scheming and gnashing of teeth, the bridge is back on its piers - this time for good I hope. I have a few pedestals to adjust, but it's in place and strongly anchored. Just for grins, I turned on the power and watched red navigation lights blink on and off. 
• The new switches arrived and the western approach tracks are being laid and wired.
• My investigation into the PRR signal bridge for the western side of the bridge continues. I got out my MTH one and learned that while it supports 4 signal heads, only 2 may face in any one direction. I can't get what's needed - a 3 and 1 split.   So that product is definitely out of contention for the western bridge. It looks like I'm being pushed towards 4 track the Z-Stuff signal bridge (pricey &nbsp.
• I am carefully looking at the area west of the bridge so as to place tracks, signals, sidings, and the 4th Street overpass correctly.
• Late last week I sent off new decals and instructions to the fellow painting my buses.

I've also updated a laptop to Windows 10 and added a 1 TB solid state drive and 16 GB memory to my desktop. Tomorrow, it gets upgraded to Windows 10.

More when I know it.  

George

Good luck George!

Tom

Sounds like you have been busy, George!

Thank you, Tom!

Mark - yeah.  Crazy busy.  Lots of little things need to be done to wrap up some of these large tasks that have been dominating my time.  School starts in 2 weeks (I'm teaching 2 courses online) and I've got to be ready.  

George

George, Plasticville signal bridges can be kitbashed into any customized width you need.  The electronics and heads from the MTH bridge can be removed (biggest job is cutting the two footings that hold the electronic boards so that the two board/wire/heads sets can be removed intact.  The guts can then be spliced into the Plasticville bridge.

I kitbashed three of the kits into a 4-track bridge and added the electronics and heads from an MTH bridge.  I installed 2 heads in each direction but you could also do 3 in one direction and 1 in the other.  How many tracks are you spanning?

George,

Preparing for two courses would take a lot of time. I took a few online classes about 15 years ago, but there are better tools now.

This is really impressive. I wish my lunch break was longer so I could go back and read from the beginning! I 'll have to catch it later on. 

George, that doesn't sound fun. Hopefully you take Bob's advice and get things great in there. I know how things get, you want things to get done and all of a sudden the sky is falling everywhere. Research can be the hardest thing too, I know I spent quite a lot of time browsing the Library of Congress looking at old Railroad maps for hours at end. I was trying to help my sister locate some town our paternal grandfather traveled to by train in the early 1900's. It can always be a PITA, but you'll get there.

Oh, good luck with the update on the computer and school.

Bob - that signal bridge looks fabulous! 

OK gang, here's what I'm trying to do.

Basically, I have 2 tracks and I'm using a standard MTH signal bridge w/ 4 heads.  Three (3) of the heads should face the westbound train with aspects for tracks indicated above.  One (1) of the heads will face the eastbound train.

Important items from the diagram above:

• Direction of travel is indicated by the RED arrow (right to left on the top most (West-bound) track). 
• The locomotive engineer would be seeing the signal bridge with 4 signal heads as shown below the track plan.  I have modified the MTH signal bridge so as to turn one of the inner signal heads 180 degrees.  I now have 3 signal heads facing in the same direction.
• Signal #4 is the back of the signal head.  That signal is triggered by occupancy (insulated rail) of the bottom (East-bound) track on the bridge (at #4).
• I want Signal #3 to indicate the position of Switch #42 (engine pocket) and be triggered by that switch’s DZ-2500.
• Signal #2 indicates occupancy (insulated rail) of the west-bound mainline between Switch #42 and Switch #41.
• I want Signal #1 to indicate the position of Switch #41 (passenger siding) and be triggered by that switch’s DZ-2500.

 George

@Bob posted:

I kitbashed three of the kits into a 4-track bridge and added the electronics and heads from an MTH bridge.  I installed 2 heads in each direction but you could also do 3 in one direction and 1 in the other.  How many tracks are you spanning?

Bob, that looks fantastic!

Bryce

@Mark Boyce posted:

George,

Preparing for two courses would take a lot of time. I took a few online classes about 15 years ago, but there are better tools now.

It's really amazing what can be done with today's technology.

George

@BillYo414 posted:

This is really impressive. I wish my lunch break was longer so I could go back and read from the beginning! I 'll have to catch it later on. 

Thank you very much!  Please "like" the thread if you are so inclined.

George

Dave, we'll be fine.  A ton of progress has been made in the past week.  And I have no doubt that this little obstacle will be overcome as well.

George

Updated 8/5/2020:

As I begin on the track work west of the bridge (the Steubenville PRR station area), the time has come to set up my switch testing / TMCC programming test bed.  Panhandle 2.0 has 42 switches (41 are TMCC driven, 1 is a dummy).  A standard and reliable process for testing, programming TMCC and pushbutton operations, and labeling them throughout the build is essential.  Below is my set up - a K-Line PowerChief 120F (using the 15VAC taps) for power, TMCC Command Base, a DZ-2001 Data Wire Driver, and a CAB-1 remote.

Every switch gets a label identifying its number, make/model, size and "handedness".  The switch number corresponds to identification on the RR-Track plan.  Otherwise, I'd lose what little is left of my mind.  

BTW, Switch #41 is located just west of the Steubenville station and gives access to the passenger car siding.  The curved (diverging) path is the mainline, hence the green light.  Switch 41 abuts the wye (Switch #37) which is a manual dummy.  It will be permanently set to the left branch (direction of travel below is right to left).  The right branch will enter a tunnel and ultimately dead-ends.

More when I know it.  

George

George, I would lose my mind also with as many switches, tracks, etc as you have.  I know you have it all organized!

@Mark Boyce posted:

George, I would lose my mind also with as many switches, tracks, etc as you have.  I know you have it all organized!

Well, I'm not sure I'm totally in possession of mine.  How did I get here?  

George

@G3750 posted:

Well, I'm not sure I'm totally in possession of mine.  How did I get here?  

George

Same as most of us George, one foot in front of the other. Yeah, keeping track of track and switches can blow your mind. If I ever went back to HO, I would be scrambling looking for things. I know that somewhere there is a box full of larger switches. What makes it worse is that there are the short pieces and some multi-sized curves in there as well. Glad I'm sticking with OScale.

Updated 8/6/2020 (AM):

Some portion of yesterday was spent adjusting the wiring plan to match the position of drops (feeders) on the RR-Track plan.  This morning, I have spent some time planning the actual drops (feeders) on the layout.   Here's a photo of the rough location of track feeder #3.1 (District 3:  PRR Bridge - Eastbound).  Note its color - Purple.   Temporarily screwed to the edge of the bench work is the actual bus.  As this is the end of the bus, I will probably install a terminal block underneath the layout at this point, end the bus at it, and attach the GarGraves pigtails there.

This photo was taken at the eastern end of the layout.  It shows the triangular shaped access hatch from below.  The bus for District 3:  PRR Bridge - Eastbound is shown snaking its way around the access hatch.  Track feeder 3.4 will be installed somewhere on the left side of the photo.  From this vantage point, the bridge is about 5 feet to the left.

More when I know it. 

George

It is good to see you are on to wiring up some power to track!  I know you are looking forward to seeing trains passing each other on the Ohio River Bridge!    On the subject of keeping track of it all, you certainly have developed a good method it seems.  Maybe it is a blessing in disguise that I only have an 11x11 train room.  

@Mark Boyce posted:

It is good to see you are on to wiring up some power to track!  I know you are looking forward to seeing trains passing each other on the Ohio River Bridge!    On the subject of keeping track of it all, you certainly have developed a good method it seems.  Maybe it is a blessing in disguise that I only have an 11x11 train room.  

Thanks Mark.  I am looking forward to watching steamers passing each other on the bridge.  That's going to be so cool.  Unfortunately, that is a ways off. 

Keeping track of it all is a big job.  I tend to be somewhat absent-minded, so a written method is pretty much required.

George

Absolutely required!  That is why we had schematics, wiring diagrams, wire tags at the power and telecom companies I worked for!

Updated 8/11/2020:

For the moment, I have paused all scenery work east of the Stone Arch;  I expect to resume that next month.  Currently, I am working on the area around the Steubenville PRR station. 

Activities of note:

• Correct placement of the passenger siding, mainline, and turnouts.  I am marking these on the bench work for later permanent installation.
• Correct placement of track feeder wires and signals.  Likewise, these are marked for permanent installation later.
• Investigating the number and types of houses that will be needed in the area above the station.  These will be HO scale, in order to force the perspective of the viewer.  In many cases, I will be looking at cutting some of these structures in half and using both halves.  Here's the prototype area.  The focus on the houses in the center.  The area will be a mix of houses and vegetation / trees.
• 
• I've also ordered the O72 curved sections I will need for the rest of the layout.

More when I know it.  

George

Updated 8/18/2020:

With classes starting yesterday, I haven't had much of a chance to work on the layout.  However, I did finish some bridge pedestals that will sit in a "pocket pier" (Pier #2).  Here's the shot looking into the pocket.

More when I know it. 

George

It looks absolutely stunning, George!  Good luck with classes!!

@Mark Boyce posted:

It looks absolutely stunning, George!  Good luck with classes!!

Thank you very much, Mark.  

George

George,
  I had to go backwards up your thread to see you are teaching 2 classes. So, are they about computer science or history? Good luck on that. 

Tom 

Finally made it through the whole thread from beginning to here. So inspiring! Can't wait to see the final product. 

@PRR8976 posted:

George,
  I had to go backwards up your thread to see you are teaching 2 classes. So, are they about computer science or history? Good luck on that. 

Tom 

Tom, the classes are in Computer Science.  And interestingly enough, I am teaching both ends of the spectrum:  Intro to Computer Science and the Capstone Experience I & II (software engineering).  I did this last year.  It was a challenge and a blast.

George

@BillYo414 posted:

Finally made it through the whole thread from beginning to here. So inspiring! Can't wait to see the final product. 

Thank you very much.  I do really appreciate all the fans of the Panhandle.  

George

The bridge abutment is superb!

Peter

@Putnam Division posted:

The bridge abutment is superb!

Peter

Thank you, Peter.  Here's the inspiration.  Front to back:  Pier 2 (a "pocket" pier), Pier 1 (the oldest surviving pier from the 1st and 2nd bridge), and the Stone Arch (also from the original 1868 bridge, I believe).

These photos were all taken from my cousin's boat during the October 2017 photo shoot for the backdrop, which was produced by Railroadbackdrops.com.  BTW, they did a superb job!! 

George

I saw the BOF is gone George. Are the blast furnaces still there? I was thinking of taking a drive down with the dog to get some more pictures if they are. I'm in Youngstown so it's a hop and skip. 

@BillYo414 posted:

I saw the BOF is gone George. Are the blast furnaces still there? I was thinking of taking a drive down with the dog to get some more pictures if they are. I'm in Youngstown so it's a hop and skip. 

Sadly, no.  I think they started demolishing them a couple of years ago.  They are gone.

George

@G3750 posted:

Sadly, no.  I think they started demolishing them a couple of years ago.  They are gone.

George

That's a bummer. Maybe I'll swing down one of these weekends. They were demolishing the open hearth building (I think) when I was there last. 

Wow George, bridge looks fantastic. I was showing a couple of guys here this morning the model to the real thing. They like it and are surprised the model looks just as real as the real deal.

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

Wow George, bridge looks fantastic. I was showing a couple of guys here this morning the model to the real thing. They like it and are surprised the model looks just as real as the real deal.

Thank you.  Fidelity to the prototype is the plan.  Your kind words are much appreciated.

George

George, I'm up to page 5 so far for a comprehensive review of your progress. I am enjoying the carpentry and extensive planning for your layout. It's really instructive. Awesome benchwork.

@G3750 posted:

Updated 8/11/2020:

For the moment, I have paused all scenery work east of the Stone Arch;  I expect to resume that next month.  Currently, I am working on the area around the Steubenville PRR station. 

Activities of note:

• Correct placement of the passenger siding, mainline, and turnouts.  I am marking these on the bench work for later permanent installation.
• Correct placement of track feeder wires and signals.  Likewise, these are marked for permanent installation later.
• Investigating the number and types of houses that will be needed in the area above the station.  These will be HO scale, in order to force the perspective of the viewer.  In many cases, I will be looking at cutting some of these structures in half and using both halves.  Here's the prototype area.  The focus on the houses in the center.  The area will be a mix of houses and vegetation / trees.
• 
• I've also ordered the O72 curved sections I will need for the rest of the layout.

 

More when I know it.  

George

George,

I can't believe the scene you will be working on...my grandmother's house, the one I spent half of my life in, is pictured. If you look to the left you can see a yellow house(Smith's house) and the blue one(Dave's grandma's house) right above it is located on Highland Avenue. My grandmother has since passed on and the house had white siding all of my days in it.  All of the homes to the right are all still there and intact. Unfortunately my grandmother's house has a huge gap between it and the next house. There were about 5 homes that were demolished over the last 10-15 years. Her's stands on the corner and looks quite lonely these days. At the bottom of the street that comes down the hillside(Superior Ave) there are two homes. The one located closest to the road belonged to friends of the family(the Simon's). The story goes something like this...I was in pampers and took off running down the hill and made it all the way to the railroad tracks just to see a train pass by. This was when Conrail ruled the rails in this area. Mrs. Simon came after me and once she finally got to me I was so close to the tracks she thought the train would suck me in between them. I couldn't have been more than 3. Had it not been for her, I might not be writing this in the forum today. I faintly remember this. Needless to say my love of trains started very young.  I could go on an on about this image. Quite emotional moment, in a good way, for me right now.

Dave

OK Dave.  If I'm going to create this scene, I want to do it right.  And I want to honor you and your Grandmother's memory so I need some details.  Questions:

• Does the arrow in the photo below point to the correct house?
• During the 1950's would the house have been white?

You can always send me details in e-mail (photos, remembrances, etc.).

George