Distracted

Still dealing with the lack of motivation towards the layout (and this blog). Ticks me off, because the roadbed is down and it would only take a day or so to lay down ballast strip. The track would go pretty quick after that if I put off soldering the joints until the track is down and "settled" for a few days (or whenever I got around to the soldering). As I mentioned before I find myself doing just about anything else, including an overhaul on my pet Mazda Protege. The car is a family heirloom. The odometer read 27000 when my daughter bought it thirteen years ago. Now it has almost 250,000 miles and most of the original parts. Damn things been in at least three accidents. In one it was struck by a tree during a thunderstorm. The tree tried to cross the road as my twin daughters were driving by. I had a deer try to do the same thing. The deer got up and ran away after crumpling the hood and busting up a few lights. I think it also lost a fight with our mailbox.

As always I haven't kept away from trains in general. I frequently check in at Railwire to see what marvels surface there. Those guys always amaze me with their inventiveness and innovation. I also purchased another volume of Triumph. This one is IV, Harrisburg to Altoona (what else) by David W. Messer. Surprisingly reading it did not cause me to go out and tear up the roadbed and try again. Instead, it's full of details I can incorporate into the scenery. There's a very detailed section on Spruce Creek showing the area over decades. The only problem I see with it is the authors claim that Spruce Creek has never had four tracks. I'm pretty sure I have an image (and a map) around here that argues that point. Whether or no, three tracks won't work on the Allegheny Eastern. Sitting at the base of the helix as it does, three tracks would create an absolute nightmare for operations.

There is a detail photo of the construction of a skewed stone bridge, something I'll need for the curved bridge at Forge Curve. There is also information on Forge tower and basically everything else between Spruce Creek and Altoona. Tyrone and the several branches in that area are discussed. There are photos of the various bridges and culverts that carried the Pennsy over the twists of the Juniata river and its tributaries.Makes me wish I had more space. Pretty sure my wife would veto losing the rest of the first floor of our house to the layout.

Most of the info in the book will affect the Altoona portion of the layout. Mr. Messer lists all the interlockings and towers and clarifies quite a few things for me. At one time there were about fifteen towers in the Altoona complex, nine of which handled the mainline traffic. The other six handled the yards and terminal facilities.

One thing (among many) I did not realize was that the westbound recieving yard was on a huge elevated fill. The top of the "hump" was actually level with that yard. Glad I didn't try to model that. As it is I'm wondering if I should skip the "flyunder" I've created at HOMER. Yet the "tunnel" and stone retaining walls in this area seem too interesting to pass up.It will have absolutely nothing to do with operations, just eye candy.

The engine facilities in East Altoona still make me pine for some way to include that full circle roundhouse. That would require about thirty two square feet and there just isn't any way to pull it off. As it is I can barely fit in a "Pennsyesque" engine terminal. At East Altoona each division had its own set of ready tracks, cabin storage and other facilities. Coal was provided (after 1943) by a twelve hundred and fifty ton concrete "wharf" or tower that could service four tracks simultaneously. Yes, that did say 1,250 tons. There were also bypass tracks so motive power could avoid the roundhouse altogether. There was even a second turntable! My feeble attempt to model Altoona in any shape or form seems pretty sad.

Anyway, it's back to getting the Mazda ready for her emissions test. Did I mention I also tried to install a sunroof...It only leaks when it's raining.

Regards,
Frank Musick
Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

Allegheny Eastern Railroad