The Roster

I've been looking over the locomotive rosters for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Because of the time setting for the Allegheny Eastern, I used 1949 as a cut off date. This gives me a bit of leeway in choosing equipment to run on the layout. It also puts a ceiling on my freelance choices helping me to stay within budget and create a more realistic model. I don't have to set limits for myself. I could just run whatever appeals to me. That would result in things like the GM Aerotrain running alongside Union Pacific's M10000 and Burlington's Pioneer Zephyr. I think eventually it would look more like a collection than a real railroad.

1955-56 GM Aerotrain

Even within the confines of the Pennsy's own history there are choices I could make that I feel would detract from the impression I want to create. I could, for instance, run S or Q or N class steamers. 

PRR Class Q1

The Q2 especially is one of my favorite locomotives. Fortunately, at least in this context, the only examples in N scale are too expensive for my tastes and wallet. A better reason, however, is that these three classes of locomotive belong to the Lines West part of the PRR. They are more at home flying across the gentle hills and plains of Ohio and Indiana where they can stretch their legs at 100 mph plus. They weren't built for the tight curves through  the Alleghenies.

Likewise I could try to get my hands on one of those Y-3 articulateds the PRR got from the Norfolk & Western. They were classified HH2. Once again, these locomotives were never used to climb the grades to Gallitzin. For the most part they were used around Columbus, Ohio for hump service and other duties. They were gone from the Pennsy by 1947. Besides these engines and the HH1 the PRR avoided articulated steam like a plague.

PRR Class HH2

This isn't a bad thing. I still have a huge selection of PRR steam to choose from. Horseshoe Curve saw  literally hundreds of just about every other class on the Pennsy roster. The only limitations to the selection besides the engines already listed is locomotives that were scrapped long before the 1940's. Units like the class A switchers and class F Moguls never made it to that era. Many of the other classes were still represented, even if most of them were decades old.

Diesels are a whole 'nother story. If I stop at 1948 I can choose F-3, E-7 and Eriebuilt cab units. The Baldwin passenger sharks came on the property in that year. The centipedes arrived in 1947. FM H-10-44's and GE 44 ton switchers were working as well as a host of Baldwin and Alco hood units. The Alco RS-3 and Baldwin sharknose freight units were still in the future.

If I fudge a bit and move up to 1949 the first generation of Baldwin freight sharks appear. GM F-7's show up and so do FM H20-44's. Those RS-3's, of which I have several, don't exist yet. No matter, they can be sacrificed to provide mechanisms for the shark shells on my workbench. If my information is correct the two or three Alco FA cab units I have can also become Baldwin sharks.

The fact that the Allegheny Eastern is freelanced means I can also supplement actual Pennsylvania locomotive classes with other engines the All East management might consider. If they decided, for instance, that the 4-8-4 was worth investing in, they might have ordered a few and classified them as R2. These locomotives might look very similar to the Class J 2-10-4 and not, as might be supposed, the sharknose T1. The management might also purchase a few Alco DL109's and use them in freight service. It worked for the New Haven.

Allegheny Eastern Class R2

Since PRR steam is not readily available in N scale (other than Trix and brass) this offers some flexibility and keeps the operating budget in the black.

You might say, "If you can run anything you want, why all the worry about when it ran?". Continuity might be the answer. I avoid equipment that wasn't in service at the end of the 1940's. The freelance choices still fall within the time period. The R2 4-8-4 was a viable choice in the same period. The All East management is a bit more flexible and willing to accept proven designs used on other railroads. The 4-8-4 offers simplicity and can be produced and maintained at a more reasonable cost. While it may not be capable of speeds that match the T1, it spends less time in the shop. In reality that "reasonable cost" mentioned is quite literal. I can find a Bachmann Northern that fits my budget. It's easy to modify one or two to resemble the J1. A T1 has to be brass or kitbashed from several other models. Both alternatives are expensive.

For the most part steam is not really a problem in modeling the late '40s. The last generation of steam locomotives were built during World War II. Altoona's last product was in June of 1946. There wouldn't be any newer steamers in 1949. New diesels, on the other hand, were flowing out of Alco, Baldwin, EMD and other manufacturers. I can use most of the first generation of diesels so almost all the varieties are represented. I just leave out the ones that other modelers of the transition period are using. Lot of folks out there modeling the mid 50's. I wanted something just a little different.

So much for motive power. What about all the rolling stock? I'm working on that...

Regards,

Frank Musick

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

Allegheny Eastern Railroad