Thursday

Attended an Op Session on the Pittsburgh and South Pennsylvania Railroad hosted by Don Florwick

Set in 1955 the NYC completes the South Pennsylvania right of way from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh connecting with the PL&E.  Lightening striped diesels work the railroad using DCC with sound.   The railroad operates with a fast clock, timetable, train orders, and telephones to communicate with dispatcher and operator.  Operations went smoothly and I had a very fun evening.

Friday

Toured the Harrisburg Amtrak station

Originally the PRR station; built preceding the art deco era, restored and now an Amtrak station and also occupied by the bus lines.  Maintenance had part of the train shed closed so the GG1 on display was not accessible.  On the trackside of the station building was State Tower that controlled the end of the yard opposite Harris tower.  Harris tower was decommissioned first and was a sub panel in State tower until it closed and now CTC is done remotely from other NS and Amtrak locations.  On the board you can see all the tracks that were not thoroughly erased as they were taken out of service.  Upstairs is the Power Director’s office that controlled the electrified tracks between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.  The clock is fittingly stopped at 7:00 o’clock the time twice daily it along with all other PRR clocks were synchronized with the USNO clock.

Toured Harris Tower

On our way there we saw the Capital Dome and the State Street Veterans Bridge.  Across the tracks was the Power Plant that provided electricity to the railroad.  The tower was superbly restored.  Later I found out how unimaginably bad condition it was in when the NRHS took it over.  I was so impressed by the computer simulation program running with a fast clock, timetable, train orders, and telephones.  With the tower disconnected from the physical world it was useless until the computer program connected it to a virtual world.  There a couple telltale monitors necessary to run the simulation.

Toured National Civil War Museum

Of particular interest to me are any stories of Brig. General Elon Farnsworth, Picket’s Charge, day 3 of Gettysburg, and Devil’s Den.  Also of interest is anything about the USS Kearsarge after which my Erie neighborhood is named.

Friday night clinics

Harris tower – Dan Rapak of the Harrisburg Chapter of the NRHS

Author of the simulation program gave a presentation of the long process of restoration and preservation.  The pendulum clock, the switch and signal levers, the teletype, phones, and the board are all connected to a virtual world.  It was fascinating to find out how the tower was brought back to life.  Even the voices of former tower operators were recorded and can be heard from the listening speaker in the room.

Friday night clinics continued

One Modelers Approach to Building a Layout – Andrew Dodge, MMR

He shared how he planned and built his railroad.  One thing he stressed is to make the room a place you and your visitors will enjoy before you start building a railroad.  It is hard to fix the room once the railroad is in it, a very good point.  He shared lessons learned from the number of layouts he has built.  And he reviewed the many ways modelers approach the hobby.

Saturday clinics

Scenery Along The Right Of Way, Lou Sassi

Non-Technical Introduction To Layout Command Control – John Forsythe

John is owner of TCS and spoke on the NMRA LCC standard.  The NMRA LCC layout was on display and included in the presentation.

Adding Signals To Your Layout With Layout Command Control – Dick Bronson

Dick is owner of RR-CirKits and he demonstrated a working LCC compatible DCC command station, working LCC signals and working turnout control system.  The wiring is simple, it is just Cat5 cable.  He demonstrated programming signals for the PRR.  His boards use CAN protocol that is used by the auto industry.

Overview: Rail Transportation Engineering Education in US – Bryan Schlake

A clinic featuring Penn State and railroading, I was definitely in the right room.  Bryan spoke on the PSU’s BS Degree in Rail Transportation Engineering (RTE).  He presented some graphs showing a staggering number of rail professionals are now over 30 years in tenure and heading for retirement.  There isn’t an incoming number to take their place.  And in addition railroading of all classes is growing so even more skilled individuals are needed.  The shortage of skilled IT, Construction, Railroad workers in the coming years is scary.  Bryan says an RTE graduate should have a number of solid job offers on graduation. 

Saturday Banquet and Awards

The food served at the Pennsylvania Dutch theme dinner was excellent.  Hal Miller, Editor of Model Railroader spoke on the importance getting another generation of young modelers interested in the hobby to continue it into the future.  Awards were given for the 1.5 inch switch engine, the passenger station and the Texaco station.  The Texaco station was kit-bashed by our own Doug Sandmeyer who dined with Diane and me at the banquet.  He won a second award for his water tower.  Congratulations Doug!

Sunday open houses

Western Maryland Open House – Jim Long 

His railroad features Elkins W VA and so steam and diesel coexist.  He includes the Cass logging railroad too with the switchback going up the mountain side.  His scenery is spectacular.

Sunday open houses continued

Keystone Middle RR Open House – Keystone Model Railroad Historical Society

There clubhouse was a power substation for the PRR Dillsburg trolley line.  The railroad depicts scenes across PA in excellent detail.  Their CTC panel and Dispatcher desk are on a balcony overlooking the railroad room.

Then it was time to head home.  I enjoyed the convention immensely and have Rockville, MD 2018 on my mind.

Here are pictures from the convention:
Susquehannock 2017 1 of 2
Susquehannock 2017 2 of 2