Beyond South Hills Junction

Many of you have seen The Junction at the East Penn Meet, other shows, or at least on my web page. But if you haven’t been to my home you probably don’t know what else is lurking. So let’s take a tour the layout room.

This is the first thing you see, if you’re 6’9” that is:

The tunnel portal and tan cave are the back of the Junction module. To the left is my first attempt at a trolley layout. I still have it mostly because I never gotten around to stripping and tossing it. Now, I’m working on attaching it to one leg of SHJ – you can see the high tech measurement tools I use.

I never finished this little module but I got a good education building it – mostly learning from mistakes. This little thing was built to fit between my furnace and water heater in the town house. It weighs a ton, so part of the modifications to hooking it to SHJ is to add wheels on one end so it can be maneuvered relatively easily. Someday I may even get under there and rewire this module.

I am happy with this little module as far as it goes. This street is well done as is the back of the large building in behind it. Before I got involved in building one module, then another, then another, I took the time to finish off whatever I was building – something I’m trying to get back to – finishing things.

I even lit up the place. The building on the right is a rough model of the townhouse where this module first lived. The iron City beer truck is one of my favorites.

Across from this first layout is my first East Penn module. It is just a simple loop with a slight grade. Considering the mistakes I made with this I’m sure glad I started small.

This module must be reliable since everything that goes through the Junction must go through the tunnel and around this loop.

Scenery on this little loop consists of the house where we now live. If you look real hard, and imagine harder, you can get a glimpse the layout room in the basement.

The back of the hill on the Junction module was never finished, it was the back and who saw it, or cared. Now that it is the first thing you see when entering the room. I’ll have to work on that. Right now you have to look past the rear and over the hill to see most of the room.

The Junction in the foreground is well documented on my web site, it is out toward the yard that is new.

This yard and loop is my latest creation – I call it an extension to the Junction module. I wanted something to allow me to operate my travelling modules independently, a loop. Well my 18” loop became a 5’ module of a storage yard, an East Penn Module connection and, oh yes, a loop that had to rise over the yard. I was not trying to model any particular spot, I just wanted to give it some PRCo character with the car barn and bridge, and the retaining wall.

Even the front of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. I did not add overhead to the yard, instead I have a flexible wire I can attach to the trolley pole to get things going (It is prototypical). I also have re-railers at the end of each track since I have such a hard time getting card on the track.

PIX OF THE CONNECTING PIECE

The end of the Junction module has two East Penn connections at an angle to each other. I built the extension to interface both of these connections – the little wedge piece does the trick. By leaving the Junction via the Dormont route (top) the car can go up over the bridge and return via the Overbrook route (lower right). Leaving the junction on the Overbrook line sends the cars back to the yard. I guess I need to extend that road.

A PRCo car barn with my latest creation thanks to Howard Andrews.

More car barn and 3800s.

A bridge resembling those on the PRCo line. Notice those re-railers and the East Penn interface below; it connects to two modules sitting end-to-end along the back wall measuring 16’. These are permanent, at least until I get the urge to move them again.

Off to the left is a section that I got from Gary Reighn when he went to O scale. It was never designed or meant to be an East Penn module, but I added an East Penn interface to it so I could run it with my other modules.

As you can see there is a history of raising, stretching and widening this piece to make it functional in various operations.

Here is where I can do some trolley freight switching with a run-around track and a couple sidings. I’ve been building mini-scenes to give some meaning to the sidings. The refinery backdrop is temporarily taped to the wall while I decide if I want to keep it.

The coal mine was a Christmas present (a Colorado gold mine) that I had to find a use for.

A recent acquisition is a model of the Westinghouse sign that I used to watch from atop Mt. Washington – it flashes the circle W’s in random patterns. I threw the building together from Pike Stuff parts I had on hand, it still needs some roof detail.

At the end of the section is this Walther’s warehouse building I modified with an inside track. The railroad track next to the river will someday go somewhere. The river is on my old module that I used to take to shows before the Junction was build. It now has been permanently relegated to my basement.

The module is 10’ long, it split in the middle for transport. One reason for retiring it to the basement was the weight of the thing – heavy – and it fell a couple times when I was moving it.

My bank building occupies the interface between this module and the one we just left. As you can see there is nothing to give the impression that these modules will ever be moved.

Plans for the bank appeared in RMC around 1983, it took me from then until 2010 to build it. It has a complete interior of my own design with internal lighting. I used real microscope glass making the interior clearly visible. The dirty yellow house is where I spent my formative years on Mt. Washington. Building it got me back into modeling after a 25 year hiatus, it was also my first experience with styrene.

The module interface from the Junction module extension goes directly onto this gauntlet bridge. The area was modeled after the Ellicott City bridge of Baltimore Transit Co. The wooden automobile bridge burned down not long ago.

I know, I know, the Witts never went to Ellicott City because it had no reverse loop, but this is the only Baltimore car I have.

Across the bridge traffic must turn right and, usually, head up the hill. The branch to the lower right is the freight interchange with the railroad along the river. The shell of a station will soon be replaced with a quality model.

Climbing the hill a 1700 PCC passes Aunt Fran’s house and Dad’s Sunoco station. Would you believe the house is from a painted lady kit? It would have been easier to scratch build it than to kitbash.

Do you get the impression that this area represents the Pittsburgh area?

Here is the view from the bottom of the hill.

And from the other end. Notice the two road-kills, one on the road and one behind the building – busses just didn’t hold up like streetcars.

An overview from the high end of the module.

I mentioned the railroad tracks along the river going somewhere someday. Well, the day is approaching. I have the bench work in place and most of the roadbed down.

From the module the railroad will run around the control panel and off to the new layout.

This is a 10’ x 6’ L shaped layout in the corner. As the railroad enters from the right rear it will make a wide arch and arrive at a fiddle track that will attach at the lower right of the photo. A passing siding and several spurs will provide some switching possibilities. The wide area of roadbed to the front and the roadbed close to the camera will be HOn30 narrow gauge based loosely on Maine Two Footers.

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The narrow gauge will serve a waterfront and run up a 3% grade to some switching possibilities. This was my first attempt at L Girder benchwork and I find it easy to construct and very flexible to alter.

I’ll provide updated photos as progress continues.

Thanks for visiting, now it is back to building models.

Bob Dietrich