S. Berliner, III's Z-Scale (1:220) Model Railroad Page,
For modelers, the BERLINERWERKE (HO) Story, the story of the HO pike and Horsehoe Curve.
The full prototype Horseshoe Curve story will appear shortly.
The Z-scale Berlinerwerke-Z Saga is on a separate page.
My own LIRR pages may be of interest, as well (the Pennsy owned the LIRR from 1904 to 1966, having bought it out to gain access to Sunnyside Yard for Pennsylvania Station, and see also the Steinway System).
Visit these courtesy and official home pages:
Long Island Rail Road Historical Society
Long Island Sunrise - Trail Chapter
(National Railway Historical Society)
Sunrise Trail Division
(Northeastern Region)
(National Model Railroad Association)
(all new links)
* - If you are a Pennsy fan (how can anyone NOT be?), there are endless sites to surf, some of which are listed at PRR Links; however, for me, the première site must always be that of the
The PRRT&HS Philadelphia Chapter runs a fantastic PRR Discussion Forum.
[Fans of Pennsy relative NYNH&HRR will be pleased to hear that the New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association, Inc. (NHRHTA) now has "THE NHRHTA NEW HAVEN RAILROAD FORUM"
(their site is wholly framed, meaning no separate direct URL, so you must go to the right-hand frame
and click on the link down near the bottom of the frame)
.]
One site that really got me, however, is Rob Schoenberg's, on which he has a PRR station sign maker, which allows you to assemble a Pennsy-style station sign in color, letter by letter. I'm trying to go Rob one better by adding a space, a hyphen, and an apostrophe. He has since superimposed a keystone outline (ya gotta have a keystone to make it a REAL make-believe Pennsy station sign!).
Rob also has on his site most of the PRR Equipment Diagrams! These are detailed below under PRR Links.
Also, for Pennsy fans with good imaginations (or strong stomachs), ya gotta see my Berlinerwerke Apocrypha page and its continuation page 2!
The rest of the links are at PRR Links.
Pennsy Pantographs
(28 Nov 06)
On the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical &
Historical Society's
Discussion Web, under the topic "Pantographs again", Bob Thomas
wrote "Pantograph trolley arrangement drawings for the O1, L5 and GG1 show a rod
passing from one side to the other just below the base longitudinal angle irons, under
one of the pneumatic unlocking cylinders. The rod extends beyond each base
angle about 10 inches, and each end is bent at 90 degrees to form what appears to
be a handle or indicator. Nothing on the print shows how the rod interacts
with the pantograph mechanism. - - - What is the purpose of the rod, and how is it
linked to the pantograph itself?" Bob then took photos of a Pennsy pantograph
on a skid at the Railroad
Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg on 16 Nov 2006, where he was assisted by
two courteous docents who led him to a partially-assembled O1 pantograph lying on
the ground near the visitor parking lot where the purpose and mechanical details of
the “mystery” handle and rod became obvious.
The center of the rod is bent into the shape of a crank from which a short connecting
rod transfers handle rotation to a catch that holds the pantograph down against very
strong spring pressure once it has been retracted. The pantograph is raised by
powerful springs when the catch is released from the cab, either by engine air or
pressure from a small emergency hand pump, acting in a surprisingly small cylinder
with a piston rod also connected to the release catch. The release handle on
the pan frame can override the air-operated connecting rod and was apparently
provided to release the pantograph on a dead locomotive in case neither of the two
normal sources of air were available. However, it would have been an
extremely risky procedure for, if a hostler kept his hand on or near the release handle
just a little too long (and pantographs went up fast), he would be electrocuted when
the trolley touched the wire, energizing the release handle along with the rest of the
pantograph assembly!
To which Bob got a response from SEPTA's Chief Rail Transportation Officer, Richard J.
Hanratty, "The bars being described are, in fact, manual release devices.
However, they are not designed to be released by hand. Rather, they are to
be engaged by the hook on the end of a pantograph pole. When the hook is
placed over the rod and then pulled down, the hold-down latch will be released and
spring tension will raise the pantograph."
The site at the museum parking lot was not exactly neat and Bob did not feel
authorized to move anything, hence there is a rather confused array of parts
scattered around!
Here, then, posted as another service to the PRRT&HS, are Bob's photos:
(16 Nov 2006 photos by R. Thomas - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images, click on pictures for full-size images]
Wide End View || Release Crankshaft
(16 Nov 2006 photos by R. Thomas - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images, click on pictures for full-size images]
Release Crank || Release Latch & Cylinder Closeup
(16 Nov 2006 photos by R. Thomas - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images, click on pictures for full-size images]
Release Handle || Air Cylinder and Spring Cam
(16 Nov 2006 photos by R. Thomas - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images, click on pictures for full-size images]
Air Cylinder End Cover || Air Cylinder with Scale
(16 Nov 2006 photos by R. Thomas - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images, click on pictures for full-size images]
Cylinder Air Pipe || Insulator & Mounting
(16 Nov 2006 photos by R. Thomas - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images, click on pictures for full-size images]
Spring Cam & Connecting Rod End || Upper Section Contactor Link
If any further information follows, I will post it here.
H8b{?} #994 - I focus almost entirely on PRR equipment and facilities and
precious little on personnel but this caught my fancy; the great-grandson of Pennsy
engineer Charles H. Crofutt sent in these photos of his great-grandfather
and crew and locomotive #994 at what may be the Juniata shops, ca. 1930:
(04 Jan 07)
(ca. 1930 photos courtesy D. Bishop - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images - click on pictures for full-size images]
"Engine" #994 and Crew ca. 1930
Locomotive #994 was assigned to an H1 and later to an H8b, both 2-8-0's, for neither
of which could I find any info. Crofutt's loco was almost certainly the latter.
The "E" probably stands for "Engineer," "F" for "Fireman, "B" for "Brakeman", and "C"
for "Conductor"; Crofutt, who was an engineer on the Williamsport Line of the Pennsy
in the 20s and 30s, is the engineer in the photos.
The photos are undated but, from others in the family album, they were most likely
taken in the mid-30s. Crofutt's loco was supposedly an 0-6-0 Juniata switcher
but this one is more likely to be the H8b. Juniata could also just refer to the
builder.
Can anyone please provide photos or more info. on this locomotive?
Because of page size limitations, the main page PRR Page
is now continued on Continuation Page 1, et seq.
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2007
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