Pennsylvania & Western RR - 1
I
t’s a pleasant late spring day in western Pennsylvania of
the early 1950s. You’re the engineer of an old PRR class
N1s 2-10-2 number 9860, headed westbound. Behind you
stretches train EC-11, a long consist of general freight mostly
bound for recently opened Conway Yard in Pittsburgh. At the
rear of your train is an N8 cabin car (caboose, to you non-Pennsy
fans) occupied by your conductor and rear brakeman. You’ve
been routed over the Pennsylvania & Western subdivision today
and that will make for a scenic yet challenging journey.
You pass through tiny Gap Junction, the connecting point for
the branch line to Cumberland, Maryland, and connections
with the B&O and Western Maryland. The signal in the one-
siding town of Rockview is clear, so you pass through without
stopping. On your way to East Valley, the signal drops as you
pass. You slow down as you pass the station in East Valley, and
notice crews getting ready on the snapper (the PRR term for
a helper engine) track . You ease the train to a stop so that a
snapper can be added behind the cabin.
The Pennsylvania
and Western RR
– Bob Bartizek
Model photos by
Tom Patterson
An O scale layout built for operations ...
MRH-Mar 2014
