PRR Panhandle Division

Updated 4/15/2012:

This low spot fixing thing has morphed into a full-blown adjustment of height, grade, track-joints, and electrical connectivity.   It seems to have taken on a life of its own.   

The large curve east of the bridge (not visible off the top edge of the figure below)  leading to Weirton Junction is the ultimate focus of the fix.  I've decreased the amount of grade there.  However, I've also discovered that raising the entire section of the track from the Weirton Junction to the Weirton Steel yard (that's the light green track) will improve tracking and eliminate derailments.  That's in progress.  All that track is being relaid, including slight placement adjustments of the roadbed and wiring connections.

George

Updated 4/25/2012:

As I said in the previous post, the rebuilding thing has gotten out of hand. 

Here are a couple of progress shots.  In this photo, I am working on the track coming from the bridge (top-third left, just below the jade NYC boxcars) to the switch (Weirton Junction).  The open grid at the bottom left will become Standard Slag and a spur of Weirton Junction yard.  The idea is to design a removable segment so that I can reach the mills in the back if necessary.  That will be done much later, but I'm thinking about it now.  

This photo shows the area just to the right of the above photo.  In it the completed track work heads to the Weirton Steel yard (top, background).  The blue wire is for super-elevating the curve.  The 2 curved sections are sitting atop the open framework in the center of the photo.  Curves are O54.

Comments welcomed!

George

Updated 5/8/2012:

Construction of the "sandwich" (a bottom layer of 1/8" masonite, vertical ribs of 2 15/16" x 1" boards, and a top layer of 3/8" subroadbed) that will become the Standard Slag area is well under way.  The "sandwich" will actually be a removable access hatch.  This is an experiment - I'm curious as to how it will work.

I have decided that the Weirton Junction Yard will shrink to a single short spur and that a slag pit with a Lionel power shovel disguised as a Bucyrus Erie piece of equipment will be the centerpiece of the area.  Slag cars poised above the pit will dump hot waste down the steep slope, which will be built of carved foam.

Immediate priorities are the placement of the mainline switch leading into Weirton Junction, its adjoining switch (diverting to Weirton Junction spur) and the straight leg to Standard Slag (needs to be aligned with the edge of elevated pit). 

Fortunately, I have enough leftover Vinylbed to complete the project.  Once the roadbed is down, the track has been wired and placed, I'll start connecting up all the switch control wires to a modular plug of some sort (still TBD).

George

Updated 5/9/2012:

Managed to get two things done yesterday:

1. Created a "portable" DZ-2500 programming station by velcroing a Command Base, DZ-2001 Data Wire Driver, and K-Line PowerChief 120F transformer to a board.  Also have a Euro-style terminal strip on the board.  A friend is about to start his track laying and I'm going to lend this to him.
2. Programmed Switch #16.  This is located (but not shown) on the track plan in my 4/15 comment.  Switch #16 will be just under the label "Weirton Junction".

More when I know it.

George

Updated 5/10/2012:

Last night I managed to get just a few items done:

1. I added another rib to the "sandwich" (at the eastern end).  There will probably be 1 more rib, I'm just now sure where it will go.
2. I am planning to use a Scenic Express rusted steel wall as the way to hide the "parting" line between the layout and the removable "sandwich" or access hatch.
3. Cut and added 1/8" masonite to fill in some of the areas that will support the wall.
4. Placed a small block of wood under the bottom of the sandwich that will make for easy re-installation of the hatch.  The block keeps the sandwich in the correct position.

Logical next steps are installation of the Vinylbed switch pads, final placement of the track between the bridge and the switch, installation of electrical feeder wires in the track east of the switch and final installation of the #11 Switch itself.  After that we will lay Switch #16 and its spurs and complete the remainder of the mainline curve.

George

Updated 5/11/2012:

Made some more progress over the last day or so.  Switch #11 is now in place and mated to the mainline.  The mainline now extends from the bridge to Weirton Junction.  I am in search of 1" track screws to tighten down the entire length of track.

Next steps are to complete the sandwich area (bottom floor of the slag pit) and paint the entire area a slag gray / white color.

George

Updated 5/16/2012:

Decent progress has been made:

• I made a good decision a couple of days ago.  Instead of trying to piece together scraps of masonite for the floor of the access hatch "sandwich", I bought a 4'x8' sheet and cut the piece to the proper dimensions.  A single piece was the correct solution;  I would have spent much more time playing around with a piece-meal approach. 
• I installed "stops" (small blocks of wood) to help position the hatch on the layout.
• I finally came to some decisions about how the hatch would be quickly removed.  After the electrical connections are decoupled, a scenic wall will be removed, allowing the hatch to slide out from the main part of the layout.  A number of clearances will be measured and marked for cutting.  Those spots needing clearance will be trimmed before anything else gets done.

Once the trimming has been done, the complete sandwich will be assembled.  This involves screwing the floor to the ribs.  Painting (a slag gray / white) will be next.  Following that, subroadbed, track, and electrical wiring will be installed.

George

Updated 5/22/2012:

Got a chance to work on the access hatch last night, finally attaching the bottom layer to the rest of the structure. 

In this photo, the structure is upside down on my workbench.  You can see the hole for the power wiring leads and the terminal strip to which they will attach.

In the second photo, you can see the wide or slag pit end of the access hatch.  "Blue" or "Pink" foam will be used as a filler to stabilize the "sandwich" and carve out the slopes of the pit.

Next steps include playing with the fit into the rest of the layout, applying a coat of paint, and installing Vinylbed, track, and wiring.  At some point soon, I will take a shot at carving the filler.

George

Updated 5/28/2012:

A lot has happened over the past 5 days or so:

• The access hatch has received its first set of foam.  I'm still feeling my way around that part of the project.  For the hatch, additional foam, carving, track placement and wiring, and final fitting remain.
• Switches, track, and roadbed on the mainline have been realigned.  I think I have improved running performance on this segment - testing will prove that out.
• Also on the mainline, electrical conductivity has been improved.

 This photo shows the track back in place from the bridge to Weirton Junction.

This photo shows the mainline curve west (railroad east) of Weirton Junction being placed and ready for installation.

The final photo shows the entire mainline back in place and powered up (note the lit N8 cabin car).  We are going to test run locomotives with scale pilots to see how we do.  Track screws and shims will be added where necessary.

George

Updated 5/31/2012:

Did not run any locomotives on the mainline yet.  However, I did add several braces under layout to stiffen certain areas and fastened 3 risers in place again.

George

Updated 6/3/2012:

I'm pleased to report that the first test of the mainline has been successful.  I ran my most finicky engine, the Lionel PRR M1a Mountain at low speed over the rebuilt stretch without incident.

More to follow.

George

Updated 7/2/2012:

There has been some progress since I last reported here:

• Foamboard has been laid down on the access hatch and roughly carved.  Joint compound will be applied next to smooth out the slopes.
• I've acquired some slag from Scenic Express that will cover the slag yard in, well, slag.  That's prototypical.
• I now have 12 resin sections of steel pilings that will act as the walls to hold up the slag yard.  I just painted them a Ruddy Brown shade with Krylon paint.  They look pretty good, if I say so myself.
• A "plug" of foamboard has been created to fit into the north end of the access hatch (slag yard).  I got out the Foam Factory last night and carved it.  It will be faced with steel pilings.

The way I see things right now, when I need to remove the hatch, the plug will come out first, the electricals will be disconnected, and then the access hatch will pivot out and away from the layout.

George

Updated 7/17/2012:

Over the past week, I've managed to:

• Get joint compound onto the access hatch to cover all the layers and make slopes
• Paint the slag yard and table top with gray spray paint.
• Test the position of the steel pilings

George

Updated 7/29/2012:

Got a lot done lately in the past week or so. 

• Started laying track on the access hatch (Standard Slag).

• Ordered the Plastruct parts for the static compressed air tank at the end of the slag dump track used to tilt the slag cars.

• Found components for the tanks and ordered Plastruct parts for the frame of this compressed air structure for Weirton Steel.

• Completed, except for decals and weathering the transformation of the 6-12751 Lionel Steam Shovel into the Bucyrus-Erie Power Shovel.

That's it for now.  There are more details at the Standard Slag thread on the Scenery Forum.

George

Updated 7/30/2012:

No progress since yesterday, but the following items are on the immediate "to-do" list:

• Change the angle on the "plug" to give the slag yard a little more space.
• Complete the roadbed placement, track laying, and wiring work on the access hatch.
• Start bending the pilings to fit the dimensions of the access hatch.
• Mount the steel pilings along the slopes of the slag pit.

George

Updated 8/13/2012:

Have made some serious progress on the Weirton Junction portion of the layout:

• After an abortive attempt to apply decals to the power shovel, I came up with several fixes.  One area is getting a small "plate" (piece of Evergreen sheet) to make the Bucyrus Erie decal lay flat.  The other decal is being redone to eliminate white lettering on clear paper; we are using a prototypical older decal that puts red and black letters on a white base.  See below.

• Feeder wires have been run from the Eastern Power Distribution panel to the Standard Slag dump track and to the Caboose track.  These are shown at the top of the photo (4-position terminal block) below.

Disconnecting the 4 feeder wires at the terminal strip and the 6-wire push-in connector for the switch machine allows me to pull the hatch out.

In the near future, I will apply the decal fixes and the decals, install the 6 wire connector for the DZ-2500A switch machine, and complete the scenery work that remains.

George

Updated 1/1/2013:

My New Year's Resolutions with respect to the PRR Panhandle:

1. Finish the Standard Slag access hatch area and install it on the layout
2. Finish (about 65% done) bracing all remaining subroadbed to improve track performance.
3. Replace the steel bridge floor with a wooden one, including rewiring of a double cross-over.

Hopefully, 2013 will not be as crazy as 2012 and I will get some modeling done.

George

Updated 1/25/2013:

I'm still doing my New Year's Resolutions, but some progress was made on an unscheduled item (Isn't that how it always happens? ):

• Updated my already huge list of things to do.
• Researched the conversion of old computer power supplies to general purpose DC voltage sources for my lighting.
• Computed the lighting needs for each side of the layout.
• Began laying out a plywood board to hold the powersupplies, fuses, and terminal strips.
• Started re-organizing the transformer cart (former TV cart) to hold the new plywood board.  Expect to finish that shortly. 

More when I know it.

George 

Updated 2/20/2013:
Spent part of last night re-arranging the transformer (former TV) cart:

• The plywood board with both computer power supplies mounted on it has been velcroed to the bottom shelf.
• The bookend to hold up the manuals is now in place on the lower shelf.
• The surge protector / power strip is now on top of the cart.
• Both K-Line PowerChief 120F transformers are now on top of the cart in their designated locations.

The next things in this area's immediate To Do List are:

• Fasten down all cords
• Install a second power strip (daisy-chain it to the first).
• Update the electrical wiring diagrams for the power supplies and put them into the manual.
• Add each light / accessory / powered item to its respective power supply load chart and double check the load calculation.

George

Updated 3/10/2013:

Have made a number of planning and research types of improvements:

• Updated the layout plan at the Building layer (way out of date) to:
• • Correctly position the Open Hearth Mill on the plan
  • Place the 5x5 oxygen tank structure just south of the Open Hearth
  • Pick new locations for the two floodlight towers in the Weirton Steel yard
  • Correctly place the Blooming Mill on the layout plan
  • Correctly size and place the Strip Steel building on the layout
  • Correctly size and place the Mill Administration Building on the layout.  Began researching this building's appearance circa 1957.
  • Correctly size and place the Quality Control Lab on the layout (new building).  Began searching for photos and sources of glassblock windows for this building.
• Updated the layout plan at the Scenery layer to: 
• • Indicate a land form and scenic divider between Weirton Junction (north) and City of Weirton (south).  Two sided divider will separate these two scenes.
  • Correctly place the PRR Weirton Junction (WC) Interlocking tower on the layout.
• Installed, but did not electrically connect, the two floodlight towers in the WSX yard.
• Updated the electrical diagram for DC busses used in lighting or powering accessories (terminal strip => connector plug => terminal strip internal to accessory).

George

Updated 3/21/2013:

Have managed to get something done:

• After a long struggle, I got the blade guard off my MicroLux table saw.  It's height was preventing me from cutting the resin castings of steel pilings needed for my Standard Slag area.  I still have several of those to be cut.
• Installed a Lionel Accessory Motor Controller TMCC component on the Western power distribution panel.  It's wired but not programmed.  All related diagrams have been updated to reflect this.
• Conceived and planned an Open Hearth animation of a steel pour.
• Consulted with a friend who is an electrical engineer for the circuit design.  Circuit is based on a combination of those found in the OGR book Animations.  Currently researching and obtaining electrical components for the animation.

That's it for now.

George 

Updated 3/24/2013:

I've been making progress on the Standard Slag module.  Photo 1 show a set of steel pilings (center) that I have placed but not glued.  What's new is the foundation piece at the bottom of the stack that brings the pilings to the correct level.  This section also protrudes a bit from the wall to the right.  That wall will hold up a slipping embankment.

The second photo shows the steel pilings that will occupy the pink foam wall to the left in Photo 1.  This set of pilings has been glued to a piece of cardboard which will then be positioned and secured in place.

Photo 3 shows the inside of the Open Hearth mill.  Looking up you can see the smokestacks protruding through the roof.  The circuit board for the animation will probably set under the smokestack platform to the left.

George

Updated 3/30/2013:

• Laid the final track for Standard Slag and trimmed it to the proper length.  There is now correct spacing for the compressed air tank and the end-of-track bumper.
• Laid the final piece of track for Weirton Junction.  I still need an Atlas track bumper.
• Got the backs of a number of steel pilings painted.  I used the same color as on the front - Krylon Ruddy Brown primer.
• Heated 4 of them with a hot air gun and bent them to fit the curved edge of the Standard Slag module.
• Trimmed one piling to bridge two different height plywood steps on the module.  Also filed down the joint compound at that spot.

I've decided to stop work on the module when all the steel pilings are in place.  I will leave ground cover and the build-up of adjoining terraforms to the very end.  This module will probably have to come out at least 1 more time to reach two areas (Crawford's Crossing Highway overpass and Strip Steel mill). 

The next mini-project to get some attention will be Crawford's Crossing Highway overpass.

George

Love all the pics and design.  Worked 17 years at WSX myself.  Keep going and good luck!

Thank you, Buff!  What part of the mill were you in?  And when?

Your kind comments and viewership are appreciated.  Since OGR changed the forum software a couple of years ago, the number of views is no longer displayed.  At one point, this photo thread (currently in its 5th incarnation) had been viewed more than 50,000 times.  Now, I can't tell if anyone looks at it unless they comment! 

Appreciate it and stay tuned!

George

I started in the Sinter Plant, spent a little time in the Blast Furnace, then the PowerHouse before moving up to the G.O.  Was there a while before going back down to the Slab Yard, Strip Steel, then finally up by #1 Gate.  I left on my own when they shut down the hot end.

You?

I was a summer (temp) employee in 1972, 1973, and 1974.  In 1972, I was a crane hook-up boy on the end of a plater in the Tin Mill.  In 1973, I worked in the Blooming Mill.  For a week, I worked the Hot Track, spent a Sunday in the grease pits, and then worked the rest of the summer as the shop boy in the Blooming Mill's Roll Shop (nice!).  The summer of 1974 was spent in the Strip Steel in various jobs.

After college, I worked at National Steel's R & D facility up on the hill from Fall 1976 to Summer 1978.  Then I went to graduate school for computer science. 

My father worked in the mill for a long time, ending in 1980.  He was an industrial engineer.  He's still active in the museum in town.

George

Updated 4/7/2013:

I am declaring victory (or at least a halt) on this module.  For now, I am postponing the super-detailing (minor ground changes, slag, ballasting, ground cover, etc.) in order to work on structures hemmed in by Standard Slag.

Here are some photos of the "finished" area.

This is the slag pit with the power shovel in the foreground and a dumping slag car at the top right.

This show shows the steel pilings (before I put the green tank in place).

This is the cabin car track at Weirton Junction Yard.

This is a shot of the dump track at Standard Slag.  Two Lionel slag cars (with molten loads) are getting ready to dump their slag.  Note the green tank at the end of the spur - that is prototypical.  Weirton Steel used compressed air to assist in dumping their hot slag cars.

Slightly closer look at the hot slag cars.

This is a wider look at nearly the entire module.  The mills in the background are scratch built foam core structures with Plastruct & Evergreen sides and roofs.  On the left is the Blooming Mill; to the right is the Open Hearth.

George

Updated 4/8/2013:

I began planning the highway overpass and the area around Crawford's Crossing.  Photo 1 show the prototype in 1957.

Photo 2 is an old pic showing the components of the overpass between the Blooming Mill (left, under construction) and the Open Hearth (right).

The last shot is of the RR-Track plan of the area.  The overpass proceeds right to left.  After laying down the roadway components as shown in Photo 2, I measured distances from various fixed landmarks and compared them to the plan below.  I'm pleased to say they matched! 

The next steps will be to touch-up the railings and other Crow River overpass components with paint, add some height to the overpass abutments, and assemble.  I will also need to apply road markings (pin-stripes) to the next segment of Main Street and plan the elevation of the entire downtown area (it will be 1-2" about table top height).

George

George,

I LOVE the pics!  Looks like you're coming along great.

I saw you have a couple of black slag ladles.  Later this week or next I was going to list three brand new black Lionel t-bottles that would match those perfect.  They're the plain black, Bethlehem Steel, ones with the flickering iron loads.  For another "Weirton" guy, I'll take care of you on them.

Drop me a line at 76erfan@comcast.net so we can discuss.  Don't want to take extra room on the forum.

Have a good one!

Paul

Updated 4/11/2013:

I have been giving some thought to making downtown Weirton a reality (see photo below).   This module was not the next step in my planned work on the layout, but I need someplace for the end of the overpass at Crawford's Crossing to attach.  So it makes sense to at least rough out the module and highway and attach the end of the overpass to it.  Still with me?  Good.

e

Currently, this is open grid bench work with risers, subroadbed and track. An irregularly shaped plywood table top supports the Weirton Steel mill area just to the right (out of the picture). Some reworked preliminary thoughts:

• Just like the Standard Slag module (described awhile back in this thread with photos), we are going to make a sandwich.  The bottom layer of the sandwich will be a 1/8" masonite board that will extend south from the north edge of the Main Street to the edge of the subroadbed supporting the tracks to the south (unseen past the southern edge of the photo).  The masonite board will overlap the subroadbed, sitting on top of it.  It will be carefully cut to mate up with the boundaries of the track roadbed.  Eventually, ground cover will hide this seam.
• The area south of the concrete wall will be almost 2" lower than Main Street. A 1:48 figure entering the front of the Quality Control Lab would exit the rear of the building at a lower level.  The concrete wall lining the south side of Main Street will have a total height of 4" (from the floor of the sandwich).
• Our sandwich filling will be RIBS!   Unfortunately, they will be made of wood (1.75"x.75" pine) and will run North to South from the top edge of the module to the just north of the Concrete Wall.  They will elevate the Main Street.  I will space them at regular intervals to add rigidity to the module.
• The top layer of our sandwich will be Main Street (masonite) and a separate section of masonite supporting buildings running along the north edge of Main Street.  That section will run all the way north to a vertical scenery divider that separates downtown Weirton (south side) from Weirton Junction (north side).
• As you may have noticed, the bottom layer of masonite doesn't completely cover the entire module floor.  That's because we will need to reach the wiring (Lesson Learned from Standard Slag - you can't get your hand into a 2" high cavity to do wiring).  But a little of the bottom layer will extend north from the divider to give the Weirton Junction area a foundation.  That area will be populated with a small hill, a lot of trees (to blend in with the divider) and the WC (Weirton Junction) interlocking tower.

Hopefully that clarifies the diabolical plan.

Too bad about the ribs, isn't it? 

Talk to me folks, I'd like your thoughts.

George

Updated June 12:

I have been thinking about how to start on the downtown Weirton module and that sparked a few more refinements:

• I have decided to make the height difference between the top of Main Street and the bottom layer of the "sandwich" 2.5" (10 scale feet) at the Quality Control Lab.  This will give a complete basement story for that building (plus a step or two).  It will also have the benefit of making the slope up the overpass less steep.
• Ribs for the module will start 2' in from the right edge of the drawing (where it says "Concrete Wall").  Proceeding right to left from that point, the rib heights will be: 3.0", 2.5", 2.5", 2.5", 2.0", 1.5", 1.0", 0.5".  This will permit Main Street to descend to track level at the extreme left side of the module. 
• The bottom layer of masonite WILL cover the entire module floor.  I will cut large holes in it to allow wiring to be completed.  I changed my mind because strength of this module will be important, especially north of Weirton in the Weirton Junction portion.  The first step in designing this layer will be to trace out a template using butcher paper.

That's the current thinking.

George

Updated July 25:

I am working on multiple layout projects, sort of a small, medium, and large approach.  The small project is traffic signals (posted separately in the Scenery forum).  The Strip Steel Mill is my medium-sized one, and the City of Weirton module is the large project.  

Here are some updates for the Strip Steel.  That's the building in the photo above with the "Weirton Steel Co." sign on it.  The prototype has tracks entering it from the rear.  On my layout, I will model the front as it appears in the photo, but add a spur (already installed).

Last night I focused on planning the look of the building and its use of the spur track.  On my layout, the spur is straight up to the point where it curves into the building.  (The spur was built well before I knew exactly what building would be served by it). 

• I taped together a paper mock-up of the front of the Strip Steel building (7 scale sheet drawings of each brick wall and its two bordering pilasters) and propped it up on the building framework (already in place).  From that I learned that the spur will enter the building at exactly the wrong spot - a pilaster.  This will look pretty bad.
• My first alternative, widening the area between pilasters to accomodate the spur entrance, will also look goofy and ruin the symmetry of the building (see my photo above). 
• So the only real choice was to alter the position of the spur.  I experimented with the placement of the curve using a spare piece of O42 GarGraves track.  Starting the curve 2" sooner will cause the track to curve nicely into the area between 2 pilasters.  I'll have to rip up some of the spur that's already in place, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

I'm really glad I did this with a paper template.  This is probably going to change what goes in some of these wall areas.  Jockeying a partially-built 43" wide building front to try to solve this would have been a major pain. 

George

 Very interesting would like to see it if Iam close to the area this is being done. Iam in wellsburg wv.

You are very close to the area I model.  Just head north on Route 2(?) up river.  You'll pass Follansbee, and the Market Street bridge, and then you should see the old Pennsy bridge.

George

When I was talking about area I was talking about wher you lived?

Oh, up on Weirton Heights very near the PA line.

I now live in the Central PA area.

Here are photos of the mockup.  Photo 1 shows the entire front of the building.  The PRR mainline is in the foreground.

Photo 2 shows the close-up of the building and the spot where the track will enter the building (prior to correction).  The MTH Hot Metal Car #52 is on that track.  I will start the curve more to the right and cause it to enter the building in the second "bay".

George

What I would realy like is to come and see your layout.

Right now, with all the construction work underway, it looks like a war zone.

Perhaps by Fall York, it might be suitable for viewing again.  We'll have to see.

George