It's been a great quarter for the PRR Middle Division in HO scale. For starters, we have a new URL: https://prrmiddledivision.com. You can continue to use https://pennsyrr.com, but that will take you to the index page whereas the new URL goes straight to the model railroad page.
I've pretty much completed the installation of resistors on my fleet of rolling stock. Now the full length of a train will be detected rather than just the locomotives. This will prevent the tower operator from throwing a switch under a train and will contribute to signal logic to follow.
I continue to stress test the main lines. I've found a few places where the rails have narrowed and I have had to manipulate them to get back into gauge per NMRA standards. The symption -- pre-fix -- was locomotives bucking as they crossed the offending section of track.
I've also flagged a few dozen cars and locomotives for bad orders. A few for detection, but most for bad couplers. Some had fallen off, others broken, and some just don't couple right. I'll work through these in the coming months.
I continue to wait for the matrix controllers from Barrett Hill. This is holding up restoration of yard operations and is a hurdle for operating sessions. Kevin tells me the boards are available, but he is still working on the documentation. My implementation will be somewhat complex and will involve "daisy chaining" some boards and I prefer to have documentation in hand.
On September 17th I held my first public open house in several years. This was part of the Mainline Hobby Supply's annual fall tour. Being well over an hour from the store, I didn't know what to expect. Two fallen flags in the area used to be on the tour. I only had 11 guests, but many stayed for over an hour and discussion was great!
I will be open again on November 12th as part of the DE-MD-NJ-PA Model Railroad Open House. The schedule, with addresses, will be available in mid-October.
This year the Mid Atlantic Railroad Prototype Modelers meet (MARPM) will be held in Timonium on October 13-16th. As previously announced, I will be presenting two clinics. ( see Two Clinics Scheduled)
A number of Pennsy passenger trains included interchange cars for other roads. I am starting to get them decaled and on the layout. This week I shared The Interchange Cars of The Penn Texas. In the future, I will post similar articles for The Broadway Limited, The Pennsylvania Limited, and The Pittsburgher.
In closing, I recently received the new Alco PA1/PB1's from Rapido. They look fantastic, but I was especially excited about the horn -- best in my fleet! I'll have to share video soon, but the units are shown above on my Granville Bridge.
Till the next train out...
