Welcome aboard. It's a brisk clear Friday in May of 1965. You are standing on the shores of the mighty Susquehanna River, just north of the state capital of Harrisburg, PA. The PRR, 'Standard Railroad of the World', has been crossing the river here on its way from the cities of the eastern seaboard to the midwest for 125 years. I am in graduate school in Philadelphia, and find this a fascinating train ride, with still-frequent through passenger and commuter service. Time will never change here, so relax, enjoy the Pennsy, and share the excitement of railroading recreated in N Scale.
As you enter this world of 37 years ago, you will see several layers of railroad. North (railroad west) is to your right. The depicted portion of the PRR begins east of Harrisburg, at a junction called Roy Interlocking. You first saw the famous Rockville Bridge, in full scale, crossing the Susquehanna River to the west bank. There the freight line from the huge Enola yard to the left, and the passenger and express line, from downtown on the right, merge. Banks Interlocking (tower and switches) is just north (west, remember) of Marysville and marks the end of this division and modeled portion of the PRR. From here the Middle Division goes to Altoona, PA on its way to Pittsburgh.
In the other direction, follow Rockville Bridge to Rock(ville) Interlocking. This is a model of the longest stone arch railroad bridge in the world, and is 25'1" in N scale. It carries four tracks, taking passenger and express trains from Harrisburg on to the Middle Division, and west. BUT, for our purposes, it also takes freight from Enola Yard back across the river to the Susquehanna Division. The bridge is the crossbeam of a mighty 'H'. The old Northern Central, now Susquehanna Division, continues along the east bank northward (yeah, yeah, west) to Sunbury, where the river splits into East and West Branch. You see this (eventually) right above Rockville Bridge, crossing the same river 60 miles upstream on a chain of brass double track trusses.
The Susquehanna Division continues west (!!!finally) through Northumberland, on its way to Milton and Montgomery, as far as Williamsport. There, several roads arrived from the north, including the New York Central. The Pennsy had a line up to Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario, and a heavy freight line over the Allegenny Mountains, the so-called 'low grade secondary' used by ore trains on their way through the junction at Sunbury to Bethlehem Steel. Back at the city of Sunbury, there are three important junctions with railroads serving northeastern Pennsylvania and the hard coal region of the Poconos.
The Susquehanna Division is the creation of Division Vice-President Bob McKay. He is glad to issue a pass over these rails. Work night is Monday at 7:00 PM, with crew sought for carpentry, wiring, scenery and model building. This is a VERY diverse hobby, and you may find many parts of it exciting. We look forward to operating as a prototype railroad the first Friday of each month, beginning at 6:00 PM. Operating Sessions are four hours long, and follow rules and proceedures authentic to the period. Aha, we can use historians, as well as towermen, yard supervisors, and train crews.
Equipment is tested for conformance to standards set by the NMRA, of which Bob is a life member and active convention attendant. Micro-Trains couplers are used on all cars and engines, or groups of cars and engines. Control will be DCC, assisted on the main line by computer so that we can pay attention to our handheld electronic throttles, and signal indications. Headsets keep us in touch with the dispatcher, who really has the final say about what goes where.
There is a waybill for every load, and a purpose to every movement. Various industries on-line and interchange traffic off-line combine with published schedules of through freight and trainloads of extras. Coal, ore, and grain trains slowly work their way in every direction through this busy traffic. Then we add plenty of fast passenger trains, the 'Blue Ribbon Fleet' and locals, auto and trailer trains, and unusual high and wide movements, or business and sports specials.
They all travel on code 55 and 70 flex track as appropriate, through Peco and Micro Engineering switches, on specially designed shelf-type benchwork. Scenery is foam based for light weight. Lighting is overhead florescent. Aisleways cover the 25x55 foot finished basement, and always represent the Susquehanna River, to aid in orientation. We'll keep you tuned to the statistical totals of track, switches, cars, etc. Those figures are impressive, but only the quality of operation and visual presentation count.
Welcome aboard to a time when freight and passenger tracks were still in place on the great broad way of the PRR. Freight and passenger trains kept tight schedules, with full crews, long trains, and lots of switching. Every passenger train were switched or terminated in Harrisburg. Through trains, both freight and passenger, got an engine change, diesel or electric. Large facilities for steam, electric and diesel serviced all power units. Industrial tracks buzzed with activity, as local industry still shipped by rail. It was the best of times as I remember them before the ill-fated merger of Penn Central. It was a time when I was free to visit rail facilities, including every tower from Zoo in Philly to Cresson, every engine house from 56th Street to Altoona Works, and ride every train on the division at half price. If only I had a better camera back then. But I have something even better now. I can recreate in scale, and run what I once saw and rode.
Copyright 1996 - 2008
Last modified: November 23 2007.
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