Yearly Archives: 2026

UP 4014 on Reading Rails In Philadelphia

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The last leg of the cross country trip for UP 4014 was on July 3, from Abrams yard in King of Prussia to the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. I scouted a bunch of possible locations and chose The Laurel Hill East cemetery in East Falls as my location. There was wild speculation that they would turn the train at East Falls Junction and back the train through Philadelphia.

I arrived at just after 7 am in the morning, when they open to the public. There was a crew chaining the gate. At first I thought they were closing and quickly looked for another location. But returned and parked on the street. Since I was going to have to walk in, the big camera needed to stay on the car.

There was a small crowd compared to the previous day’s crowds, but it kept growing as we got closer to the time for the UP 4014 to arrive. We all thought it was going to come out onto the stone bridge and then back onto the Steel bridge. There was a NS Light engine move which gave an indication of the light we were going to have.

As the UP 4014 started to move into the junction, you could see that it was on the track headed into towards the city not towards the bridge. The crowd panicked, what if we all were wrong and it wasn’t going to back into Philadelphia or what if it was going to turn at a different junction? Easily a third to half of the crowd gathered at the cemetery and on Kelly Drive scattered, thinking we guessed wrong.

I honestly thought this was all I was going to see of the locomotive that day. I wasn’t that worried because I had done well in my first couple of times seeing it. I was just disappointed, I thought this was a cool location and a recognizable Philadelphia scene. I also knew I wasn’t going to be able to get to a different location and it not be three or four people deep.

I stayed just in case it was still going to turn on the wye at East Falls, but the train had to enter the wye from a different direction. It did.

If they had entered the wye from the direction we originally thought, it would have been nice light on the front of the locomotive. It turned out that we still had great light on the scene.

My only regret that day I had just after the train passed, was leaving the 4×10 camera in the car. The walk back to the car in 100+ degree heat made me not regret that decision.

UP 4014 on Reading Rails

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I was able to see the UP 4014 Big Boy as it made its way from Jim Thorpe to King of Prussia, Pa today. I wasn’t sure if the combination of the crowds and the heat were going to be too much, but I’m glad I went to see it in action.

The nice part of the run from Jim Thorpe to Reading was that the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad was running an excursion on the line which proceeded the Big Boy by a few minutes in each location. They had two diesels pulling their excursion painted in their Semi Quincentennial paint schemes. This turned into a nice warning bell that the Big Boy was about to arrive.

Yes, the crowds were crazy, not your “normal” railfans either. These were regular people for the most part. They often got too close to the rails for a good image of the locomotive, but they wanted to be there and enjoy it just the same.

The other thing to deal with was the heat. There was a police officer near me while I was downtown. I overheard that a couple of people were having heat related issues just before the Big Boy arrived.

The UP 4014 in Tamaqua, PA pulled into the station and stopped for about fifteen minutes. I was able to move into the crowd to get a shot of it in front of the station.

I set up to and made the following image as it crossed West Broad Street in Tamaqua.

After a warm walk back to my car, I headed to my next location. I set up at Molino.

Between the two trains. I repositioned to the shade-side of the tracks to include the small station on the left.

Next. I headed to Leesport, Pa but I wasn’t able to park close enough to walk in the heat. SO I moved on to the next location. This viaduct is on the West side of Reading.

I was headed home at this point. I was happy with what I saw over the day. Then I was coming down 422 into Stowe and realized I was ahead of the train again. So I stopped and photographed it.

Throughout the day, two things amazed me. The crowds that were coming out at every location and the heat. I walked into each location with a bottle of water in hand and my cooler was a very welcome sight every time I returned to the car.

A Visitor From Out West – At Steamtown

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In case you have been under a rock somewhere this Spring, we have a visitor from out west that came and ride some East Coast rails. The UP Big Boy 4014 is making a 250th Celebration run to be in Philadelphia for July 4, our nation’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

It has been in Steamtown for the last couple of weeks after running some wild excursions between Jim Thorpe and Scranton. I didn’t get the chance to see those excursions, they were well attended. I really didn’t want to be in that mass of humanity and craziness.

When UP 4014 first arrived in Steamtown, they parked the locomotive staggered from her sister unit UP 4012. I guess they want to have a view of both sides of the 4014. I didn’t like how they looked so I passed on going up to see it. This past weekend they moved the 4012 up to be side by side with her sister. That I wanted to see.

It turned out We had a doctor’s appointment this morning and I was able to head up to Steamtown afterwards. I couldn’t get there until late afternoon, but I knew the light would be good then since I had photographed the RDG FP7 and RDG T-1 in that location a couple of years earlier.

I am really amazed by the crowds that this locomotive has drawn. There are posts all over social media showing it passing through towns all across America and there are always large crowds out to see it pass through. People waiting hours, sometimes for a 30 second moment when it passes through their town.

Another reason I wanted to go to Steamtown was to get a chance to shoot the locomotives together with my other passion in life, my big cameras. In this case my K.B. Canham 4×10 and 5×7 cameras. Now I just have to process the film. I’ll share those images in a later post.

TCA Eastern Division York Train Meet – April 2026

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I attended the TCA Eastern Division York Train Meet on Thursday this week. I like the Thursday show because it starts late enough in the day that I can leave NJ a little and miss the Philadelphia rush hour traffic. But this is to be the last Thursday event date, they are going over to a Friday-Saturday-Sunday in the Fall. I’ll miss the more relaxed Thursday event.

So why does a Proto48’er go to a mostly 3-Rail event. Because there is some 2-Rail at the show. Besides, with the modern 3-rail models there isn’t much difference converting a 2-rail or 3-rail model to Proto48. Most of the time the work is about the same.

This 2-rail Precision Scale C&O Allegheny looked great had a very nice “take-me-home-price” on it. I was tempted but it’s just doesn’t fit my current modeling focus.

There was also a lot of modern freight cars that were very tempting. I walked past this car three or four times saying I don’t need to purchase ’60’s or ’70’s era models, I need to stay focused on 1952. Thankfully someone purchased them and took away my temptation.

There are also many modern Brass offerings that were done in both 3-rail and 2-rail. Sometimes the price of the 3-rail makes converting one to Proto48 a worth while effort.

Now there were some 3-rail offerings for the Reading modeler at the show. I did see a couple of Atlas O 3-rail models in the halls. The MTH Trainmaster also was a nice looking model. Not anything on my radar since finding an older Sunset Trainmaster about a year ago.

There was also some models at the show for the other Anthracite roads. This Sunset 3rd Rail LNE L-1 was very tempting. Priced much better than the 2-rail offerings out there.

The older Williams FA-1’s I’ve seen converted to 2-rail and into very nice models in the past. There was a lot more models from the PC era at the show. I will admit, that is an era that has always pulled at me because it was what I saw when I first started rail fanning. If there had been more ’70’s era models twenty years ago, I might not be focused on modeling in 1952.

One of the things that always surprises me is you never know what you might see on a table.

As an example a USA Trains Gauge 1 PRR GG1.

Or a pair of Teapots.

I am always surprised how much railroadiana shows up on the tables. How about a Leigh Valley Railroad blueprint on the Application of Ajax Hand Brakes from 1932.

This time there were a number of Erector Sets on tables. I remember my Brother’s in a similar box growing up.

Like I said, you never know what may show up on a table.

As the day wound down and the parking lot started to empty out, I remembered how bad traffic on Route 30 can get leaving during rush hour.

So, I headed out on a back road and enjoyed the drive home. Didn’t add to the drive time. But did remove the stress of the Route 30 parking lot/freeway.

York for me is a lot of walking for very few models for a Proto48 modeler. But I keep finding things that make it worth while and keep bringing me back.

Strasburg O Scale Show – April 2026

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I was able to attend the Strasburg O Scale Show today. The morning started out with great weather as I drove past the Pennsylvania State Railroad Museum and the Strasburg Railroad on my way to the show.

Rich Yoder put on another great show. Attendance was strong all day, and folks were in a buying mood. I had trouble getting away from my table.

There were a number of things for a Reading Modeler at the show today. I saw two different set of the SGL Reading Passenger Cars. Both sets sold at the show, which I think is a good sign. There were plenty of nice models on the tables.

Ryan Shawyer had some very nice structures on his table. I kept meaning to get back to his table to possibly bring one home, but just had trouble getting away from my own table.

The tag in front of the model indicated it was a Weaver M1 with DCC and Sound as well as some super detailing. I know a number of SPF’s look down their nose at the Weaver M1’s but this was a great example of some detail and good paint it can be a fine looking model.

Darren Troy and David were at my table. He made the trip to the show from Ohio. I will say there were a number of new younger faces at the show. That is always encouraging for the hobby.

I was also great to see and talk with Fran Pfeil and his wife Pat at the show.

I mentioned in the beginning of this post that it was a great show. Even though it went up against the two other All Scale Shows the same day, the Timonium show and also the New York Society’s show. I know a few modelers that could not attend the Strasburg show because of modular club commitments.

I started the day with my table feeling crowded, I really felt like I brought too much to the show. I had plenty of room on the table by the end of the show.

In Memoriam: Warner Clark

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Warner Clark in front of his layout.
The most photographed part of Warner’s Clark’s layout for a reason

We lost a very talented Proto48 modeler, Warner Clark, on Monday, March 30th.

Warner was a fine modeler, but an even nicer man. I only met him a few times, but I enjoyed my conversations with him. Even though his skills and attention to details showed in his modeling, he was modest and didn’t have the airs that often overtake other folks that have his abilities.

I enjoyed visiting Warner’s layout, It was one of the best ever done in 1/4 inch modeling. It was amazing how many wonderful scenes were in that relatively small layout. Something that should inspire all of us.

There is a nice community of Proto48 modelers in the Indy area. Warner’s loss will be felt by them for the passing of a good friend. His loss will be felt across the whole of the O Scale and Proto48 communities for the passing of a fine modeler and an even nicer man.