Started Selling My PRR Models Today, and It’s not an April Fool’s Joke!

Posted on April 1, 2010 by George Losse

PRR M1b One of the models looking for a new home.

The first of my O scale PRR models sold today and it’s not an April Fool’s day joke.

I have always thought of myself as a PRR modeler. I’ve been building and collecting O scale models of PRR equipment for over twenty-five years. About five years ago I began to focus my model building on a particular branch and a fixed period in time, The PRR Elmira Branch in 1956. This caused a refinement/thinning of the collection. Models that did not fit the time frame or location were sold off and appropriate models were bought.

I did well at the last National selling/trading off surplus models and aquiring models for the Elmira Branch. Since the National I have on a number of occasions talked about one Reading Caboose that I thought about buying but didn’t. I didn’t talk about the two Steam Locomotives that joined the roster, I talked about the one caboose that wasn’t even needed for the proposed railroad.

I have struggled with a layout design for the last two years. I have been trying to find a way to fit in more Reading models into the layout. Thinking maybe the interchange at Williamsport might be enough. It wasn’t enough.

So, I started to look at the PRR Shamokin Branch. Plenty of I1sa running, lots of hopper cars moving, so it looked like a good fit. But as I explored the branch more and learned more about it. I started to shift my focus/research from PRR as main modeling interest to the Reading as the main modeling interest.

Actually, I’ve had more fun researching the Reading these last three months since shifting to the Shamokin area then the last 15 years worth of modeling the PRR. So now I have to think of myself as a Reading Modeler.

“SRF” ? doesn’t sound right….

Reading K1’s 2-10-2

Posted on February 21, 2010 by George Losse

The story of the Reading K1 2-10-2 is told very well in a 16 page article in the May/June 1981 issue of Mainline Modeler by Bert Pennypacker “Reading 2-10-2 It should have been a Texas” I do not plan to go into all the details the article did, instead I’ll go over the highlights. There is an HO scale drawing of the K1sd in the center spread of the magazine.

The Reading 3000-series K1 started as a rebuilding program in 1927 with parts supplied by Baldwin. The first 11 locomotives were rebuilt in the Reading Shops from N1’s 2-8-8-2 which were built between 1917-1919. An additional ten locomotives (3011-3020) were built by Baldwin. The 3000-3009 were classed K1-sa, 3010 was classed K1-sc, and the 3011-3020 were classed K1-sb.

The 3010 was classed K1-sc because it was built with Caprotti valve gear. This proved to be troublesome to operate and costly to maintain. In 1942 it was replaced with the same Walscheart valve gear the others locomotives had and the 3010 was re-classed as K1-sa.

In 1945 while the Reading shops were busy building the T1 4-8-4’s the K1received some modernization changes including dynamically cross-balanced Baldwin disc main driving wheels, tapered main rods and high speed drifting valves. These changes where made to increase the K1’s potential speed from 50 to 60 m.p.h. making them similar to the new T-1’s. The locomotives were re-classed from K1-sa/b to K1-sd/e.

By 1948, the diesels arriving on the railroad started to bump the K1’s from their normal routes. They started to be reassigned into the coal regions and on the Shamokin Division.

The class survived intact until the first end of steam on the Reading in the beginning of 1954. The rebuilt K1’s were first to be retired in May of 1954. Followed by the Baldwin built locomotives in March of 1955. There were No survivors from the scrappers torch.

References:

Mainline Modeler, May/June 1981 – “Reading 2-10-2 It should have been a Texas” by Bert Pennypacker

Reading Steam Pictorial

Photograph’s from George Losse Collection scanned from original negatives.

Atlas SW-8/9 into an NW-2 – Progress….

Posted on February 19, 2010 by George Losse

This is where I stopped last on the NW-2.

The long hood has been fully cut off and fitted. The sand fills were cut from an extra cab and then thinned down. I hate doing that, it not hard, I just hate sanding tiny parts. The Atlas couplers were thrown in the TRASH where they belong, and Kadees have been installed.

I still have to attach the handrails, cut the front window arch in the cab windows, add a frame shim and attach the cab/hood/rear step to the frame.

Maybe I’ll get a chance to work on it this weekend. It’s not looking like it. Besides I was thinking about starting to work on the K-1 by turning the twin sand domes.

Reading NW-2 #102 – The Cutting Starts

Posted on January 31, 2010 by George Losse

One walkway still to cut - Bottom View of the All-Nation Shell

I started by cutting the ends platforms off the shell. Since the cab was not going to stay it was also cut off the body through the doors.

The Cab, and walkways have been removed.

This photo is from the same time as the last. You can see the opposite fuel tank still below the walkway. Also you can see where I rough cut through the walkway floor and the cab walls. The finish cuts will be just inside those walls.

Here is the Mock-up with half of the engineer

I stopped an put the cab and shell on the Atlas frame. I was checking to see if I needed to shorten the fram at the cab wall area. It did need that cut also. You can see that about half of the rough-cut material has been removed from this side.

NW2 hood with two of the three finish cut made.

This view shows the finish cut on the engineer’s side and along the cab wall. I still have to make the Fireman’s side cut. This view also show the roof line clean up that has been done so far.

Reading NW-2 #102

Posted on January 30, 2010 by George Losse

The beginning of the project.

As with any project you build at some point you lay out the parts and see if they can be made into what you are thinking. Here we see the All-Nation NW-2 body. I bought this shell second hand at a meet. It shows signs of being striped of paint at least two different layers. Yet, if you look closely at this photo, the modelers never bothered to clean up the center seem on the body casting.

I had disassembled the NW-2 into its parts, the main body, cab front, cab rear and grill front. Before I could just start cutting, I had to see if I wanted to keep the All-Nation Cab that was on the shell. The All-Nation Cab has the correct windows for an NW-2 but it is crude compaired to teh Atlas cab. I’d rather cut the window arch into the Atlas cab than try to bring the All-Nation Cab up to the Atlas level of detail.

Cab Fronts showing what changes will need to be made to the Atlas cab.

Rear Cab Walls

Rear Deck Details

Reading 103

So I think I will use the Atlas cab in this project. Also I want to reuse the rear deck area of the Atlas model as it more closely represents the prototype.

Layout Visit: Steve Staffieri, 2009, Elmira Branch in HO

Posted on May 26, 2009 by George Losse

Buzz Burnley, John Dunn and Steve Staffieri

Last Thursday night, I had the pleasure of visiting Steve Staffieri’s HO scale Elmira Branch layout. John Dunn and Buzz Burnley had been invited to see the layout and they were kind enough to extend me an invitation.

It’s a nicely done railroad in a wonderful environment. The basement is nice and comfortable. The railroad has a finished feel to it even in areas that are still a work-in-progress.

The layout is based on the branch from Williamsport to Sodus Point, although it focuses on the run from Williamsport to Southport Yard in Elmira, NY.

An I1sa working in Williamsport Yard.

The Wye at Ralston.

Southport Yard

Engine Facility at Southport Yard

Sodus Point

Closeup of the I1sa working Sodus Point.

RMC 06-2009 – PRR H49 and H50 Covered Hoppers

Posted on May 22, 2009 by George Losse

My brother Bobb has an article and scale drawings of the PRR class H49 and H50 covered hoppers published in the June 2009 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. Congrats to him.

I was just looking at the site and saw it listed in the table of contents. I hope the article looks good in print, I scanned the photos that went with the article.

This is the second set of drawings that he has published with RMC. He also had some LV passenger car drawings published to go with another author’s modeling article last winter.

Since the publication some SPF”s have writen some harsh comments about the drawings. I know exactly how that feels seeing that in print. That is one of the big reasons I stopped drawing for RMC back in the late 80’s. Too many experts sitting in their chairs doing nothing, but very quick to put down someone elses work.

This is very common for “PRR Modelers” Which also happens to be one of the best reasons to model the Reading Company!

Lets Talk About Freight Cars

Posted on February 5, 2009 by George Losse

The area that I have chosen to model is rich with open hopper cars. But it also has a few scheduled symbol freights moving through also.

So what does that mean really to my layout? It means I need a lot of open hopper cars. They will make up at least 60% of the traffic on the line.

Next question, how many cars are going to be home road cars? Looking at the photos and reading different accounts of the traffic on the line, you begin to understand that not all the cars are going to be Reading. What percentage are the off-road cars and what roads should be modeled is a topic in and of itself. But let hold that off until another time. Lets talk about what RDG open hoppers were on the roster in 1952.

Going back to the bible (January 1952 ORER) I was able to compile the following list of Reading open hoppers classes and their totals.

Class	No. of Cars	% of Total	Model Roster based on 50 cars
HTf	334	2%	1
HTh	4214	24%	12
HTj	1831	10%	5
HTl/HTn	3504	20%	10
HTo	995	6%	3
HTp	339	2%	1
HTr	996	6%	3
HTs	1654	10%	5
HTs (steel)	2	0%	0
HTt	1000	6%	3
HTu	749	4%	2
HTv	2000	11%	5
Totals	17618	100.0%	50

Look closely at the total number, 17618 open hoppers. Of the 17618 hoppers, only 2 HTs steel rebuilds have been built so far. What do you really think the chances of ever seeing one in a typical train? Not very high.

If you look at the percentage number that will give you an idea of how many cars of that class you might see on average for every 100 RDG hopper cars that run past you.

This is one of the best arguments I know of to NOT model one of a kind cars, unless you know they served s specific customer on your line. An example of modeling a one-of-a-kind car that ran on your line was the PRR X30 which ran out of Elmira, NY where it serviced the LaFrance Fire Engine Company. So when I was going to model the Elmira branch of the PRR I planned to build one.

References:
January 1952 Official Railway Equipment Register
October 1953 Official Railway Equipment Register
April 1956 Official Railway Equipment Register

Why and What?

Posted on January 13, 2009 by George Losse

Why do I model?

I’m a Rail-fan
I know that seems obvious but it’s also the driving force in a lot of the questions that follow. I enjoy seeing trains run in real-life and I enjoy recreating that in the models.

Details Are Important to Me
I am not easily satisfied with good-enough modeling or research. I have drawn prototype locomotives and freight cars for Railroad Model Craftsman in the past. I have crawled all over a piece of equipment to take the notes needed for the drawings. I have also done the research at the museums and with private collections to find the answers needed for projects, that to me is a big part of the fun of this hobby.

What do I want to model?

Model Availability
O scale does not have the same wide-selection of models that HO enjoys. That selection is made even smaller by not choosing to model either the PRR, SP, UP or NYC. Very few of the unique Reading Company prototypes have been produced over the years. I do not want to “have to” scratch build my whole locomotive fleet in order to realistically enjoy a modeled location. I’d like to build a layout and the models I want in this lifetime, not the next three lifetimes.

Small Town Switching
I have a lot of early memories of watching a switcher working in the small town I grew up in. I would ride my bicycle into town to watch and photograph the local freight switch the town.

Open Hopper Cars
My favorite type of freight car. I want to model an area that would have a lots of open hopper car traffic. Turns out that is a large part of the Reading, not just the mine runs themselves.

Sincere Track Design
One where a train only goes through a scene or town once on its trip through the layout. This is a more modern approach to layout design instead of the “spaghetti bowl” layouts of the past that still dominate the O scale community.

Modeling the Reading in Proto48

Modeling the Reading in the Summer of '52

Category Archives: My Thoughts