Tuscarora Railroad

EBT #7

2011-12-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

In 1881, the East Broad Top RR found itself in need of a new locomotive. Naturally they turned to their good friends in Philly at Baldwin to see what they could do. Baldwin delivered a new 2-8-0, built to the same drawings as the D&RGW's "70-class," later designated their "C-19" locomotives. This loco featured 37" drivers, and developed nearly 19,000 pounds tractive effort--more than twice that of any of the EBT's other locos. The loco, named "Aughwick," would serve on the railroad until 1913, when it was sold to the Ohio River & Western RR. It survived on that railroad until the line ceased operations in 1931, having the dubious honor of pulling the last train.

Number 7 went through a series of mechanical and cosmetic changes over the years. The photo above shows the loco shortly after delivery. In the mid 1890s, the loco received new main rods that connected to the third driver instead of the second. Some reports indicate this was done so to try to smooth the ride. Whether this was effective or not is lost to history, but #7 appears to never have been known for comfort.

In the late 1890s, #7 ran headfirst into #8, causing significant damage to the front ends of both locomotives.

But perhaps the most notable change to #7 came in 1908, when it was being stored inside the EBT's paint shop when the shop burned down.

Damage was significant, as this photo shows. Seemingly all of the wood parts on the loco were badly burned. The tender tank appears to have suffered a great deal as well, though it's unclear how much damage the tender frame would have incurred.

After the fire, the EBT rebuilt #7, with a new steel cab--a curiously tall affair presumably built by Baldwin, as it strongly resembled the cab on #11, which they were building for the EBT around the same time. Unfortunately, no photos of #7 in service on the EBT after its rebuilding have come to light, so its post-fire appearance remains something of an enigma.

This is the "next" known photo of #7, taken after it was purchased by the OR&W. It was originally numbered #14 on that railroad, and later changed to 9669 after the Pennsy took over and renumbered all the locos.

What's not known is when the tender behind #7 was changed. The tender that's seen behind it on the OR&W has all the hallmarks of a Pennsylvania RR tender as opposed to a Baldwin tender. Most likely, the EBT kept the original tender (maybe putting it on a new frame after the fire), but the OR&W replaced it with a larger capacity tender.

The Model

I've always liked #7, and when Accucraft came out with their D&RGW C-19, I was seriously considering saving my pennies for one. Alas, when I saw the model, I realized I'd have to make changes to many of the details to get it to resemble the EBT's locomotive. That's normally not a problem for me, but there was just something about buying a $2,500 locomotive only to not use the vast majority of it that didn't sit well even with me (the CFO notwithstanding). So, despite my desires, that option was out.

The next option was to scratchbuild one. Only one problem... I hate scratchbuilding locomotive drive mechanisms. Yeah, I can do it, but it's just not the tops of my "fun" list. So anything that requires such an effort gets bumped down below other projects that don't require such tedious measures.

Enter Barry's Big Trains. I had always heard good things about the quality of his drive mechanisms, but didn't have any firsthand experience with them until I built my EBT #3. That, a subsequent remotoring of TRR #3 with one of his replacement gearboxes, and tweaking a friend's 4-6-0 chassis sold me on the quality of his stuff. The things are about as top drawer as you can get. Strong motors and gears, and very smooth operation allowing for very slow speed starts and stops. So, after a short period of boredom not having a locomotive project to work on, I e-mailed Barry the drawings for #7, and ordered a custom chassis from him.

After a few months wait (well worth it), this is what arrived in my mailbox. The drivers are Barry's custom-cast 36" drivers--technically 1" too small, but you have to consider that locomotive drivers were frequently shopped and resurfaced. It wasn't uncommon for driver diameters to vary as much as 3" to 4" from what was specified before the drivers had to have new tires fit to them.

Next, what to do for the cylinders, valve gear, and all that fun stuff. As luck would have it, I had a somewhat surplus locomotive that could be used for this project. My model of "old" Tuscarora RR #2 (as opposed to the 1920s version documented elsewhere in this blog) hadn't turned a wheel in quite a while. In truth, I was never 100% satisfied with how that loco turned out, and after gutting the old R/C electronics out of the tender, I was on the fence about what to do with it. After doing some quick measurements, I discovered that the cylinders, valve gear, and domes from that loco would be almost spot on for #7. So, #2 got scrapped, with its parts now being used for #7.

If I were to model #7 as built, I could have used the main rod from the 2-6-0. Since I'm modeling the loco as it presumably appeared after the 1908 fire, I needed a longer main rod. By happy coincidence, the main rod from the Bachmann 4-6-0 was nearly a perfect fit. It's actually about 1/8" too short, but it's not noticeable. The only thing is that the crosshead nearly touches the back of the crosshead guide support (whatever that's called--it's escaping me right now).

Here's a view inside the chassis at the valve gear. My original thought was to just use the Bachmann valve gear as it came off the locomotive, but there were clearance and fitting issues to deal with. When combined with the fact that no one would actually see the valve gear because it was behind the frame, I decided to simplify things, and just modify the eccentrics so they simply moved back and forth without any kind of working reverse mechanism. I also had to grind the top of the rods down so not to rub on the cap of the frame.

The boiler is formed from a section of PVC pipe. The pipe itself is too small, but the PVC pipe couplings were the right diameter. So I cut a bunch of rings out of some couplings, then placed them at points where domes, handrail stanchions, and other fittings would be attached to the boiler. The aluminum foil tape at the end is to simulate the boiler jacket folding down over the lagging.

Here's the progress to date. The cork wrapped around the smokebox is to expand that to the proper diameter. The black tubing for the smokestack, headlight, and pilot are just fillers for aesthetic purposes. They'll be replaced by pieces that better match the prototype.

More updates as events warrant.

EBT #12 arrives on the Tuscarora RR

2011-08-20T18:43:00.000-06:00

The Prototype

East Broad Top #12, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in December, 1911. Delivered to the railroad in January, where despite derailing on its maiden trip, became one of the favorite locomotives on the railroad. It ran until 2000 when mechanical issues sidelined it. It sits quietly in the Rockhill Furnace roundhouse for some glorious day when the funds are available to begin its restoration.

The prototype has 48" drivers, and developed 22,000 pounds tractive effort. It's a bit smaller than a K-27, though the boiler sits higher due to the larger diameter drivers. As seen in the photograph here, the locomotive was delivered to the railroad in Baldwin's "standard" olive green paint (reportedly a very dark green that only looked green in bright sunlight), plannished iron boiler jacket, and "chrome yellow (orange)" lettering. (Chrome yellow was a color that could vary from yellow to a very deep red-orange.)

The locomotive was an outgrowth of EBT #11, a 2-6-2, and the first EBT locomotive to sport a trailing truck. This advancement allowed for a much wider firebox, thus more efficient steaming. Number 12 proved so successful that it spawned 5 additional mikados on the EBT. Numbers 14 and 15 were a little bit larger with a higher capacity tender, and numbers 16 - 18 were larger still, with superheaters and piston-valve cylinders--every bit as modern as their standard-gauge contemporaries.

The Model

Accucraft's long-awaited live steam EBT mikado finally arrived here in Colorado last week, after over 4 years of waiting from when it was first announced. When it arrived, I was very impressed with it. Compared to published drawings, the locomotive was very close to the prototype (within 1" on most dimensions) and it just captured the look of an EBT mikado very well. (And it ran well to boot!) Accucraft decided to offer the model in the "tourist" paint used by the EBT, resplendent with brass boiler bands, white trim, and red cab roof. While certainly attractive, and easily argued that it's the paint worn by the locomotive for over half its life (from 1960 to present), it's not accurate for the time period I model--the early 1910s. So, after I finished shooting all the photos and video for its review in Garden Railways, it was straight to the paint shop for a proper dose of "reality."

A few issues popped up that needed to be addressed. First, if I were to take the locomotive all the way back to its "as built" appearance, I'd have to remove the generator and one air pump, which would mean doing a bit of re-plumbing with regard to the air lines. Certainly nothing I couldn't do, but did I really want to? Second, I'd want to use the dark green paint I've been using on my other EBT locos of that time period to match Baldwin's olive green. That would mean repainting the loco pretty much from head to toe. Again, I could do it, but then I'd have to re-letter the loco. Now, foreseeing this issue a few years ago, I had some custom dry transfers made up for a bunch of EBT locos. Unfortunately, I made the "12" on the side of the cab the same size as the numbers on the cabs of the other EBT mikados, which it is not. It's smaller. So if I were to re-letter the loco, the numbers would be wrong, and that bugged me. Also, I like working headlights on locomotives, and the only way to get power to the headlight to this locomotive is to run a wire outside the boiler to it. So a visible electrical conduit would be necessary. If I backdated the loco all the way back to 1911, the conduit would not be prototypical. However, if I modeled the loco as she looked in the 1920s, then I could use the conduit that's on the prototype to run power to the headlight. So, 1920s it was, then. While I have no historical proof, I'm making the presumption that in the 1920s, the loco very likely still had its planinished iron boiler jacket, and that the dark green paint would either have weathered to a black with 10 years of coal dust, etc., or would have been repainted black by the shop crews as part of their routine maintenance. That allowed me to keep the factory finish on the cab and tender.

After two evenings of work, #12 emerged looking quite a bit "younger," if looking older at the same time.

If there was one "novel" technique I used on this loco, it was my technique for doing the plannished iron jacket. I usually use one of two methods for simulating this material; either blackened brass sheet or Testors' "Model Masters" buffable Gunmetal paint. Both give a very close impression of what a true plannished iron boiler jacket would look like. The problem on this locomotive was that for me to do either of those techniques, I'd have to strip a bunch of stuff off the boiler, and I wasn't about to do that. So, I experimented with powdered graphite; the stuff that comes in small tubes for lock lubricant. I'd used this before for smokeboxes on my live steamers with fairly good results. I swabbed the graphite on the boiler, then rubbed it in with a paper to even the finish out a bit. Then I painted over it with a clear acrylic to seal it in place. The result is very convincing. It's a bit darker than the gunmetal paint, but still has that nice reflective quality to it.

The smokebox got painted black. I started with a coat of Badger's "ModelFlex" Gloss black. This is really good paint, if you've never used it. It's designed to be airbrush-ready, but brushes on very well, often covering in one coat and leaving no brush strokes. It sticks to the factory paint very well, though I did have to scuff up the white trim with some steel wool so the paint would stick to that. Once that was dry, I weathered it with flat black paint. (The Folk-Art brand flat acrylics I use didn't stick to the factory paint worth a darn, but stuck to the gloss black paint very well.)

I also used the same paint on the rims of the wheels. This is always a bugger to get paint to stick to, because the ballast reaches up and scratches the paint no matter what. But this stuff sticks very well. It also sticks well to the valve gear, which got painted black to match the prototype.

Some other views of the loco:

I can't take credit for any real cosmetic work on this model. Accucraft did such a good job with it, there was really very little for me to do in terms of actual "modeling." I added some details, but that was about it.

First, there was the extension rods to reach the injectors. Many locos have the injectors inside the cab where the engineer and fireman can physically reach them. The EBT ran control rods to them.

I also added sanding levers to each of the two sand domes. These were on the engineer's side only.

I replaced the couplers with Accucraft's 1:32 couplers, since they scale out spot on for the 3/4-sized couplers used by the EBT. For the front, I just cut off the shank, drilled a hole, and stuck it in. There's not a lot of room for side-to-side swing in that front pocket anyway, so I figured I wasn't losing much if anything. It's really no more rigid than the stock coupler. On the rear, I modified the stock draft gear to fit the coupler pocket, so I have more swing on the tender.

The ModelFlex paint is very thin, so when I painted the plates on the front of the two airpumps, it settled down into the valleys, leaving the raised parts to be easily read (with a magnifying glass). It really helps those plates blend into the rest of the model.

And finally, some shots of #12 with a proper train behind her. (I must confess, I didn't actually steam the loco for these photos.)

Westbound on the north leg of the Neelyton wye

Coming into Blacklog

And eastbound again, headed back to Neelyton

Next is to install the R/C for the throttle and direction, and to wire the headlight and possibly the class lamps. That'll probably be a fall/winter project. For now, the locomotive has that "workhorse" look I was after, capturing the essence of the EBT mikados in regular service.

A Little Press in the Gazette

2011-05-23T02:02:00.000-06:00

The Tuscarora Railroad was featured in the June/July 2011 issue of the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. For those unfamiliar with this publication, it is arguably the premiere publication for narrow gauge model railroad enthusiasts, and features some of the highest-quality modeling you'll ever find in model railroading. I consider it quite an honor for the TRR to be featured in its pages.

Of course, print has its limitations--the most pressing one being space. I compiled over 50 photos for consideration when I put my article together, and pared that down to around 30 or so when I finally submitted it. The article pulled around a dozen of those shots, leaving many left "on the cutting room floor" as they say in my business. (I'm really not sure what the print equivalent of the cutting room floor is, come to think of it...)

Fortunately, I'm not so limited here, so without further ado, I swept up the proverbial cutting room floor, and present to you the photos that didn't "make the cut."

Tuscarora RR 2-8-0 #3 leads a short train into Blacklog

EBT Caboose #26 was built by the railroad from a surplus flat car in 1905. Newspaper accounts allude to it being quite a rough ride, and at some point in its life, it was fitted with surplus passenger trucks presumably in an attempt to smooth out the ride. It would be rebuilt--possibly at the same time--with a round roof and no center cupola, and would last in work service until the early 1950s.

Somewhat uneven and weed-grown tracks are the norm for the TRR's right of way. Speeds are low anyway, so this typically isn't too much of an issue. Here, TRR #3 brings its train into Neelyton. The bridges in the foreground cross Trout Run.

EBT caboose #26 brings up the rear on a train of empty hoppers being returned to Rockhill Furnace, so they can be filled once again at the mines in Robertsdale.

TRR 2-8-0 #3 running extra through the woods between Shade Gap and Neeleyton.

East Broad Top 2-6-0 #1--the EBT's first loco--prepares to leave Blacklog with a short passenger train.

This time, it's Tuscarora Valley 4-4-0 #5's turn on the daily passenger run.

Tuscarora Timber Co. #4, a Heisler, pulls into Blacklog late one evening. Usually the Heisler works the logging lines which feed into the TRR along the trunk route from Blair's Mills to Burnt Cabins, so its appearance on the Shade Gap Branch is a bit of a rarity.

TRR #3 has just spotted a flat car with fresh-cut timbers for the Beers & Green Woodworking shop at Blacklog. Beers & Green is primarily a pin mill, making small pins and dowels, but also turns out other finished wood products as demand warrants. A Wesley's Creamery truck waits at the Blacklog Depot to pick up a delivery of fresh cream.

East Broad Top 2-8-0 #3 pulls some empty wood hoppers west out of Neelyton, bound for the EBT. These hoppers are near at the end of their careers, as the EBT is busy replacing them with modern steel hoppers.

EBT #3 continues westbound, approaching Three Lick Creek before stopping at Shade Gap.

Fast forward a few years to 1927, and a rebuilt TRR #2 pulls its freight into Shade Gap. TRR #2 had just been in a wreck and was sent back to Baldwin for an overhaul.

TRR #2 leaves Blacklog.

There are also two videos I've posted on YouTube which I haven't mentioned here yet:

A Trip on the Tuscarora Railroad

Morning Mail on the Tuscarora Railroad

Good Grief! Is it Spring already???

2011-03-28T23:43:00.001-06:00

someone please tell me where Winter went?

My "to do" list for the winter

1) Bring in buildings and fit with LEDs for lighting.
2) Do some "urban planning" in Neelyton to take advantage of extra space gained from the plant that died.
3) Finish the 3 stillborn passenger car projects sitting on the shelf for the past 4 years.

My "to done" list for the winter

Oh, wait...

Well, in honesty, it hasn't been a totally wasted winter, but none of my "to do" list has yet been done. My LED lighting experiment has proven successful, and I'll write more on that in the future once I'm able to take photos of what I'm doing. Suffice to say, the Tuscarora RR is going green when it comes to lighting.

Okay, I have been doing some work. Hopper 162 in the background of this photo is chronicled in my last post, along with EBT 3rd #2. I've been doing some work, just not what I set out to do. The two hoppers in this photo are two more examples of projects that crop up to keep me from doing what I "said" I'd do.

The hopper on the left is an Accucraft 1:20.3 3-bay hopper. It just came onto the market in January of this year, and is a fairly accurate model of the EBT's ubiquitous 3-bay steel hopper. (There are some minor issues, but nothing that would keep me from proudly running a string of them.) The "biggest" cosmetic change to them is replacing the non-prototypic "C" channels that run across the middle of the car with proper lengths of rail. This is a pretty simple change to make. I just used a razor saw to cut out the old, cut off the "L" brackets to the side of the car, and then cut new lengths of code 250 rail to sit on top. I also changed the lettering of the car, as Accucraft's lettering isn't 100% accurate. I had given them correct artwork for the "acorn" herald and lettering, but for whatever reason they didn't use the artwork for the lettering. So, I sanded off all of the lettering but the acorn herald, and relettered it with proper artwork. The dry-transfer lettering I used is available from the Friends of the EBT Company Store.

The car to the right is the Bachmann 2-bay hopper, also based on an EBT prototype. The prototype is one of 4 2-bay hoppers built in 1930 specifically for the ganister rock quarries. The Bachmann model is fairly accurate for that car as well, but the lettering was all wrong. So, a little steel wool and denatured alcohol to get rid of all the original lettering, new dry transfers, and some weathering, and viola!

So far, I've done 4 hoppers (three 2-bays and one 3-bay) and will be adding a few more 3-bays to the roster over the coming months.

The other project I've been doing over the winter is modernizing my control systems. I've abandoned the old RCS "Elite" pushbutton control systems in favor of the newer high-end control systems from AristoCraft (Revolution), Airwire, and QSI. I particularly like the added functionality of these new systems, specifically adjustable momentum settings for smooth, slow starts and stops (though switching gets a bit more challenging) and the interaction these new systems have with the more modern sound systems from Phoenix and QSI. It adds a whole new dimension to running.

Currently, I've got the Revolution systems in my locos that have the "old" Sierra sound boards. The Airwire system drives my Phoenix sound boards, and the QSI is a throttle/sound board in itself. The benefits of each of these systems is a blog post unto itself, so keep checking back for that. Suffice to say there's no one clear "winner" system, and with each manufacturer continuing to up the ante, I don't think there will be any time soon.

I have managed to get out and run some trains over the past few weeks, even do a bit of early-Spring trackwork to take care of some trouble spots. I don't foresee a whole lot of other maintenance in terms of the railroad itself this spring, though the dry winter has taken its toll on some of my plants. I know I'll probably have to replace about a dozen shrubs. (Where'd I put that stupid receipt???)

Recent Projects

2011-01-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been two months since I posted anything here. It's not as if I haven't been busy in the workshop, though. Anyway, I'm writing this from a hotel in Durango, Colorado, which--as most know--is home to the Durango & Silverton RR. Alas, the trains aren't running on Mondays or Tuesdays, and even if they were, I don't have time to ride. (Oh, if I did, though... I am squeezing a trip to the roundhouse museum tomorrow morning before I leave town, though. It's not a total wasted trip.)

However, since I have absolutely no interest in what's going on on the BCS championship game that's providing background noise at the moment, (is it wrong that I want the Ducks to win for no other reason than they're named the "Ducks?") I figured it high time to update what's been going on in the EBT shops over the past few months.

First off, a little something to make things move...

I found this photo on a recent trip to the East Broad Top. It's the first photo I've ever seen of what would become the EBT's 3rd #2 while it was in service as the shifter at the Rockhill Furnace. (A job it would have for only a few years, as the furnaces shut down shortly after it arrived.) I had recently traded for a Bachmann 0-4-0T, and this was just the perfect project.

I wasn't expecting this to be an exact copy, because I didn't want to have to do such things as build a new cab or change the domes. But with a little bit of work, I got it pretty close.

The biggest cosmetic change was shortening the tank so it was no longer even with the front of the smokebox.

The tank itself was rearranged, too, so the bell and forward sand dome switched places. A thin wrapper of styrene sheet covered the seams nicely. The aluminum tape underneath holds the lead shot in place inside of the domes. I'm using a single 7.4-volt Li-Ion battery to power this, but to fit it, I had to remove the stock weight. It's so light that I need to add more weight so the loco actually pulls more than its own shadow.

The boiler and cab got lowered, too, bringing it around 1/8" closer to the ground. This was actually a surprisingly easy chore.

(Auburn just won. Bummer. Wait, I don't really care.)

New pilot beams complete the loco. This loco is manually controlled. It's my "someone's here who wants to see something run" loco. No pilot wheels to derail on switches, no need to have to carry a controller. Just put it on, turn it on, and set the speed. It's also got a MyLocoSound soundcard in it, and the switch on the right will blow the whistle.

Here's the "guts" of the electronics under the boiler.

Painting was fairly simple. I didn't need to paint the cab, since it was already black. The rest got painted with either Krylon's flat black primer or their semi-flat black. I must admit to being less and less enamored of Krylon's reformulation. It's definitely not quite as good as their old stuff.

Decals came off of my ALPS printer, using a font that was about as close as I could find to the original lettering. It's not perfect (do you know how much of a royal pain it is to find simple fonts on the web?) but it's close enough for me. I really hate decals, but sometimes they're a necessary evil.

Next came a bit of weathering, using my usual application of washes.

Finally, the finished product, ready to head out on the line.

The other "lastest project" is something of a conjectural model. Well not so much conjectural in terms of being purely freelance, but more in terms of it having roots in the prototype, but with a few liberties taken.

It started when I found an AMS D&RGW refrigerator car on sale at a really good price. It was the same length as one of the EBT's early "miners'" coaches, so I figured a new roof, some cut some windows in, and I'm all set. Alas, once I got the car home, I discovered the roof is all but permanently attached. So much for that project. So, what to do with a refrigerator car on a railroad that never had them?

The answer came not from ice, but from water. The EBT did have "water cars." These were ordinary box cars with roof hatches cut into them and drains installed in the floor for carrying water. In the dry summer months, the creek up in Robertsdale would sometimes not supply sufficient water for the boilers that powered the mine equipment, so the EBT loaded water into these box cars and ran them up the line. This happened as early as 1904, though it's likely the practice was older than that. The box cars would be sealed on the inside, some sort of baffling arrangement installed, and the car filled about 1/3 full with water via the roof hatches. Once in Robertsdale, the drains would be opened and the water drained.

In the 20s and 30s, these water cars were used for loading clay from the Shirleysburg clay mine. Again the roof hatches made for easy loading of the clay, though it was removed via the side doors.

So, I had this refrigerator car that was pretty in size to the EBT's "2nd-generation" box cars (though it sits around 6" too low), but has these roof hatches. Well, we don't *know* that all the EBT water/clay cars only had two roof hatches, one cut into the center of each end. Why couldn't the EBT have had borrowed from other railroad practice (they were good at it), and build a car with 4 hatches instead? Thus an idea was born.

So with a little bit of work, all the trappings of a D&RGW refrigerator car were removed, to be replaced with details consistent with an EBT 2nd-generation box car. After a bit of paint and weathering, this is what came about.

The lettering is from the FEBT Company Store. It's sold as hopper car lettering, but the EBT used the same style of lettering on all their freight cars.

Weathering is done with my usual mixture of acrylic washes and Bragdon's powders. These powders have a binder mixed in, so you don't need to seal them.

A little dry-brushing brings out some more detail, such as simulating chipped paint on the tin roof panels. All in all, not too bad for a "plan B."

Thoughts on the Season

2010-11-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

An unusually warm day (mid-70s) graced us here, so I seized on the opportunity to rid the back yard of its annual covering of leaves. It's so much nicer to do that when it's not 40 and cloudy, threatening to snow (or worse, after it snows, and the leaves are mushed down into every last crack and crevasse). And it being still warm in the evening after the kids went to bed, I decided it a fitting celebration of getting the leaves off the railroad to bring out a locomotive for what will most likely be the last regular operating session of the year.

As I sat and watched TRR #3 pull a short train around the railroad, I naturally got to thinking about what I managed to accomplish over the Summer, what I didn't, and things that are on "the list" for this winter and next year.

To start, let's look at the successes of the year. First and foremost was the transition to Lithium-Ion battery packs. This process began as an experiment last Summer with EBT #1 getting a 14.8 v, 4400 milliamp-hour Li-Ion battery pack in its tender, because there really wasn't room for anything else. This proved quite successful with 6 - 8 hour run times! So this Spring, my dad and I got to talking about batteries, and he was also looking to update his battery technology. We put in an order for some 14.8 v, 2600 mAh packs from all-battery.com. Once they arrived, I set about refitting my loco fleet with these new batteries. Unlike EBT #1, the idea was to make these batteries removable so once one died, I could just swap out for a fresh pack and keep running. Most of my locos were set up for this in one way or the other, so it wasn't too much work; just a matter of gutting the infrastructure for the AA-sized battery clips I had been using and replacing them with wiring for the new packs. (Hint - when wiring the packs, put the female plug on the battery pack and the mail plug on the electronics side. I didn't--because the hobby shop was in short supply of male plugs--and I've got to be darned careful when the packs are unplugged not to short out the ends.)

Suffice to say, the transition to the new battery technology has been really an unparalleled success. They really changed the way I run the railroad. The old batteries (Nickel-metal-hydride--NiMH) didn't hold a charge long-term, so if I wanted to run, I had to charge the batteries right before running. That wasn't a big deal if I knew I was going to be running, but it kinda took the spontaneity out of the equation. I couldn't really just throw something on the tracks on a whim. The Li-Ion batteries hold their charge long term. If I charge the battery and run for an hour or so, I can sit the loco on the shelf, come back two weeks later, and still have a really good charge on the battery. I could come home from work, grab a loco, and relax as it ran around the track. (Fortunately, the neighbors already know (a) I'm a bit eccentric, and (b) I work evenings, so seeing me out in the back yard with trains running at darned near midnight kinda goes with the territory. It proved very relaxing, I must admit. I have three packs in service, so the chances of all three being flat are pretty slim. They charge in just under 2 hours, and I get 3 - 4 hours service out of each pack before needing to recharge. On top of that, they're much smaller and lighter than any other battery technology I've ever used, so they fit in places where otherwise I'd have to get very, very creative.

Combined with the transition to Li-Ion batteries, I finally finished installing sound systems in all my locomotives. Most were old Sierra systems I've acquired from one source or another, but also used sound systems from Phoenix, QSI, Dallee, and MyLocoSound. All are good, and work well with the various control systems I currently use (RCS "Elite," Aristo-Craft "Revolution," and NCE's "G-wire" cab.) Being in a rather compact suburban setting, I keep the volume set quite low, but I prefer that anyway. Hearing the train's sounds fade away as it moves around the railroad makes the railroad seem larger than it really is. Nothing bugs me more than going to a railroad and hearing the train at the same--blaring--volume no matter where it is on the railroad.

Other successes, my slow transition to the Accucraft 1:32 coupler has been going along rather well. The couplers work great, though I've discovered the drawback of working cut levers when it comes to encroaching vegetation. It has the uncanny ability to reach out and grab the cut levers, pulling the pin and separating the train. I've learned this year to be a bit more vigilant in terms of keeping things trimmed. The downside--the pins aren't all that fond of getting wet. They rust and you've got to free them back up to work properly. All in all, though, I like them better than the Kadees, but admittedly not by too much. I suppose that's why I've been so slow to fully convert everything.

Failures--The loop at Neelyton. The end of it gets pretty constant sun, and is constantly working its way up and out of the ballast, despite my best efforts. I think next summer, I'm going to rip out the PVC pipe sub-roadbed and replace it with something a bit more substantial; something that won't constantly work its way out of the ballast. (The round cross-section of the PVC pipe makes it ripe for rising up.) I'd love to add another 12" or so to the radius of that loop, as at 10' it causes noticeable drag on the the train as it goes around. At first I thought it was a slight grade, but the train slows in both directions and the level shows it to be fairly even. That would require something of a significant rebuild of Neelyton, though, so unless I want to cut into the window well (don't think I haven't considered it) I'm unlikely to change that.

I'm also still a bit worried about the Blacklog depot. The interior walls have pretty much disintegrated, and at this point the only thing holding it up is the plastic veneer sheets. I'm going to leave it out this winter to see how it does. It can't get any worse...

Speaking of warping, I'm still at a loss to find a suitable roofing material for my structures. The masonite panels I used last year I knew were not a long-term solution. I replaced them this year with corrugated plastic--the stuff used for yard-sale and political signs. Others have reported a great deal of success with them. Not here. The stuff still wants to warp. My next solution next summer will be a product called "Gator-Plast," which I used for a small barn kit I did. It seems to be holding up rather well in terms of not warping, so I'll give that a go. I'm also going to use that to rebuild Blacklog depot if I need to. I'm pretty certain I can rebuild it without having to re-cut the veneer sheet.

So far as absolute flops, that's pretty much it for this year. I lost some plants, and my program of watering every night seemed to hit something of a snag when I found it just as much fun to actually run trains at night. Next year, I'll make sure I keep things at something of a balance.

In terms of next year, I'm already thinking of some ideas...

Neelyton will get something of an urban renewal makeover. I lost two rather large plants this year, opening up the center of the loop more than it ever has been before. This gave me a nice sense of depth that I think the loop needs. So on my "to do" list is to build a few generic buildings to occupy the space. I've got a few buildings that were product reviews that will give the town something of a start. The back edge of the loop will be lined with copious amounts of dwarf Alberta spruces, since they seem to thrive there, and I want to bring in a few tons of rock to try to hide the window wells and give some height to the loop to try better hide the fact that it is a loop.

Shade Gap is going to get some work, too, though not anything major. I want to yank some of the Turkish Veronica that's e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e, and see about getting some more thyme for some variety. Also, I want to rebuild the freight platform area so it looks a bit more tied into the depot as opposed to randomly sitting across the tracks.

Blacklog is actually in good shape (aside from the depot). I need to refurbish the Beers & Green woodworking shop because the wood platform base I built has warped, but that shouldn't be too bad. My biggest project there will be to re-hash the "garden" area of the loop. The Butterfly bush behind the bench just looks awful, so I want to get something bigger and more permanent in there, perhaps another lilac, as the one by the patio seems to be thriving. I've also got to do something with the scallions, as they're just getting too darned unruly. My "volunteer" mums this year were less than spectacular, so I think I'll pull them in favor of something a bit more bushier, too. Not sure yet, but I've got the winter to think on it.

In terms of the equipment on the railroad, it's in pretty good shape. I really need to get back going on my passenger car projects to finish the interiors of my coach and business car. I've also got a few other bits of rolling stock that I'm working on here and there; always something "in progress" on the workbench. Never a boring place, at least.

This winter--funds permitting--I'm going to replace all of my RCS controls with either Aristo's Revolution receivers or Airwire's "G2" receivers. Which ones depends on what sound system it would be controlling. The Revolution works well with the old Sierra systems, as well as Dallee and MyLocoSound, but the Phoenix really shines with the Airwire receiver. It's not that the RCS stuff hasn't served me well over the years, but the new systems have a much nicer user interface and some additional functionality the RCS stuff doesn't have.

That should keep me busy...

The story of East Broad Top caboose #4

2010-09-21T13:56:00.000-06:00

I'm not one to pass up a bargain if I think it can be useful. Such was the case this past June when I was at the Denver GRS swap meet, and I found an Accucraft 8-wheel caboose for $50. (Caboose Hobbies was "blowing them out" at $120, so this was a particularly good deal.) I was looking for a plastic caboose that I could leave out in the elements if I were running and had to go run an errand or such. My other cabooses are all wood, and they don't really play well with water; especially not some of the torrential downpours we can get through here in the spring and summer months. This caboose would work very well. Despite it being a D&RGW prototype, it had something of a generic look to it--kind of the "quintessential" caboose.

But since I model the East Broad Top RR, how would I justify such a caboose when there was no prototype for it? Well, as luck would have it, there may have been.

This is a photo taken c. 1913 on the EBT's southern end, believed to be around the town of Woodvale (Wood). It shows a medium-sized caboose that does not match any other photos of known cabooses on the EBT. It's too long to be one of two ultra-short cabooses built c. 1907 (unless they were not twins as is believed) and too short and has the wrong roof and cupola to be the 30' long caboose the railroad built in 1905 from a surplus flat car. It's unlikely that its any of the original 3 cabooses the railroad had, as they were all listed as "worn out" in 1890 corporate minutes. And it doesn't match a photo of another unidentified EBT caboose, as this one has an inset cupola, where the other has the side of the cupola integrated into the side of the caboose.

So, the photo is blurry, but knowing the length of the hopper cars in the train, we can estimate the length of the caboose to be around 23' long, with an 18' body. Hmm, that's got a pretty familiar ring to it... The D&RGW caboose is also around 23' long with an 18' body. The roof is the same, though the cupola is decidedly taller than that shown in the photo.

Well, ain't nuttin' a saw can't fix!

After a little work and a run-in with a lot of grime and coal dust, East Broad Top caboose #4 is now in service on the Tuscarora RR. The idea was to give the caboose a well used, not-quite-neglected-but-definitely-an-afterthought look to it--with much heavier weathering than what I have given my other cabooses.

Cosmetically, I didn't do a whole lot to it. The biggest work was on the end platforms. The end beams, well, I don't know what the pattern maker at Accucraft was thinking when they designed the end beams--they looked like stacked legos with five horizontal lines going all around. (You can see them barely poking out behind the brake staff) I filled this in with Bondo and sanded it to give it some more realistic wood grain. I also cut off the cast-iron "D&RGW-esque" coupler pocket, and replaced it with a much more EBT-esque block of wood. I also replaced the original full-sized coupler with a 3/4-sized coupler (Accucraft's 1:32 coupler as opposed to their 1:20.3 version). The cut lever is the same.

I thought about replacing the end railings, but opted for expedience at the moment because I didn't want to fiddle with a new ladder at the moment. Eventually I'll replace them. Eventually...

I cut rectangles of aluminum duct tape and put them on the roof to give it some needed texture. I just cut narrow strips next to the wood walkway, as I didn't want to remove it to put tape underneath. The walkway was also trimmed back even with the edge of the roof instead of overhanging as it did originally. A new smokestack was installed, too, because the original one found the portal to a parallel universe that exists somewhere in my workshop.

The caboose was painted with some shade of red I found at the craft store. It was actually a bit more "purplish" than I really wanted, but the paint that was in that particular shade didn't cover well at all. It works with the weathering, though, so I'm not complaining. Again, it adds to that "not-quite-neglected" look I was after. The windows were washed with a dilute black paint (as was the entire caboose), then wiped away in the center with a Q-tip. The caboose has a very rudimentary interior, but I didn't add to it. I just painted it light green and left it at that.

The cupola was lowered by cutting off around 3/16" of an inch just above the windows. I wanted to do a bit more to better match the proportions in the photo, but the trim around the window would have had to have been removed, and I didn't want to do that nor scratchbuild a new cupola. This was a "quick and dirty" project, after all.

Tomar marker lamps adorn the corners of the caboose. I removed the 12-volt bulbs and replaced them with LEDs. I also added two LEDs to light the interior of the caboose. They're powered by a 7.4 volt Li-Ion battery, which should last a good long while before needing to be recharged--I'm guessing based on current draw, somewhere around 100 hours or more.

The lettering is dry transfers, which have been lightly sanded to show some wear. They're available from the Friends of the EBT Company Store.

In the end, I got pretty much exactly what I wanted from this project. I got a weather-resistant caboose that can withstand getting rained on, looks good, and even matches our best guess as to what one of the EBT's cabooses may have looked like. Sure, there's a great deal of speculation in play, but what else can you do when your only source is a fuzzy photograph?

Railfanning on the TRR - 1913 and 1939

2010-07-14T11:43:00.000-06:00

EBT #3, one of the East Broad Top's first locomotives, pulls a train into Blacklog, Penna. By the 1910s, old #3 had proven too light for much of the EBT's daily traffic needs, but perfect for the lighter, shorter trains of the TRR. It was not uncommon to see EBT crews handling the traffic along the 10-mile Shade Gap Branch for the Tuscarora.

The Tuscarora Railroad never quite achieved the grand status of its neighboring East Broad Top RR in the photographic archives of history, most likely due to the fact that the short 4 or 5-car trains common to the TRR never had quite the dramatic flare of the 20-car coal drags that ran from Robertsdale to Mt. Union on the EBT. But that didn't mean it languished in relative obscurity. More and more photographs from "back in the day" come to light every year, showing what life along the TRR was like. Today, we offer two groups of photos, one taken in 1913, and a rarity--color photos (albeit a bit faded) showing the line towards the end of its operations.

Number 3 pulls its train through Blacklog Narrows. This is one of few rock cuts on the route of the Tuscarora RR. Most of it runs along the valley.

East Broad Top #3 was originally built for the Denver & Rio Grande RR, but that railroad deemed her too large for their rails, so Baldwin sold her instead to the East Broad Top. The design proved quite successful on the EBT, and they ordered two more. Number three outlasted them all.

The wood hoppers behind #3 would not be used much longer, as the EBT began replacing them with modern steel hoppers. The higher capacity hoppers would mean coal traffic to the local tipples would be even more uncommon, since the hoppers would not have had to have been delivered as often.

Back at Blacklog, EBT number 3 takes on water at the water tank. The TRR had the tank built here, fed from Blacklog Creek, so their locos wouldn't have to run the extra mile or so into Rockhill Furnace to use the EBT's watering facilities there. The EBT crews could have simply brought #3 into Rockhill Furnace to tie up for the evening and watered her there, but this was out of the way of the heavier traffic along the EBT's mainline, so it was easier to get water here and not have to worry about the other EBT trains.

With the tank filled again, the EBT crew's day on the Tuscarora RR is complete. They cross a quiet dirt road on their "last mile" back to Rockhill Furnace.

Fast-forward in the time machine another 26 years. It's now 1939, and--quite frankly--the Tuscarora Railroad really doesn't have a lot of time left. They're still living off the surplus they gained from the lucrative Pennsylvania Turnpike contracts the previous few years. (Their facilities at Burnt Cabins were--literally--right next to the turnpike, so they worked with the EBT to deliver countless re-trucked standard gauge cement hoppers and other construction equipment.) The Tuscarora Valley Railroad had closed up shop in 1934, so the line from Neelyton to Blair's Mills was already seeing less and less traffic. The Shade Gap branch to Blacklog (and Rockhill Furnace) became the TRR's real main line. Traffic was scarce, though, with trains running pretty much only when needed.

These photos came to light only recently. Color film had just become widely available in the past few years, so to have color images of the TRR in operation, even these faded copies of the original Kodachrome slides, is something special.

Tuscarora Railroad #2 originally came from the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina, where she served as their #2. In the 20s, she took a bit of a tumble and was sent to Baldwin to be rebuilt. It was quite the transformation--new cab, tender, domes, and a fancy new paint job. All spruced up and new, #2 would become the favorite locomotive of the crews in the later years. She was quick on her feet, had a very roomy cab, and unlike the very large outside-frame 2-8-2 the railroad purchased for Turnpike construction trains in the late 30s, very easy on the coal.

TRR #2 passes behind the old Neelyton schoolhouse on the north leg of the Neelyton wye. It was rare to see trains on this leg of the wye anymore, since the TVRR's abandonment 5 years prior. Trains still occasionally ran north to Blair's Mills, though very infrequently. Passenger service had all but evaporated by this time. If the train was running and saw someone wanting a ride, they stopped and picked them up. (It was up to that person to figure out how to get back...)

This photo shows the north leg of the wye a bit clearer, as the train sits on the south leg that leads to the three-track passing siding in front of the Neelyton depot. While largely unused, the TRR crews kept the wye in good shape because they used it to turn the larger #3 and #10, whose weight mandated sound trackwork.

Number 2 at Blacklog, ready to head back east, then south to Burnt Cabins. The wood freight cars were getting a bit old at this point. The EBT had updated their fleet to modern steel cars, and relegated the old wood cars to the TRR for their use. This was fine with the TRR, as by this time they didn't have to pay the lease fees they had been paying in earlier years. Essentially, the cars by this time were pretty much donated to the TRR.

Eastbound, crossing Shade Creek. The Howe truss bridge over the creek has seen better days, but a few cracked timbers on the bridge hardly gained status as an "emergency repair."

The last photo in this collection shows #2 pulling into Shade Gap.

Hopefully, more color photos of the TRR's later years will eventually come to light. It'd be a shame to think these are the only ones.

Night Running

2010-06-20T01:45:00.000-06:00

Since last summer, I've been experimenting with using Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries for my trains instead of the Nickel Metal-Hydride (Ni-MH) batteries I had been using. They're a bit more expensive (around $45 per pack or more for higher capacities), but they're much smaller and lighter, meaning I can squeeze them into much tighter installations. I bought a pack for EBT #1, and since last year it's been wonderful. It's a 4.4 amp-hour pack, and I'm getting 7+ hour run times with it. So, this spring, my dad wanted to buy some batteries for his railroad, so I piggy-backed on his order to get a "volume discount" (a whopping $2 per pack!), and decided to completely switch my entire fleet over to the new technology. This wasn't too terribly difficult, as the packs are smaller than the Ni-MH batteries they're replacing. I just had to go in and re-wire the power inputs.

The biggest advantage (besides size) of the Li-Ion batteries is that they hold their charge for a long time. They don't go flat between charging the way other batteries do. That means I don't have to "plan" to run my railroad by charging batteries 4 hours in advance. If I want to run, I just grab a locomotive off the shelf and put it down in the garden.

More often than not of late, this happens when I get home from work, which is usually around 11pm or so. I've always had party lights strung along the fence for night running, but it was usually just something I did if I'd been running all day. They cast a rather dim, warmly lit glow over the railroad which is quite nice to look at. (The photographer in me would prefer the cool look of the blue-ish LEDs for the overall light to mimic the moonlight.)

Anyway, running at night was a rarity, so I never really planned the railroad to accommodate night running. Only one of my cabooses has lights, none of my passenger cars do yet, and my buildings aren't lit, either. (None have interiors.) And all of a sudden, I find myself running more at night than I do during the day. It's really brought the lack of lights on the trains to my attention. I just bought a new caboose at a swap meet today, and it's going to have a rudimentary interior and lights. I gotta figure out how to get lights into some of my buildings, particularly my stations. I've got a bunch of "warm white" LED Christmas lights which are ideal for the warm glow of kerosene or oil lamps. (I model the early 1910s. Electricity had not yet made its appearance.)

So now, I'm contemplating ways to correct that. It's got to be simple, that's the issue. I don't want to have to turn on a bunch of batteries for each building. I want a "flick of the switch" solution. The rolling stock will get lights over time, but the buildings need something. (The flashlights shining in the back windows work great for photos, but...) I don't have a lot of buildings, either, but I can definitely see my scenes being brought to life by a light inside and a signal lamp on the outside casting a green and red glow down the line.

Spring Has Arrived, (and so has the work)

2010-04-19T00:00:00.000-06:00

Ah, there's nothing like Spring in the Rockies. 70 degrees one day, 12" of snow the next. But despite the up and down temperature, there's no doubt that the warm days make the sap rise, and push you outside to start tending garden.

Lots of dead stuff to get out of the way. I didn't get much cleaned out last fall, so much of what's there should have been dealt with a while back. On the other hand, I'm not much of a winter runner, so there's not a ton of incentive for me to keep the line open over the winter anyway.

One tip, though... if you do get some Fall cleaning done, don't forget to bring the trashcans around to the curb. To quote Princess Leah, "what an incredible new smell you've discovered!"

The most obvious "problem" from over the winter is frost heave. I've got some issue on the Neeleyton loop because I didn't use proper rebar to hold things into the ground, instead thinking I'd save a few pennies (literally, that's what the difference was) and use the green-plastic-coated garden stakes instead. Yeah... We're not doing that one again. The ballast will have to be excavated, the track reset to the proper level, and then reballasted. Methinks my Shop Vac is in for a workout one weekend sucking up ballast.

Yeah, at one point, the bridge timbers actually sat directly on top of that brick. Nature's pretty powerful, even in 1:20.3.

While not quite as bad, I'm going to have to reset this section, too. Don't know if it's just ballast subsidence or if the track has raised up.

On the structures front, there's some areas of concern. First is the Blacklog station.

I noticed midwinter that the door had fallen in. That didn't really concern me, since I knew it was just lightly glued in there in the first place. However, when I went to take a good look at it, I noticed the Fiberock panels I used for the frame of the building had begun to deteriorate. Bear in mind these walls were out in the garden with nothing protecting them for two years, often completely buried under the snow, so I was pretty confident in their ability to withstand the elements. However, on this particular building, the siding is peeling away from the frame, and the interior looks questionable. The other buildings done with the same stuff look okay, so I'm hoping it's an isolated incident. I really don't want to have to rebuild this station. (On the other hand, I'm trying some new stuff that--if successful--will change what I use for the frames. It's a styrene/foamcore material, so the buildings would be much lighter, but that's what anchors are for.)

Here's my water tower--same Fiberock frame, it's solid. Hopefully it stays that way. (I still need to replace the spout with a proper one, though. )

I've got lots of roofs to fix, though...

In fairness, I fully expected some of these roofs to be temporary. I used masonite, which is decidedly not weatherproof. But I needed to get something in place quickly for last year's Garden Railway Convention, so it was quick and cheap. The "tarpaper" tape was equally quick and cheap. It did the job, but it's time to do something more permanent.

In the "you get what you pay for" department, if you're going to use safety tread tape for your roofs (and it admittedly looks pretty darned good!), use the expensive stuff from Home Depot, not the $3/roll stuff from Harbor Freight.

It shrinks! (The "good" stuff is on the back side of the roof. Yeah, it's peeling, but the surface it was glued onto is not exactly smooth. I'd call the 1-800 number to complain, but I'm pretty sure I'd hear "well, idiot, what did you expect for $3/roll?" Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess... (I've also got to redo the decking on the platform. Warp city. I'll probably just rip it off and use Precision Products plastic veneer sheet instead. I don't know why this stuff warped like it did, but I know the plastic won't, and I can paint it fairly realistically; at least realistically enough to where you won't be able to tell from more than a few feet away.

Speaking of $3, here's why I don't like spending more than that on my plants:

Boxwoods tend to be hit-or-miss, as do dwarf spruces and--in truth--many other plants. I buy them at Lowes and Home Depot, where they have a 1-year guarantee. That way if they die, I can return them (assuming I can remember where I put the receipt. If--for whatever reason--I can't find the receipt or they die after the one year period, I always buy them on sale, when they're between $2 and $4 per plant. I don't like seeing any plant die, but I watched too many $40 - $50 shrubs from the local garden centers shrivel up and die, and they didn't come with guarantees. I maybe have a dozen plants on the railroad that cost me more than $10 each. Watch the sales and go cheap. You can do very well with not a whole lot.

Truth be told, it looks like I only lost a half dozen plants this winter, which is probably my best winter yet in terms of things coming back.

Speaking of things coming back...

Most folks consider mums to be annuals. If they are, they're apparently self-sewing, or I've got mutant mums. This is 3rd-generation. I'm not going to argue.

One thing I will argue with--though it's akin to yelling at a brick wall--is GRASS!!!

Why is it that my lawn has dead patches galore, but I can't keep the darned stuff out of the flippin' garden??? Do I just have to cover the entire back yard with tracks? (Okay, I'd do that in a heartbeat if I could, but my couch isn't terribly comfortable for sleeping.)

While it sounds like a lot of work, it actually doesn't take too long to start to get things in shape. A little cleaning, it begins to look sharp. (That's last year's unharvested carrot crop in the pile in the middle.) I actually had trains running today while trimming back some of the encroaching vegetation. That was followed by a relaxing evening watching EBT #1 quietly glide around the railroad in the soft light of my strings of party lights that hang from my fence. (Sorry, I didn't get photos.) I've got a few trouble spots in terms of areas in dire need of more ballast, but that's par for the course.

Now, if I could have only finished all the projects I wanted to get done over the winter...

Tuscarora RR #2, post-wreck

2010-01-31T01:18:00.000-07:00

The Wreck of TRR #2

It wasn't at all uncommon on narrow gauge railroads for locomotives to occasionally leave the rails for one reason or the other. Sometimes, there was no damage, sometimes just minor nicks and scratches, and others--well--let's just say today's insurance companies would declare the locomotive a total loss.

The Tuscarora Railroad is no different here. The victim in this instance, TRR #2, the 2-6-0 they purchased from the ET&WNC. It was in April 1923, and the spring rains had softened up the roadbed enough to where the weight of #2 pushed it just past that tipping point, and over went TRR #2. Damage to the locomotive wasn't all that significant in terms of the key components; the boiler and frame were found to be structurally sound, but the cab, domes, and tender were history.

Despite its age, #2 was still very much the favorite for the passenger trains, and refurbishing any of the other "spare" locomotives was not really much of an option. So, an order went out to Baldwin for some new parts. By July, 1923, TRR #2 was back in business, and considerably more modern than any other loco on the line at the time.

The model

When I built the model of the original TRR #2, I couldn't help but to wonder what it would look like if it were a bit more modernized. "Most" modern moguls such as those on the EBT, the Waynesburg & Washington, or other lines had more-or-less evenly spaced drivers, so I couldn't really find a specific prototype to give me any kind of an idea. However, the notion just stuck in the back of my head.

A few years ago, I entered a photo contest on the 1:20-point-me web site. The prize was a Bachmann 2-6-0, the same as what I used to build TRR #2. Alas, I didn't win. (I came in third, winning a flat car which ultimately became EBT caboose #26.) However, my friend and fellow modeler Bruce Chandler did. He, too, was wondering about what the mogul would look like if modernized. I had some parts left over from another project, and he and I got to thinking trade. I needed the old tender and fluted domes for another locomotive project (EBT #3), so it made perfect sense to just trade parts for parts. Well, Bruce ultimately decided that he didn't want to bother with that project, so offered to sell the locomotive to me at a price I couldn't refuse. So, now I had another Bachmann mogul which would soon be devoid of its tender, domes, cab, etc. So, what to do?

Why not modernize it myself? I had the necessary parts. So, the idea for a "post-wreck" #2 was born.

At the core, I did the same thing to this loco as I did to the original #2; replaced the original wagon-top boiler with a straight boiler, and added a new cab. On this one, I added all new "modern" fittings, though--new round domes, electric lights, generator, new stack, steel cab, and new pilot. The tender had to be built new since I'm using the original tender for EBT #3. Fortunately I had all these parts in my parts box.

Okay, not everything was in my parts box. I needed to build a new front pilot. Truth be told, I've gotten lazy of late. If I can buy a part that looks good for less than what it would cost me in terms of time to build the same (or similar) part, then I'll shell out the money. Caboose Hobbies had some Accucraft pilots, which they'd be willing to sell me for $60. Yeah, I think I'll pass on that one. However, on the next aisle over, they hade some Bachmann K-27 pilots for $17. Bingo! I cut around 1/2" from the center of it, and voila! That and an Accucraft 1:32 coupler (scales out to a 3/4-sized coupler in 1:20.3), and we're off and running.

I went back and forth on where to put the generator. Most locos have them next to the cab. I could have done that easily enough, but figured to do something just a bit different on this one. I wanted to preserve the open space between the cab and the steam dome for just the bell that the original #2 had, so it made sense to move the generator forward of the sand dome, where there was still room.

Yes, the "bailing wire" holding the steam line to the handrail stanchion is slightly out of scale, but it is prototypical.

On the other side, all the electrical conduit us modeled. I decided to run separate electrical conduit for this loco, mostly because I wanted to clutter the boiler up with some extra detail. It would have been just as common for the railroads to use the handrails themselves as conduits, provided they were hollow.

The stanchions are from a Bachmann Big Hauler, though I had to drill out the bases for brass pins to stick them into the boiler. (I don't use my lathe often, but it comes in handy for stuff like that.) The generator and headlight are also surplus Bachmann parts. The stack is an Accucraft C-16 stack. Smokebox cleanout plugs and other bits are Ozark Miniatures.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love doing locomotive plumbing, especially when it comes to dual air pumps? No? Well, there's a reason for that. I don't. I find it particularly loathsome, actually. Tedious, finicky, and an outright pain. But, a modern locomotive like this needs two air pumps to be able to keep the air tanks filled for not only locomotive brakes but train brakes as well. The steam turret just behind the bell will ultimately be plumbed to the air pumps.

I went back and forth as to what to do for a cab. I've got a bin full of Bachmann "Big Hauler" 4-6-0 cabs, but would a 1:22.5 cab work on a 1:20.3 locomotive? After all, this is the same cab I used when "downsizing" a 1:20.3 consolidation to 1:22.5. However, after consulting quite a few plans for narrow gauge moguls, I discovered that the cab scales out very well in 1:20.3.

You can see the construction of the boiler in this shot, too. It's a length of PVC pipe, which is wrapped in 1/16" cork "lagging." This is then covered with .005" styrene for the jacket. As per the prototype, the lagging only covers the boiler, not the smokebox. That's wrapped with .005" styrene, embossed from behnd with rivet detail, but the styrene is applied directly to the PVC pipe.

I also put some airtanks (again surplus from the Bachmann 4-6-0) under the cab.

The tender is from a Bachmann 2-8-0. I narrowed it around 1/2", and took around 1" off the length. The cuts are evident in this photo. They'll be filled with putty and sanded. The frame is scratchbuilt.

So, that's where this project stands so far. I've still got a good bit of work to do on it in terms of plumbing and detailing, to say nothing of painting it. For paint, it will get painted in the same green/black with silver striping as TRR #10. I'll also put sound and R/C in the tender.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

Snow and the Tuscarora Railroad

2009-12-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

People always ask me if I take the buildings in during the winter. Obviously from this photo, I leave them out, but more than evidence to the fact that I do leave them out, this photo illustrates why I leave them out. A garden railroad changes with the seasons. Spring, summer, and fall are dedicated to running as often as time permits. As often as not, when I'm running trains, I'll have the camera ready in case there's a particular shot that I want to get, be it because the lighting's just right or whatever. Winter is reserved for indoor activities--modeling, repairs, daydreaming. But that doesn't mean the railroad itself goes into hibernation. It's still very much Pennsylvania in miniature, and as I look out my kitchen window on the railroad, the buildings stand to complete the landscape. There may not be any trains running, but the buildings, track, leaf-bare plants all combine to create that reality of winter. Traffic on the TRR slows down in winter, and trains don't run every day. As such, a deep snow like this isn't remotely cause for concern for anyone. They'll just bide their time, watch the icicles form off the eaves, and when the snow melts, get back to business as usual. Such is the way of things. I know at some point, the snow will melt, and I'll once again be able to run trains. In the mean time, I'll enjoy watching the icicles form. It is winter, after all...

Big Power on the Tuscarora Railroad

2009-11-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

The Story of TRR #10

A K? On the EBT? Say it ain't so! Has the ownership sold out? Given up? What gives???

A little backgound...

Perhaps you recall last year when I "downsized" a Bachmann 2-8-0 to 1:22.5 for my dad's Woodland Railway. The result of that project was something of a brutish locomotive, whose proportions really struck a chord with me. That particular 2-8-0 came from a friend with whom I bartered services in exchange for that and two other locomotives (an LGB Mogul which became EBT #1 and a Bachmann "Annie" with a Barry's Big Trains 2-8-0 chassis, which is now in the process of becoming EBT #3. (Photos when there's something photo-worthy.) In exchange, I did a custom makeover for another B'mann 2-8-0 and a custom weathering job on a K-27. The intent of this project to have Jim come over and watch/learn/do some of the work through the process, though that has yet to actually happen.

Anyway, I sat down the other night to start weathering Jim's K-27, mostly just to try some techniques so I didn't look completely incompetent when Jim came over to weather the rest of it, and I really liked the way things were going. During this process, I kept looking up at the shelf in my workshop atop which sat another K-27. Now, I've been wondering just what the heck I'm going to do with this loco since it arrived. I don't model the D&RGW or RGS. My first thought was to do a weathering job on it and sell it. My second thought--after finishing dad's 2-8-0--was to lop off the rear truck, and make a 1:20 version of his 2-8-0. My third thought was to just let it sit there and use it for product review testing, etc--its purpose up to that point. Problem with that is that this K-27 weathering job was going so well that there was just no way I could let that one sit untouched. So, I'm back to the "weather and sell" scenario since I really don't have the time or inclination to do anything so drastic as lop off the rear truck. The fly in the ointment--Allison [i]likes[/i] the K. So, in the interest of peace and prosperity, it stays.

Ever since I did Jim’s 2-8-0 #350, I’ve been interested in doing a “modern” steam locomotive for the TRR; something with electric lights, generator--something that has that has that “look” of modern-ness that the fluted domes and plannished iron boiler jackets of the TRR’s fleet of locomotives lacks. I already had plans to “modernize” TRR #2, their old 2-6-0, but this presented me with another interesting opportunity--a chance to write another chapter of the TRR’s history.

Now, the issue becomes, how do I justify such a large locomotive on a rural railroad like the Tuscarora Railroad? It's definitely more power than that railroad would ever need.

Or is it?

The answer comes from a rather unlikely spot--the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 1937 and 1938 when the PA turnpike was being built, the EBT's terminus at Neelyton was the closest railhead to the turnpike through that part of Pennsylvania. As a result, numerous standard gauge cement hoppers (retrucked to narrow gauge at Mt. Union) and flat cars of bridge steel and other construction equipment passed through Shade Valley. It was a lot of traffic over a very little period of time (and--sadly--has mostly eluded railfans' cameras of the day). Recall that the Tuscarora Railroad is a physical manifestation of a railroad that was graded but never actually had rails laid. This grading went down to Burnt Cabins, PA (then continued south to McConnelsburg). Burnt Cabins is literally right next to the Turnpike, as anyone who's stayed at Ye Olde Grist Mill campground will attest.As a result of this revised history, the EBT's terminus at Neelyton is no longer the closest railhead. Rather, the TRR can deliver this freight right next to construction site.

But, oh dear me, the largest locomotive the TRR has is a 2-8-0 which--at a mere 20,000 pounds tractive effort--is surely not up to the task of pulling strings of retrucked standard gauge covered hoppers up and down the line. Besides, it's too busy carrying about the daily business of the railroad. Fortunately, the shrewd negotiating that served the railroad well in its construction hadn’t been lost 30 years later. The TRR negotiated freight rates with the contractors building the Turnpike such that they included a “retainer” curiously equal to the price of a new locomotive. (Well, not “new,” but new-to-the-TRR.)

Enter Tuscarora Railroad #10, built by Alco in 1927 to the same drawings as the D&RGW’s K-27 class locomotives. It was originally built for a railroad down in Alabama whose delusions of grandeur far exceeded its finances. As such, it never turned a wheel for them, rather sat unused waiting for a new buyer. (Records don’t indicate whether the locomotive was actually delivered and returned, or just never delivered). Ten years was a long time to sit, but not many narrow gauge railroads north of the border were buying motive power in the 30s. Most--sadly--were selling.

The TRR gave her #10 because she was that far and above anything else they had, they decided to give her a unique number.

The Model

There’s not a whole lot of “modeling” or real significant change to this locomotive. I wasn’t looking to eliminate any resemblance to the stock locomotive or anything so drastic, I merely wanted to give it something of a unique appearance. The version I had was #455 “post-wreck,” which had the tall steel cab, big snowplow, and taller-than-others tender. The tender I didn’t care about too much. The snowplow had to go. No railroad back east needed that much hardware on the front. The cab also sat a bit too tall for my sense of aesthetics. The roofline was definitely going to have to be lowered.

My first thought once I got the snowplow off was to just build something new from the partial pilot that was underneath the plow. Of course, that would have meant building a cowcatcher, which is just a bunch of tedious work that was more trouble than I wanted to put into this project. Thankfully, Bachmann sells the pilots for these locos individually, so for $17, why not? A quick trip to Caboose Hobbies to pick one up, and I was all set.

The coupler is an Accucraft 1:32 coupler, which scales out well for the 3/4-sized couplers used on the EBT and various other narrow gauge lines. The operating cut levers are cool. You don’t realize how small those couplers really are until you compare them with a full-sized coupler on the same pilot.

While I’m talking about the front of the locomotive, I should mention that I swapped out the stock LEDs for some of a more appropriate color. Last Christmas, I picked up a strand of 50 “warm white” LED Christmas lights on clearance for something like $4. These are small 2mm LEDs that come very close to the color of incandescent bulbs. They’re a direct solder-in replacement for the stock lights, and the effect is well worth the time. I removed the “visor” from the front headlight to give it a more “eastern” look.

While I had the class lights out, I took the liberty of coloring the rear-facing lens green. The way I figure, the lamp could be placed on the holder either white forward or green forward depending on which was appropriate. “Second section” trains on the TRR are virtually non-existent, and “extras” are more the rule than the exception, so white got to face forward. Sharpies are good. (The front number plate is a white-metal casting that was colored with a dark yellow Sharpie to give it the brass look.)

While at Caboose, I found some Alco/Schenectady builders plates, which I used to cover over the holes that held the snowplow stays. I could have filled them with styrene or putty, but this was easier.

I painted the boiler jacket green. This wasn’t so much an homage to the D&RGW, but to the 2-8-0 that I had done for dad. I liked the green jacket on it, and I just like the visual contrast in tones. This is the same shade of green I used on EBT #1, so it looks almost black in most light. I just brush-painted it on. The Badger ModelFlex paint is wonderful stuff. No brush marks at all. There were a few places where the finish was a bit uneven in terms of color, but that’s well masked by the weathering.

The cab of this loco was just too tall for my liking, which became especially apparent when sitting next to Jim’s K-27 with the wood cab. Fortunately, there’s about 1/4” worth of extra material that can be removed from the top of the cab without trouble. It makes a world of difference to my eyes. I added some “L” angle to form a rain gutter of sorts to hide the seam between the roof and cab side. I also removed the window shades. I think the cab just looks cleaner without them. (BTW, if you want to keep them but improve their looks, replace the paper with first-aid tape. Looks great!)

Although I was looking to make this loco “lose” some of its western identity, I found inspiration by looking even further west than Colorado. The lettering and striping come from the K-28 clones that ran on the Oahu Railway. They used a lettering font similar/identical to that used by a number of eastern railroads (including the TVRR and EBT).

Weathering on this loco was my usual mix of dilute washes and powders. The valve gear looks painted, but it’s just coated with a matte finish (ModelFlex’s Dull coat). It’s very good at toning down the brightness of metal valve gear.

The rear truck was fun to weather. When you see photos of K-series locos, the rear truck and area under the firebox are almost always completely light grey. This is due mostly to the ash from the firebox, and it really brings out the beautiful detail on this locomotive.

The tender saw a bit of cosmetic surgery as well, though--like the cab--just some minor alterations.

The “big change” was taking off the front edge of the coal retainer that wrapped around the front edge. (You can see the thicker area in the front wrapping half-way around the end of the tank.) The rest of the retainer was sanded and painted to look like wood rather than steel. It’s enough of a difference in tone to make the tender sides look just a bit lower than they otherwise would. I also lopped off the top edge of the insert that forms the front of the tender, though ultimately that will be replaced altogether. Because of the small amount of space the electronics ultimately ended up taking, I’m going to redo the coal load so it reflects a half-empty load. I’ll do that next time I’m doing coal loads.

Another shot of the “wood” bunker retaining boards. The back of the tender deck is in need of more clutter, but I’ll do that when I redo the coal load.

Try as I might to remove the original lettering without having to resort to brute force, I ended up resorting to brute force. This meant I had to repaint the tender (and cab side) to even out the finish. “ModelFlex to the rescue” again. I used their “flat black,” which despite the name is anything but flat. Quite the contrary, it’s a very nice gloss black which even when brushed on lays down without brush strokes making it an ideal base for decals. Like with the green, there were subtle variations in tone that would not be there if it were airbrushed, but also like the boiler, the weathering made them completely disappear.

The weathering is just a wash of dilute acrylic paint. The thing I really like about this technique is that from the side, it looks wonderfully dull and dirty.

But when you view it from an angle, it’s still reflective, retaining the sheen of the paint under the weathering. You can’t maintain that aspect with an overspray of dull coat.

The “brains” of the operation. I ended up nuking the stock B’mann “plug-and-play” socket board because of a weirdness in how my particular Aristo Revolution decoder was (or rather wasn’t) controlling the headlights. I don’t know where the heart of the issue lies, but the fix was to just nuke it and wire everything new. It ended up being for the better, anyway. Fortunately, all the wires going between the loco and tender are marked on the board, so you know what goes where when rewiring.

I ended up wiring the front headlight and class lights to the auxiliary functions on the Revolution controller, so I can turn them on and off at will. The rear light is controlled by the directional control. The cab light and firebox light are always on. Sound is from an old Sierra system. I put 50 ohms resistance in line with the speaker to control the volume. You can turn down the volume on the Sierra, but as you get to the low end of things, you lose the softer sounds like blower and generator. With the resistors, I can keep the volume fairly low (I like to [i]not[/i] hear the locomotive when its away from me) and still hear the subtle nuances of the sound system.

One “innovation” if I can call it that; I wanted to keep the tender shell removable so I could get in to swap out batteries. So, I glued rare-earth magnets into the studs that would otherwise hold the screws. The two magnets stick together and hold the shell onto the body. Now, the 1/8” diameter magnets I’m using in this case aren’t strong enough to let me carry the tender by the shell, but they are strong enough to keep everything in place during normal operation. I suppose larger magnets would give better support.

Here’s the back end of the tender, with the same 3/4-sized coupler installed on the pad. Note the holes on the rear beam to accommodate alternative rear pilot steps on the other versions of the K. I just left them, figuring the tender went through changes when the TRR bought it. The two brown streaks going up the back wall of the tender are splashback streaks cars get from dirt and mud splashed up from the wheels of the cars coupled to them. It’s not something you see modeled very often, but it’s a fairly common occurrence.

For whatever reason, this version of the K doesn’t have a back-up light on the tender, so I added one from the scrap box. It, too, got a new LED. (The only LEDs I didn’t change were the cab light and firebox.)

In Closing

This is very much a hobby of unexpected diversions. I’ve got a workshop full of unfinished projects, and yet I continue to put them on hold once in a while to completely shift gears and do something totally different. I suppose that’s what this hobby is all about, though. There’s no finish line nor lists of requirements. It’s very much about doing what you want when you want to.

The truth is, TRR #10 will probably be a rare visitor to the rails in the back yard. She’s really too large in an aesthetic sense relative to the lengths of my sidings and things of that nature. She really just dwarfs the railroad. She’ll probably make it out for special occasions, but she’s a bit too long to switch out a few of the sidings (not to say we won’t have fun trying). More often, I think she’ll be an ambassador for the TRR, heading out to open houses and public displays where she can really make an impact. When I wired the tender, I left the track pick-ups in place so I can (shudder!) run her off of track power if the batteries go flat. I know, sacrilege, but so is a K-27 on the EBT.

Fall on the Tuscarora

2009-09-21T22:53:00.001-06:00

While the Tuscarora Railroad is set in south-central Pennsylvania, it has the benefit/curse of being located in suburban Denver, Colorado. Benefit, in that we have an average of 300 days of sunshine.

Curse in that today wasn't one of them.

Fall arrived in true Colorado fashion, which means it didn't arrive at all, rather Winter showed up for a day. We don't have "Fall" and "Spring" here, rather Summer and Winter alternate days in a battle for supremacy.

Unfortunately, the arrival of Fall coincided with a visit by dignitaries from the Dulles & Reston Garden Weeds RR (the "other" D&RGW) out to visit the Tuscarora RR. Our planned presidential excursion behind EBT #1 was shelved due to the inclement weather.

Instead, the TRR's all-weather motive power, a Bachmann "Davenport" with a simple 6v battery pack hard-wired to the motor quietly trundled along in the snow and rain pulling a lone hopper car. While not exactly keeping with the 1910s period of the TRR, it has the distinct advantage of being impervious to the weather--something that cannot be said for the weathering and detailing of the TRR's steam motive power. To its defense, the Davenport does have counterweights, siderods, and a tall exhaust stack, making it a quasi-honorary steam loco.

The first snowfall of the season meant that it was also time to begin the annual fall harvest. In years past, the zucchini farmers along the TRR could feed half of China with their yield.

This year for some reason the yield was considerably smaller. Since the TRR's superintendent isn't terribly fond of zucchinis (unless baked into a zucchini bread), this wasn't quite the negative it might sound to be. The other advantage was that this year's harvest could easily fit within one car. (We did make two trips.) Don't be fooled--the Davenport was trundling around at around 7 mph. We just like long exposures to make it look fast--kind of like the chihuahua who thinks he's a great dane.

Unlike the zucchinis, this year's crop of carrots has proven far more plentiful. TRR crews expect to need a few extra cars for this year's haul. The size of this year's average carrot is just right. Long enough to be substantial, but short enough to eat a whole carrot before realizing I really don't like carrots all that much.

With any luck, Winter's visit will have been short, and we can run the presidential excursion tomorrow. We need new photos of the passenger equipment on the line for an upcoming magazine article.

The Roster

2009-09-11T08:11:00.003-06:00

A railroad is nothing without its locomotives. The Tuscarora Railroad, like many small narrow gauge lines, relies on relatively small locomotives. Fortunately the grades are mild and the trains short. In addition to the TRR's fleet of locomotives, the railroad frequently sees locomotives from the connecting East Broad Top as well as the Tuscarora Valley railroads.

Tuscarora Railroad #1

Tuscarora Railroad #1, named "Allison" (after the superintendent's wife) was the first locomotive on the railroad. It came from the Tuscarora Valley, where it had been sitting unused for quite some time. Originally built by Porter as a 2-4-0, the TRR shipped the locomotive to the EBT's shops at Orbisonia for what would essentially be a complete rebuild. (So much for the "bargain" the TRR thought it was getting.) TRR #1's first duty was to pull the construction trains, but the reality was that #1 wasn't good for much more than that. She was definitely something of a lightweight. With the arrival of TRR #2, the "Allison" went back to a life of relative calm, running on the occasional VIP tour, which means the super's wife wanted to take it for a spin. Her hand was more often on the throttle than anyone else's. (Employees of the railroad often quipped that she was really the one running the railroad, also.)

Tuscarora Railroad #2

Tuscarora Railroad #2 came to the TRR from the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina, where she was their #2. At twice the size of the diminutive #1, she quickly gained favor as being a locomotive that could actually pull its own shadow. She served as the railroad's primary power until 1908, when TRR #3 arrived. She then took over #1's duties with the daily passenger train. She is currently undergoing an extensive rebuild, so has been out of the mix for a while.

Tuscarora Railroad #3

Tuscarora Railroad #3 was the "big purchase" of the TRR. They finally were making enough money to where they could spend the big bucks on a brand new locomotive. With 20,000 pounds tractive effort, big #3 proved more than ample for the relatively short trains on the TRR. This would be the TRR's only foray into the new locomotive department. It hit the bottom line harder than management had hoped, and they really didn't need all that power. The EBT and TVRR were starting to have surplus locomotives, and the TRR found it very easy to enter into agreements with these roads for use of their older locos when needed.

Tuscarora Timber Co. #4

Heisler #4 belongs to the Tuscarora Timber Company on paper, but the TTCo. is a subsidiary of the TRR. When the TRR's management brought this Heisler over from one of their other logging operations, they just continued the numbering sequence to avoid confusion. The orginal idea was to use it to run extensive logging lines up and down the valley, but those plans never really panned out. As such, TTCo. #4 spends much of its time working with TRR #3 pulling general freight. Crews like her sure-footedness, but bemoan her lack of speed. She's favored in the winter for her enclosed cab, where crews don't mind spending the extra time.

In addition to the TRR's 4 locomotives, locomotives from the East Broad Top and Tuscarora Valley railroads can also be found occasionally wandering the TRR's rails.

East Broad Top #1 (Edward Roberts)

EBT #1 is no stranger to Shade Gap. The first locomotive on the East Broad Top, she spent most of her life shifting ore and coal cars for the Rockhill iron furnace. With the demise of the furnaces in 1908, EBT #1 got something of a new lease on life hauling the EBT's presidential coach, the "Orbisonia"--that is until the EBT acquired their 2-6-2 #11. Old number one was relegated back to a quiet corner, until 1911 when it went to the TVRR under a lease agreement. Oddly, though the TVRR was leasing the loco from the EBT, it never left EBT rails, instead serving on the TRR when needed. It's a small locomotive, though a good bit more powerful than TRR #1.

Tuscarora Valley #2

Tuscarora Valley #2 doesn't get down to the TRR too often, but like TRR #1, it does for special occasions. It was built by relatively unknown builder T.H. Paul. It's also a bit of a lightweight, so its usual purpose is inspection trains and the like, though there have been the occasional times when it's doubleheaded with TRR #1 just for the fun of doing it. It's definitely got some get-up-and-go, provided the train is short. Crews refer to it as "the toy."

Tuscarora Valley #5

Tuscarora Valley #5 is a Baldwin product from 1877. The TVRR is her third owner. Most often, you'll find #5 on the front of the daily passenger run. The TRR's passenger traffic is handled by the TVRR, since it's the quickest connection to the Pennsylvania RR at Port Royal. Passenger traffic between Blacklog and Neelyton is almost non-existent, but the railroad still runs one train per day to handle mail and milk. The Breyer's creamery at Port Royal is a ready customer for the dairy farmers along the line.

The TRR crews are currently awaiting the return of TRR #2 to service, and have also been told that EBT #3, a c. 1873 Baldwin 2-8-0 is getting a thorough once-over before being assigned to the TRR through a leased agreement similar to that of EBT #1. Most likely, what will happen in that case is that the EBT will crew #3, handling the freight traffic between Neelyton and Blacklog, leaving the TRR crews to spend their day running between Blairs Mills and Burnt Cabins instead of having to detour west to Blacklog as part of their day--something that chews up about 3 hours of their time on busy days.

The links under each photo take you either to my web site or to my builder's logs on MyLargeScale.com, where you can read a more in-depth description of how each locomotive was built.

The Premise

2009-09-11T00:20:00.004-06:00

I've long been a fan of the East Broad Top Railroad, which runs through south-central Pennsylvania. This is a 3' gauge railroad which started out hauling coal and iron for the iron furnace, and later built itself as a major coal hauling railroad, supplying high-grade coal to the firebrick industry in Mt. Union as well as other customers across the region. Alas, when it comes to modeling this railroad, the choice of equipment is frighteningly scarce. Rolling stock (box cars, flat cars, etc.) are for me rather easy to kitbash or scratchbuild. Motive power, now that's a different story. I have done my share of scratchbuilding locomotives, but the simple truth was that I had no real desire to do so when I was starting the TRR. I wanted to get started using the commercial locomotives already on the market. That--really--was the driving force behind me chosing the TRR as a prototype instead of just doing the EBT. Had there been suitable EBT-esque locos, I would have gone that route.

As a result, I dug through the history books and found a "paper" railroad which would work very well for my purposes. While I like the EBT, the mundane coal traffic holds little appeal for me as an operating premise. I'm much more fond of the other commodities the railroad carried; primarily timber resources of various kinds, agricultural products, etc. This led me to look at the EBT's Shade Gap branch, which ran east out of Orbisonia to Neelyton. At one point, the EBT had grand visions of extending southward towards Burnt Cabins, even to the point of grading the right of way. Alas, rails were never laid. By coincidence, the neighboring Tuscarora Valley Railroad had similar southward visions, and surveyed and graded its own line down to Burnt Cabins, paralleling the EBT's grade. This southern extension was built as a separate entity, the Tuscarora Railroad. (The EBT's Shade Gap branch was built under similar practice, as a separate Shade Gap Railroad.) The TRR grade south from Blair's Mills to Burnt Cabins received about 1/4 mile of rail before the project was inexplicably dropped, the grade left to disappear into the woods with the EBT's grade. (The EBT would in later years purchase the TRR's grade for $1,000 to build a line north from Neelyton to a ganister rock quarry about a mile north.

This unbuilt, unrealized dream provided all the basis I needed. I could build my railroad around the premise that the TRR had actually come to fruition. Thus, the TRR lept off the history pages into my back yard. A history of the TRR can be found on my website. Note: as of this writing, my website is in dire need of updating, considering the railroad featured on it has been torn up for 4 years, replaced by the "real" TRR. (That's part of the reason for starting this blog--it's far easier to keep up.)

The Tuscarora Railroad operates from Blairs Mills and its connection with the Tuscarora Valley RR south to Burnt Cabins, with a western branch from Neelyton to Shade Gap, where it connects with the East Broad Top. The portion I'm modeling in the back yard is this western branch from Neelyton to Shade Gap, then over the EBT's rails to the town of Blacklog, which lies less than a mile from Orbisonia. I chose Blacklog because Orbisonia is a major facility for the EBT, and doing it justice in large scale would take up most of mine and my neighbor's back yard. Blacklog on the prototype was a flag stop with a siding for a small rock quarry, so I've breathed a bit more life into the town.

The Tuscarora Railroad has a small roster of locomotives, but gets all of its equipment through a revenue-sharing agreement with the East Broad Top. This allows me to use commercially available locomotives (though somewhat customized) and spend more time researching and building accurate models of the EBT's rolling stock. As time has progressed, I've started building models of some of the EBT's locomotives as well. More on those projects later...

History and Reality

2009-09-10T09:29:00.003-06:00

You will find two parallel themes on these pages. The first, a historical perspective--the story of the Tuscarora Railroad. While the TRR is something of a fictitious entity, it does draw very heavily on the true histories of both the East Broad Top and Tuscarora Valley railroads. Photos illustrating these musings will be black and white. The intention is to transport the reader back into a bygone era, seeing history told through old photos and old yarns.

The second theme will be my thoughts on building the garden railroad and its equipment. This will be more nuts-and-bolts information about modeling, gardening, and--occasionally--ramblings on the state of the hobby. Photos for these posts will be in color, so that you can enjoy the TRR as it really exists--something we can't do just by looking through faded photographs.

In the Beginning

2009-08-21T23:51:00.003-06:00

Welcome to the Tuscarora Railroad. What you are about to read are the random musings of the Superintendent of the TRR, a small narrow gauge railroad operating in south-central Pennsylvania. You have become--by your presence here--the proverbial fly on the wall. You will be privy to an informal commentary on the "behind the scenes" aspects of the TRR. You'll learn the thought processes that underly the various projects the railroad takes on, maybe a bit of history, not only of the TRR, but of the East Broad Top and Tuscarora Valley railroads (with which the TRR connects), and hopefully take away a nugget or two that you can use for your own railroads.