Weekend Photo Fun 8-4-23-??

Scott,

That was a great plan to stop and see Mike. I'm glad to hear he is doing better. He's such a great tool for us. Really like seeing that he is up and running with those fantastic projects. Thanks for sharing this great start to W.F.F.

Dave

Those of you who read my weekly posts on “Weekend Photo Fun” have obviously seen pictures of this scene on my layout quite a few times. It’s the town of Port Royal along the former Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad in central Pennsylvania. The concrete arch bridge to the left was built in 1910, and was one of the signature features of the railroad for those who love to railfan the line. In this image, you can see the bridge, the Port Royal train station, and the town itself as I model it near the end of steam:

Now, here you see a prototype photograph of the same scene as it appeared when the bridge and station were new:

And here is a direct view of the bridge, station, and westbound passenger shelter as construction wrapped up in 1910:

Here is a view of the real bridge in 1959, just a few years after how I modeled it on the layout. The station had been closed around 1948, but was still standing. The weathering on my model is based on this image:

Now take a look at this shot of the model and compare it the next one taken from almost the same view in late April by my son Steven. Sadly, the bridge was 113 years old, and had reached the end of its life. It is actually in the process of being demolished in the second image:

And there it goes on May 8^th, 2023. Truly a sad day for fans of the Middle Division!

And if it works, here is a link to a video showing the demolition of the bridge:

https://fb.watch/mc7IYhQG_X/

But to end on a positive note, here is a photo taken just a few days ago on the layout as a PRR steamer roars by the Port Royal bridge and station which lives on in my basement!

Special thanks to Ray Kohler who manages the Port Royal 2000 website who gave me permission to use the photos from the site (see permission granted below) and to Alan Arnold of OGR who also gave me permission to use them on this thread. This is a special post, and I have been working to get this ready for a few weeks!

That’s it for this week…enjoy!

As creator and custodian of the PortRoyal2000 website I, Ray Kohler, am happy to grant permission to Neal Schorr to use any of the graphics and text on the site for inclusion on the OGR website and the OGR forum.

Ray Kohler

Hi Neil:

Really nice scene you've modeled there. Good photograph of it, too.

Unfortunately, if there were supposed to be additional photos along with your layout photo, they didn't come through for some reason.

Andre

@laming posted:

Hi Neil:

Really nice scene you've modeled there. Good photograph of it, too.

Unfortunately, if there were supposed to be additional photos along with your layout photo, they didn't come through for some reason.

Andre

Andre,

There should be eight images altogether. All are showing up on my computer and cell phone. If you are not seeing them  all, let me know. The historic photos were very tricky to post.

For this fine weekend!   Spending the weekend in nature ... a little canoeing, a little swimming, a little tubing, a little rock climbing.  Oh how I wish a train would come by!  

Wish granted!!

This past March I was at Mike's house and he was finishing up this layout. He requested that I limit my pictures to close-ups since the client hadn't seen the layout yet. Now that the layout resides in customer's house here are some pictures I took in March.

Scott Smith

@luvindemtrains posted:

Scott,

That was a great plan to stop and see Mike. I'm glad to hear he is doing better. He's such a great tool for us. Really like seeing that he is up and running with those fantastic projects. Thanks for sharing this great start to W.F.F.

Dave

Agreed! I am so glad that Mike is doing better.

Peter

It is late 1949 and the photographer got some photos of a Centipede set pulling an express train.  The Centipedes were not a success due to reliability issues and that fact each one was hand build, making no two alike.  12 sets were built in 1947 for the Pennsy, and each engine had two 1,500hp diesels, giving the AA set 6,000hp total.

The Centipedes are Lionel

My PS2 New York Ontario & Western F3 passenger train makes its 1st visit to the new home layout......as a footnote, this set was delivered to me on March 29, 2007......50 years to the day when the O&W ceased operations.

I think it enjoyed its 1st run!

Have a great and safe weekend, folks!

Peter

A 2022 Christmas Layout memory

walt

sadly I do not have an overall picture that includes the front right of the layout.  That area was a Christmas scene - including my tree and christmas accessories on the layout.  This is one image.

The ceramic train in the foreground was from an on-line catalogue that did customizing.  The engine and tender have my name.  Each car after has the name of each of my 2 children, their spouse, and each has 2 children.  The caboose has RAPP.

The smaller ceramic train was also from an on-line source that added names to each car.  They are intended to be tree ornaments but I prefer this way.  The names on each piece is exactly the same as the other ceramic train.

Earlier this week, I celebrated 23 years on the OGR Forum......the announcement was here:

https://ogrforum.com/...-layout-2021?page=21

Also, ran trains at the club modular layout for an assisted living group.....

Modular group member Jerry (JEC on the OFR Forum) created this humerous scene....

A short viseo.....I hadn't run the Mohawk in a few months.....

Have a great and safe weekend, everyone!

Peter

This weeks club video:

Scott Smith

@PRRMiddleDivision posted:

Andre,

There should be eight images altogether. All are showing up on my computer and cell phone. If you are not seeing them  all, let me know. The historic photos were very tricky to post.

Well, I held my mouth right during this viewing attempt... and it worked! This time and the pics appeared!

Sad that the bridge was taken down.

While I'm corresponding with you: You're doing an excellent job on all phases of your layout. Always a treat to see pics.

Andre

Norfolk Southern First Responders train with MTH NS 5642 GP38-2.

@Lionlman posted:

Norfolk Southern First Responders train with MTH NS 5642 GP38-2.

That life bridge that is not a Lionel?

Ron

Lionlman - That bridge is beautiful!  It looks like a custom built one that may also search as a "geazer gate" entrance to the center of the layout?  Great job!

Art

I discovered that my fictional railroad signal company Pro Signals has taken over an abandoned business building at the west end of my Eola freight yard.   I have noticed a lot of activity and there are a lot of rumors that the railroad is going have them install CTC style searchlight signals.  If that's true, it should really help improve productivity and reduce accidents.  This railroad has always operated on a shoe string and many feel that it has never taken safety very seriously.

If you want to follow the progress on the signal project, here is a link to the main thread.

https://ogrforum.com/...7#177398552115148877

Art   

@laming posted:

Well, I held my mouth right during this viewing attempt... and it worked! This time and the pics appeared!

Sad that the bridge was taken down.

While I'm corresponding with you: You're doing an excellent job on all phases of your layout. Always a treat to see pics.

Andre

Andre,

Thank you for your kind comments and I'm glad that you could access all the photos. I'm planning on posting some views looking in the other direction in the coming weeks.

@PRRronbh posted:

That life bridge that is not a Lionel?

Ron

That kind of looks like the Lionel 6-12872 Lift Bridge…….I suspect Neal will let us know.

Peter

Here is a short video running my train at the clarksburg area model railroad club!!

Great photos, stories and videos this weekend, Peter, your layout is looking really nice.  Scott, thanks again for taking time to start this each and every week, my favorite thread and I look forward to seeing it each week, don't usually get to see it until Saturday sometimes even on Sunday but I love all the stuff that you see on this thread.  Great job!!  Neal, always a pleasure to see your stuff and your stories that go with them.

Great stuff guys, keep it coming.

A MTH Premier B&A caboose, a custom run by  Jr Junction in Syracuse, arrived today, what a beauty, love the color, interior details, marker lights etc.

I finally have a caboose to go with my B&A 4-6-6T…

Thanks to Phil at Jr Junction.

@Craignor just got mine in yesterday. Had to have my carman in training look it over, she’s clear it safe to go on the layout.

You are playing with fire there, Nate.

@CAPPilot posted:

It is late 1949 and the photographer got some photos of a Centipede set pulling an express train.  The Centipedes were not a success due to reliability issues and that fact each one was hand build, making no two alike.  12 sets were built in 1947 for the Pennsy, and each engine had two 1,500hp diesels, giving the AA set 6,000hp total.

The Centipedes are Lionel

Beautiful shots, Ron. As Old Blue Eyes sang, “regrets… I’ve had a few”, and one of mine is not having grabbed a set of those Centipedes when they came out. They are magnificent beasts!!!

@Apples55 posted:

Beautiful shots, Ron. As Old Blue Eyes sang, “regrets… I’ve had a few”, and one of mine is not having grabbed a set of those Centipedes when they came out. They are magnificent beasts!!!

Paul,

Thank you.  I really like them once I get them on the track.  Very heavy with lots of traction - probably can pull more cars than I have.

Biggest issue is the fan noise on the trailing engine, which is noticeable in the video.  What really made me mad was Lionel said it was "normal" and would not fix it.  Someday I will take off the shell and disconnect that fan unit.

@Craignor : another perfectly sized video.  Perfect too in getting the point across about the new caboose matching to the engine.

I laughed at one of the earlier posts saying "Here's a short video of the Layout" = 7 minutes 46 seconds!!!  I should watch: maybe some here find that reasonable.

thanks again

walt

@walt rapp posted:

@Craignor : another perfectly sized video.  Perfect too in getting the point across about the new caboose matching to the engine.

I laughed at one of the earlier posts saying "Here's a short video of the Layout" = 7 minutes 46 seconds!!!  I should watch: maybe some here find that reasonable.

thanks again

walt

Thanks, Walt.

I try to keep them under a minute.

I rotate the trains off the railrax and onto the 4 loops weekly, that keeps it interesting for me, and I think it’s good for the trains to run regularly. I think about it in advance, and either pick something related to a holiday, or video from a recent modular train show I was in, or just trains I haven’t seen run for awhile.

Whatever I think is the most interesting, I shoot a video with my iPhone and post it here.

IMHO Scott’s weekly photo thread is the oldest and best photo thread on the OGR forum.

@Craignor posted:

IMHO Scott’s weekly photo thread is the oldest and best photo thread on the OGR forum.

Heartily agree!

Peter

Are we all talking about Jr Junction's custom run cabooses this weekend? Yeah, I guess so. Here's mine.

Sorry about the bad angles, I guess I didn't see which way the photo was being taken.

@walt rapp posted:

@Craignor : another perfectly sized video.  Perfect too in getting the point across about the new caboose matching to the engine.

I laughed at one of the earlier posts saying "Here's a short video of the Layout" = 7 minutes 46 seconds!!!  I should watch: maybe some here find that reasonable.

thanks again

walt

I enjoy short videos - as you mentioned, get the point across and then say "cut".  To me, a "short video" is no longer than 2 minutes.  FWIW, a lot of videos can be played at 1.5x or 2x speed and still be understandable.