Blog
This blog is limited to articles; random photos or quick updates are posted to the FaceBook page.
Blog entries from August 2017 and earlier have been migrated from a former site and many of the images are incorrectly linked. These may be repaired over time.
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- Category: Mechanical Department Blog
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
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- Category: Engineering Blog
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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- Category: Engineering Blog
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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- Category: Engineering Blog
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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- Category: Engineering Blog
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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- Category: Engineering Blog
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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- Category: Public Relations Blog
The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society (PRRT&HS) held its 51st annual meeting May 15-19 in Lancaster, Pa. The event was hosted by the Philadelphia Chapter. Attendance was over four hundred.
The event kicked off on Wednesday evening with several hours of movies. I live too close to warrant a hotel, but too far to warrant the extra trip in, so I did not attend the first night.
The event kicked into full gear on Thursday, with concurrent sessions running from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. with breaks for lunch and dinner. There were 24 unique clinics with most presented twice, so it was relatively easy to work out a schedule.
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- Category: Engineering Blog
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.
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- Category: Engineering Blog
The Chief Engineer recognizes that he has not been timely in his posting of quarterly construction updates.
2018 witnessed two surgeries and irregular work on the railroad. As for Q1 2019, there was no work on the railroad following foot surgery in December. However, work was completed in the car shops.
Q2 will yeild progress in the Lewistown Yard area, as well as cleaning up a few QC issues previously noted on the Milroy Secondary.
Here is the full Report of the Chief Engineer.