Penn Central Railroad Industrial Division (Eastern) Construc

[PennCentral]

Welcome to the Penn Central Railroad Industrial Division (Eastern) layout construction project chronical.

Introduction:

My name is Bob. I am building a HO scale layout depicting the Penn Central (PC) Railroad in the northeast from 1968 through 1976. I may as well call the "era" 1976 since I have a couple of freight cars with this build date. The railraod will operate west from Syracuse, NY to Buffalo, NY then continue southwest to Erie, PA and Pittsburgh, PA, terminating east at Latrobe, PA. THere are seveal other stops along the way. The route was chosen so I could move coal, steel, ore, and any other product you can name (people and beer, too!!).

I was born and raised in Syracuse, NY, but left the area when I graduated high school. The Penn Central ran through town and I hold close the memory of those black, filthy, grimy locomotives polluting the air as 4-6 unit consists hauled freight through the DeWitt Yard. This is why I chose to model the PC.

The Dream:

I've been planning to build this railroad since I was a teen. I added a 24- by 48-foot addition onto my home to house the railroad. I broke ground on the addition in February 2008. The addition required many months of work to build the ideal layout room. Actual construction of the railroad bench work began in April 2011. Yes, it took 3 years to complete the shell and interior. I will die in this house; however, someone will want this space for another purpose once I have driven my PC into its final demise! Therefore, I built a huge bathroom in the addition so the space can be used for a living environment or whatever the next homeowner invisions. The layout space is actually 35- by 23-feet. The goal is to own a museum quality model railroad built for realistic operations.

Purpose and plan for this chronical:

To share my endeavor with fellow model railroaders who live for the same dream. My goal is to provide photos from groundbreaking through the PC's ultimate demise. I will begin posting photos and summaries as railroad construction and life's down-time permits.

Thanks for reading,

Bob

[erieman]

Bob,

I wish you the best of luck on your dream layout. It is great that you are going to fulfill your longterm dream. Based on the layout size, this is a HUGE undertaking. I hope that you are young in years and have lots of friends. I look forward to your future posts on the layout design and build. Based on the layout size, you will be providing lots of photos for many years to come. How about some pictures of layout design, the bare bones of the building, etc..Remember that you have many, many friends here on the forum that will provide advise and encouragement.Best of luck.

Frank / Erieman

[Zephyrus52246]

Welcome aboard, Bob. Sounds like a nice environment for a model railroad. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Jeff

[mecrr]

Welcome Bob, I am envious as I had that space once, but moved West and now will be lucky to complete the 10 x 12 I have. I wish you luck on your goal and look forward to your sharing.
David

[gnatshop]

Bob, thanks for sharing your dream with us here on the forum. You'll find a lot of good friends here..
You've got a lot of work in front of you, but keep us updated often, and post plenty of pictures.
We never get tired of pictures!

[rebel]

Welcome and a bit of advice, get the mainline up and running as fast as possible, then cut in the switches or they may already be there if well planed, it will keep you motivated when things go wrong.

[MASSIVERALPH]

[ranny9]

Welcome to the Penn Central Railroad Industrial Division (Eastern) layout construction project chronical.

Bob

Looking forward to THIS build!

[PennCentral]

All,

I wanted to post the railroad room addition construction photos; however, the photos are too large to post here. I will try to reduce the photo size and post hen at a later date.

Bob

[wsdimenna]

Bob,
It will be interesting to watch progress. I model the Chicago line around Buffalo Frontier yard in modern era 1998+

In 1976 there was a bunch more track then now. Found the Sanford insurance maps at the UB were very useful for track between Erie and Syracuse. Lots of interesting railway things to model