The Pennsy Modeler
In order to portray Pennsylvania Railroad and interchange partners as accurately as possible, this blog contains articles which are essentially notes to myself, but are shared should the community desire the same information.
Articles are sorted by modification date, so if an existing article receives an update it will be presented at the top of the list again.
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The Pennsy was known to operate on its rails locomotives which it did not own. These inclued railroad test units, builder test units, demonstrators, and leased units.
Railroad Test Units
July and August, 1924: The PRR borrowed a 37-ton GE gas-electic at the piers in New York City.
1937: The PRR borrowed an EMC 600 hp switcher for potential use at the General Motors plant in Linden, New Jersey. The Pennsy purchased the unit afterwards -- Class ES6 #5911.
1947: The Pennsy tested an F-M H20-44 as a potential helper west of Altoona. They eventually went with EMD F3's for this purpose, in an A-B-A configuration.
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While a student at the Pennsylvania State University in the 1980s, I became aware of the Bellefonte Central Railroad, an 18 mile shortline that ran between State College and Bellefonte, Pa. At Bellefonte, the BCR interchanged with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the outside world.
In 2007, Mike Bezilla and Jack Rudnicki published a book entitled "Rails to Penn State: The Story of the Bellefonte Central". The book was an amazing read, and I was particularly drawn to a chapter highlighting excursion trains over the line. One, in particular, occured when United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited his brother, Milton, who was president of the university at the same time.
"Ike" made several visits to Penn State, but only once by train. The accounting of the trip furthered my interest in not only this particular outing, but in POTUS (President Of The United States) trains in general.
The president arrived in State College by train on May 9, 1953. In addition to the presidential car Ferdinand Magellan, there were six additional cars on the POTUS special: four Pullmans (McKeefry, Holbein, Glenn Cliff, and Flotow), a lounge car (Afton Canyon), and PRR diner #7966. The train carried about 65 passengers.
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Alco S-1 and S-3, Class AS6
Alco S-1 and S-3 were the same, except for the trucks.
| Road Numbers | Qty | Model | Delivery | HO Scale Models |
| 5954-5956 | 3 | S-1 | 5-6/47 | Life Like Proto 2000 (5955) |
| 9100-9103 | 4 | S-1 | 2-3/49 | Life Like Proto 2000 (9100) |
| 9237-9246 | 10 | S-1 | 3-5/49 | Life Like Proto 2000 (9238) |
| 5661-5670 | 10 | S-1 | 5-6/50 | |
| 8873-8885 | 13 | S-3 | 11/50-3/51 |
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GE 44 Ton, Class GS4 / GS4m
| Road Numbers | Qty | Delivery | HO Scale Models |
| 9325-9328 | 4 | 11/47 | Bachmann (9326) |
| 9328-9349 | 22 | 9-12/48 | Bachmann (9337) |
| 9312-9321 | 10 | 3-4/49 | |
| 9322-9324 | 3 | 4-5/49 | |
| 9350-9356 | 7 | 5/49 | Bachmann (9351) |
| 9357 | 1 | 2/50 |
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The Pennsylvania Railroad had operated a specially designed car constructed on a flat car. It's purpose was to accurately measure the distance above and/or adjacent to the tracks of bridges, tunnels, stations and rock cuts, etc.
The demaind for increased speed to shorten travel time in both present day industry and the business world has caused the railroad to provide more clearance for movement of equipment. The trend to larger equipment such as locomotives, passenger & freight cars and larger loads in open top cars has made the gathering of clearance information an area of growing importance. The Pennsylvania has spent millions of dollars to increase clerances for handling traffic. In the 1950s alone, the Panhandle Division tunnel project between Pittsburgh, Pa., and Dennision, Oh., cost over $8 million.
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FM H10-44, Class FS10
| Road Numbers | Qty | Delivery | HO Scale Models |
| 5980-5986, 9184-9199 |
23 | 6-9/48 | Walthers (5980, 5986) |
| 9288-9299 | 12 | 3-4/49 | Life-Like Proto 2000 (9291, 9298) |
| 9080-9099 | 20 | 7-11/49 | Walthers (9086) |
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The Alco PA1 is considered one of the most attractive passenger locomotives ever built.
Alco FA1 / FB1, Class AF15
Classified as AF15 on the Pennsy.
| Road Numbers | Delivery | HO Scale Models |
| 9600A-9603A 9600B-9603B (even) |
7-8/48 |
Precision Craft Models (9600A, 9600B, 9601A, 9601B) Life Like Proto 20001 (960A, 9603B) |
| 9604A-9607A 9604B-9607B (even) |
3-4/50 | Life Like Proto 2000 (9605B) |
| 1 Model lacks Trainphone per prototype. | ||
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EMD SW / SW1, Class ES6
| Road Numbers | Qty | Model | Delivery | HO Scale Models |
| 3908 | 1 | SW | 8/37 | |
| 5910 | 1 | SW1 | 8/42 | |
| 5944-5946 | 3 | SW1 | 6/46 | |
| 5947-5951 | 5 | SW1 | 6-7/46 | |
| 5952-5953 | 2 | SW1 | 10/47 | |
| 5987-5999 | 13 | SW1 | 3-4/48 | |
| 9137-9154 | 18 | SW1 | 4-10/48 | Walthers (9137) |
| 9104, 9200-9203, 9205-9209 |
10 | SW1 | 4/49 | |
| 9396-9428 | 33 | SW1 | 7-11/50 |
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Lima 2500 HP Transfer Unit, Class LS25 / LS25m
| Road Numbers | Qty | Class | Delivery | HO Scale Models |
| 5671-5683 | 13 | LS25 | 5-7/50 | |
| 8943-8951 | 9 | LS25m | 5-9/51 |
Baldwin RT-624, Class BS24 / BS24m
| Road Numbers | Qty | Class | Delivery | HO Scale Models |
| 8952, 8953 | 2 | BS24 | 7/51 | |
| 8954-8965 | 12 | BS24m | 8-11/51 | |
| 8724-8731 | 8 | BS24m | 9-12/52 | |
| 8113 | 1 | BS24m | 2/54 |
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Baldwin VO-660, Class BS6
| Road Numbers | Qty | Delivery | HO Scale Model |
| 5907 | 1 | 3/42 | |
| 5908, 5909 | 2 | 10/42 | |
| 5932-5937 | 6 | 9-10/42 | |
| 5941-5943 | 3 | 10-11/45 | Bowser (5941) |
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When planning to model the Pennsy during the post World War II era, there are certain parameters which you may or may not wish to consider when selecting a year (or years) to depict. Among them may be paint schemes, specific models of diesel locomotives, specific models of freight cars, etc.
The graph below illustrates when certain features of the Pennsy came into play, or faded into history.
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