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Here is the latest achievement on my Pittsburgh Industrial Railroad the "P.I.R.".....The world famous horseshoe curve!   Its an entire room that connects to my main room which is Pittsburgh themed.  More can be seen of that room on my youtube page. Also this room features things such as the Gallitzin Tunnels and the NC5 Porthole PRR Caboose that overlooks them. Thanks for viewing!   Nick-

 

 

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Pennsylvania Room [final)

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Last edited by Nick PghTrainFanatic
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Very nice.  I never got to see the 'curve' while steam was running but I have seen it over the years with diesels.  Lots and lots of traffic.  The volunteers at the site are very helpful and knowledgeble.  Last time there we had a picnic lunch and watched Amtrak rumble by.  Again, very nice modeling, I like it!   Russ

Once again Nick, great job on the layout. You did a fantastic job of modeling the Horseshoe Curve. I think this room is better than your main room to be honest. My grandfather told me that when he was a boy his uncle was an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad. His uncle took him (my grandfather) and his brother up to the Curve to see a crash that had just occurred. A T1 had flipped on its side and my grandfather remembers counting 16 wheels! LOL! Keep up the great work! I look forward to more videos!

Nick:  Very nice representation of what is probably the most famous RR location in the country!  You did a great job of "selectively compressing" the whole scene.

 

I've been up to that area dozens of times, in fact I will be going up there again this week while I'm making a call in Altoona.  Hope I have enough time available to spend some good time on the curve itself on Thursday.  I've ridden around the curve a number of times, as well and always found the trip fascinating.

 

Paul Fischer

Nick,

 

That is an amazing piece of work.   I am curious if you have any idea of about how many hours you devoted to creating this ?

 

Thanks for sharing it.  My father was an engineer on the Penn for 26 years and while he made many trips through the curve over the years, neither my brother or I ever got to make the trip with him.  Maybe someday.

 

Thanks,

Ed

WOW!  I have been to the curve a few times while growing up. My Dad was born in Altoona and my Grandpa worked for the PRR as did his father who was killed in a RR accident. He was crushed between two freight cars. You have done a fine, no ULTRA fine job! The only thing I kept looking for was the inclined tracks running up the hill.

 

Thank you for bringing back some great family memories!

Originally Posted by ChiloquinRuss:

Very nice.  I never got to see the 'curve' while steam was running but I have seen it over the years with diesels.  Lots and lots of traffic.  The volunteers at the site are very helpful and knowledgeble.  Last time there we had a picnic lunch and watched Amtrak rumble by.  Again, very nice modeling, I like it!   Russ

The Horseshoe curve always leaves that impression in our memories doesn't it!   Its a railroading marvel.  Thanks Mr. Russ!

Originally Posted by PennsyPride94:

Once again Nick, great job on the layout. You did a fantastic job of modeling the Horseshoe Curve. I think this room is better than your main room to be honest. My grandfather told me that when he was a boy his uncle was an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad. His uncle took him (my grandfather) and his brother up to the Curve to see a crash that had just occurred. A T1 had flipped on its side and my grandfather remembers counting 16 wheels! LOL! Keep up the great work! I look forward to more videos!

Thanks a lot Mike!!  That is one cool story about the T1...hope mine doesn't do that in a running session lol!  Take care  man!

Nick,

 

It's really difficult to do the 'Curve even in the smaller scales so all the congratulations you're receiving are well deserved.  Just be sure the helpers are really straining as they go up and that brake dust is evident on the down slope.  

 

The history of the Horseshoe Curve along with Altoona remains one of my top three PRR areas of interest (Philadelphia & the tunneling into Manhattan being the other two).  Keep up the great work and just have fun with it as it grows.

 

Best, 
Bill 

Originally Posted by GEF:
Very nice Nick, that project didn't take you long at all. Can you show how you transitioned from the fastrack to the scaletrax?

Hi George, Here is how its done. Lionel Fastrack transition piece #6-12040 & gargraves #802 mating pins.  The fastrack comes with mating pins already, but they are for Tubular track.  These gargraves pins did the trick.  And this transition was to Ross Custom switches curves and or gargraves.

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Originally Posted by Ed Walsh:

Nick,

 

That is an amazing piece of work.   I am curious if you have any idea of about how many hours you devoted to creating this ?

 

Thanks for sharing it.  My father was an engineer on the Penn for 26 years and while he made many trips through the curve over the years, neither my brother or I ever got to make the trip with him.  Maybe someday.

 

Thanks,

Ed

Hey Ed, Thanks a lot for the nice compliments!  I was putting in I'd say an average of 3 hrs per day on this room.  Some days may have been more like 6 hours lol.  Some maybe just 1 hr. So The average is about 3 hours per day.  I started on the room on March 20th 2012.  Its about 66 days from start of benchwork to this point. =198 hours total.  WOW!! lol

Originally Posted by Lionelzwl2012:
Nick, saw several of your youtube videos. Nice work. What did you use for ballast on the sides of your fasttrack i think it looks almost as good as ross. Like the high rail look of it. Especialy liked the engine facilities. Are you going to have any space for a few yard tracks or staging?

Thank you! I just used Woodland scenics medium gray ballast mixed with some fins black & light grayballast for the sides of the fastrack.  I already have a couple yard tracks, and a undertable or shelf for staging has crossed my mind several times.  Now its a matter of how. lol

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