Engineering Blog
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It's been a very productive quarter on the Middle Division. We are getting closer and closer to completing the missing link -- the scale track at Lewistown. Once completed and installed, the yard will connect with the branch and we can start looking forward to operations!
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Found a great solution for offline staging/storage of rolling stock... This cart from Michael's has ten drawers, each of which can hold 10-12 transition era freight cars. That's 100-120 overall! Being on wheels, it can also be wheeled easily around the train room. A layer of bubble wrap protects the cars and keeps them from jostling about.
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I've known Dan Cupper -- noted railroad author and historian -- for about 25 years now. More recently, Dan retired as an engineer for Norfolk Southern.
I learned early on that Dan was a Lewistown native, and he became very helpful in my research for the model railroad. In 2019, he joined me on a field trip to visit areas that I will be modeling and to take measurements of numerous structures that remain.
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The Chief Engineer reports continued progress this quarter. Your management traveled to Springfield, Mass., for the Amherst Railway Society's Railroad Hobby Show in January. Numerous group activities were held for members of the AML Nation (group photo above).
Highlights of the quarter include the renovation of LEWIS tower, new storage in the warehouse, and the opening of the Lewistown Yard. Photos of each are included below.
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Lewistown, like dozens of other locales across the Pennsylvania Railroad system, had a track scale for weighing of cars loaded with bulk commodities. In the case of Lewistown, the predominant cargo was limestone from the multiple quarries on the Milroy Secondary.
This article follows my build of the Lewistown scale house and its gauntlet track. As an aside, this project will be presented towards my NMRA AP certificate in Civil Engineering which requires three scratch built track items. This project will address two: gauntlet switch and gauntlet track.
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The Chief Engineer reports much better progress this quarter, especially in the Lewistown Yard. Ballast has been completed between the tracks, on the tracks of the main line arrival/departure yard, and the branch arrival/departure tracks.
In the image above, the four tracks at upper left are the main line tracks. In the distance above center is the main line arrival departure yard. Left to right, then, are 11 classification tracks. They have not been ballasted yet. Then two branch arrival/departure tracks, and finally a thoroughfare track.
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The Chief Engineer reports mixed progress this quarter.
All QC issues with trackwork and turnouts in the Lewistown Yard have been resolved. In one very frustrating scenario, a diverging route was generating constant shorts, with no visible sign of cause. Out of frustration, the rail was removed from the ties and manually replaced. Fixed the issue. Go figure!
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The Chief Engineer reports substantial progress this quarter.
All QC issues previously reported on the Milroy Secondary have been remediated. The secondary is ready for another QC session.
All switch machines have been installed in the Lewistown Yard and are ready for cabling to be installed. There is one troublesome switch machine and two shorts remaining to be remedied.
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The PRR Middle Division in HO Scale has finally found a software solution to meet its needs!
Over the years, I've developed three specific needs for computer aided design (CAD) applications. However, each need previously required its own unique software, each with accompanying learning curves.
For my NMRA AP in Civil Engineering, I need to create a drawing of my layout. Heck, I want one regardless of the AP. I've been a registered user of 3rd PlanIt and have tried other free demos as well as open source offerings. I found them all clunky and with a cliff of a learning curve.