Mechanical Department Blog
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In planning my Lewistown-based model railroad, I have noted photos and other references to locomotives working the area. Early on, Dan Cupper, author and railroad historian and a Lewistown native, told me he remembered seeing Baldwin DS-4-4-1000's #'s 9129 and 9130 during the 1960s.
In "Pennsylvania Railroad | Diesel Locomotive Pictorial | Volume 2 - Baldwin Switchers and Road Switchers" by John D. Hahn, Jr., he noted the DR 4-4-1000's -- PRR class BS10am -- were delivered in May of 1950. As of 1957, four of the six (#'s 9429-9434) were assigned to the Pittsburgh Division. It is worth noting that the Middle Division was absorbed into the Pittsburgh Division as of a 1956 reorganization.
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The Penn Texas, train 3 westbound, was a New York to St. Louis passenger train taking passengers to the "Gateway to the West". As such, it carried many interchange cars which I recently put some time into completing.
The train passed Lewistown during the early morning hours, so most of the shades are down in the sleepers.
The first car, defined as a MS60, R50 or B60, was a New York to St. Louis mail storage car.
MP 4169 is a stock Walthers car with a user-applied road number decal.
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As evidenced by the many articles I have written about Pennsy TrucTrain service and its successor, Trailer Train Corp. (now TTX), I've always been a fan of intermodal. Many don't realize that the Pennsylvania Railroad was the primary party behind the formation of Trailer Train.
During my stint in N scale, I worked with Alan Curtis Models to develop the F30D flat car kit. This was the initial flat car used for TOFC service on the Pennsy, in 1954. Alan retired, but the kits are still available through N Scale Kits and the decals from MicroScale.
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The American Viscose Company, at Lewistown on my PRR Middle Division, was a manufacturer of rayon. It once employed over 3,000 people and eventually closed when Hurricane Agnes flooded the plant in 1972.
One of the raw materials for the manufacture of rayon is sodium hydroxide, more commonly known as "caustic soda". To prepare waybills, I used the Waybill and IndMan (free) applications from Shenware and the industry database (also free) from the OpSIG, I got a list of providers of caustic soda. One was Hooker Chemicals in Wilmington, CA.
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Today the missing link -- the scale track at Lewistown -- was installed.
This short piece of track, including two gauntlet turnouts and a gauntlet track, were built on the workbench due to its location on the model railroad. It was part of my presentation for my Model Railroad Engineer - Civil AP from the NMRA.
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Six Sinclair Refining Company tank cars came through Lewistown yesterday. As of 1950, Sinclair maintained the fourth largest roster of tank cars in North America (Interchange: Ownership of Tank Cars in 1950). They frequented Pennsy rails and Sinclair had a facility in Altoona, Pa.
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The Middle Division received four EMD F units yesterday. Though ordered only two years ago, I've been waiting for these spotting feature combinations for years! Thanks to Broadway Limited Imports, two vacancies in my motive power roster have now been filled.
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The Pennsylvania Midland's shops at Everett Terminal have completed painting of three Alco S2 switchers and four cabeese; the first to wear the new paint scheme of the railroad.
The Alco's -- numbers 50, 51, and 54 -- are the oldest diesels on the bridge line's roster. After applying the new scheme to #50, it was decided to move the road name lower and the cab number higher. However, management did not have the first unit relettered at this time.
Read more: Alco's and Cabeese Released from Penn Midland Paint Shop
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The Mechanical Department of the Middle Division has implemented new painting and lettering equipment and has had much success. An HP Color LaserJet MFP M281fdw provides the base, augmented by Ghost White Toner and MicroScale decal paper.
Read more: Custom Decals, White Toner, and a New Paint Scheme
