The major theme of the layout is the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) and its shortline connections in the Monongahela and Ohio River valleys during the late 1960s and very early 1970s. Why have I chosen this/these railroad(s) in this particular time period? The parts of railroads I enjoy the most are heavy industry and coal. Steel mills, foundries, machine shops, overhead cranes, and the complex trackwork that go along with these industrial areas are my primary interest. Coal mines, prep plants and long strings of hoppers also draw a significant amount of my attention.
The Pittsburgh area has plenty of these elements, in fact more than one could ever expect to capture in one model railroad, but why Pittsburgh? In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I made several trips to the area to visit my new in-laws. During these trips I scouted around the area to see the railroads, and I saw many elements that I wanted to model all along the Mon, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers. I especially liked the many regional and shortline railroads in the area. I also like large yards, however, so modeling just an industrial switching area is not for me. I returned from those trips with many ideas, images, and what would eventually be dubbed layout design elements by Tony Koester. During the same time, I was going to school in southwestern Virginia at Virginia Tech. There was a small railroad club there, and we made several trips into the coalfields of West Virginia along the Pocahantas Division of NS. There I saw coal, coal and more coal, and the elements of mines and prep plants were firmly seated in my desires.
Deciding on the specific prototype turned out to be easy. At the time, there seemed to be many P&LE cars coming out, especially with the "Serves the Steel Centers" slogans, and this got me investigating, and it turned out it was just what I was looking for.
As for the time period, some of my earliest railroad memories are of riding the Southern Crescent from my home near Charlottesville, Virginia to my grandmother's house outside New York City in the early 1970s. What I saw out that window was jade green and worms in love. Thus, my fondest railroad memories are of the Penn Central and the industrial areas it served along the northeast corridor. This sets the earliest time period for me at February 1, 1968. Of course later is better since most equipment was still in NYC and PRR paint in the beginning. I have no particular love for Amtrak (at that time the Crescent was still all Southern), so if I wanted to run passenger service on what I modeled, I wanted it to be pre-Amtrak. As I narrowed in on the P&LE, this became more critical since I could run B&O passenger trains in their last years. Thus, the latest date for me is May 1, 1971, but again, not much equipment was painted Amtrak until later. I have no interest in modeling a particular month or day, so I have settled on the broad range from February of 1968 to May of 1971.
Also while a member of the Railroad Association of Virginia Tech, I was introduced to operations on Gene Browning's Brazos & Pecos layout. I have been hooked on operations ever since, and it is a big part of why I model. As will become apparent from the specific descriptions below, a big reason I have chosen the area I have is so that there is a balance of different kinds of operations in the industrial settings I like. Yard switching, through freight, name train passenger service, commuter service, industrial switching, and much more are present to keep crews working on a variety of assignments. Bottom line: the layout must be designed primarily with operations in mind. This fundamental requirement will have a great affect on what gets modeled and what gets left out, as well as factors like aisle width and reach.
It is important for the layout to have a familiar feel for those who know the Pittsburgh area. As well, specifically modeled locations should resemble those places, though they do not have to be even close to exact. The reaction I seek is for someone very familiar with McKees Rocks, for instance, to say "That looks like McKees Rocks, within the limits of the space available." Landmarks should be included, such as the inclines and station square. A particular railroad line should go through each scene only once. Also different railroad lines should not share the same scene unless they did in reality. This should only be violated if there is a significant payoff in some other aspect.
Desired Portion to Model: From the West portal of the tunnel under Jones and Laughlin Steel Works through Station Square, McKees Rocks, and Montour Junction to Coraopolis or just west of there.
General: This segment of the P&LE was, at one time, a four track mainline. I am not sure how many main tracks were in place in 1970 (the track charts I have are dated 1941) but two tracks is what I plan to model. In the center of this stretch is McKees Rocks Yard, the major P&LE yard for the Pittsburgh area, and in some sense for the entire railroad (as far as locomotive and car shops). Also located along this stretch are interchanges with five railroads (listed below). Traffic along this section is varied in type and destination. Iron ore trains from the lake port of Ashtabula come in from the West. Some of this ore is delivered to the J&L Works at the east end of this stretch while the rest continues east to be delivered to other steel mills farther up the Mon River (such as Wheeling Pittsburgh in Monessen, PA). Coal is received from the Montour at Montour Junction destined for points both east and west. It is not clear whether or not Montour coal was used by J&L in their coke batteries, but this may be done under modelers license. Coal also comes online from the east coming off the interchanges with the Monongahela Railroad in Brownsville, PA or the Western Maryland in Connellsville, PA. This coal will mostly go through and off the western end. There are several sources of general freight traffic. The largest is the J&L Works. Freight will also originate off of the interchanges, especially large amounts from the PC&Y on Neville Island. the PC&Y interchange will also be a major destination for freight as well as the large freight house near station square. Local switching crews also have a variety of customers along the line especially in McKees Rocks, Coraopolis, and between Station Square and J&L.
In addition to the large amounts of P&LE traffic, the B&O ran trains over the P&LE to avoid their rugged P&W Subdivision. This traffic will provide through fast merchandise trains as well as drag freights both east and west bound. The B&O also provided passenger service over the P&LE in the form of no less than the Capitol Limited along with the Diplomat, Gateway and Shenandoah all making stops at Station Square. Depending on the year, there was even passenger switching done at the station to add or subtract head-end equipment, and some of these trains originated or terminated there as well.
Elements Contributed to Layout:
Elements Contributed to Operations:
Desired Portion to Model: From Montour Junction (w/ P&LE) to end of line with all branches
General: The Montour was primarily a coal hauling railroad that formed a loop south and west of Pittsburgh. During the time period I am modeling, the Montour served five coal mines on its mainline and branches (to the best of my knowledge). The Montour also served, and provided switching for the large coal prep plant at Champion. There was a small chemical and solvents customer and a small lumber customer online as well. As to others, I am uncertain of their activity in 1969-70. The primary operation is dirty coal from the mines to the prep plant for cleaning. clean coal is then delivered to one of the interchange tracks (primarily with the P&LE).
Elements Contributed to Layout:
Elements Contributed to Operations:
Desired Portion to Model: From Carnegie through Scully Yard, McKees Rocks, and Neville Island.
General: The PC&Y was half owned by the Penn Central and half by the P&LE. It served a large number of varied customers on Neville Island including foundries, scrap dealers, chemicals, and the Army Corps of Engineers. There was also a small PC&Y yard on Neville Island to sort this traffic. A very busy line, it handled switching of online industries and its interchanges, especially the PC at Scully Yard.
Elements Contributed to Layout:
Elements Contributed to Operations:
Desired Portion to Model: Switching on Neville Island. This only needs to be an industry or two.
Elements Contributed to Layout:
Elements Contributed to Operations:
Desired Portion to Model: Switching in McKees Rocks. This only needs to be an industry or two.
Elements Contributed to Layout:
Elements Contributed to Operations:
This is the in-plant switching railroad for the Jones & Laughlin Pittsburgh Works.