We begin our fan trip on the S scale Penn Western Railroad at the largest station on the PW; 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.
Here we are inside the cavernous station awaiting the call to descend downstairs to our train.
Here’s a shot of downtown Philly. You can see a commuter line that extends to Allentown, PA. It’s loosely based on the existing SEPTA line emanating from the real station.
Before we leave the Philadelphia area for points west and north, we can take local transportation to visit some interesting spots. The PW serves both sides of the Delaware River.
This is a typical pier along the Delaware that is serviced by the PW.
The PW uses small car floats to ship cars to and from the Camden, NJ side of the Delaware.
Camden had some large industries like RCA and NY Shipbuilding Co. Here is the Campbell Soup Co.
Mohrfeld Fuel is a Collingswood, NJ industry that can be seen from the PATCO high speed line which is painted in the background.
We're leaving Philadelphia and headed for the northern terminus of the PW, Allentown, PA.
There are a lot of industries served by the PW in the Allentown area, Here is a Lehigh Valley Models oil depot.
We come to a Walmart distribution center scratchbuilt from foamcore. Walmart is PA's biggest employer.
The Wadel Furniture Co. was inspired by a 10/79 RMC article and made of foamcore and Grandt line windows and doors.
The Wadel Furniture Co. from a short distance away.
This is a typical feed & grain mill scratchbuilt from foamcore.
This planing mill was based on an RMC article.
This liquid asphalt distributor was inspired by an article in Model Railroader.
The Mifflinburg Mill was based on an article in the July 1952 issue of Model Railroader.
We've finally arrived at the station in Allentown, PA.
We'll be taking a freight from Philly to Harrisburg where the Conrail Interchange is.
We're approaching Reading, PA. The wall is made of foam core.
Here's an overview of the yard at Reading, You can see the famous pagoda on the backdrop.
The industries in Reading are part of the backdrop.
Part of the backdrop is hand-painted while part is commercially painted buildings.
We pass another freight headed West as we leave Reading.
We're nearing Blue Mountain.
We're at the man-made lake at Cowan's Gap State Park.
We are passing the lake and headed for coal country.
The Mynal Mine is in the heart of Anthracite country.
The mine is a 3-part S scale kit.
We're about to make the final run to Harrisburg.
As we near Harrisburg, we pass a typical PA Dutch farm.
Here are some local industries served by the Penn Western.
This stop includes a Plasticville freight depot from the Plasticville parts box. These vintage O-S structures make for some interesting kit-bashings.
The station is based on the one that Witt Towers designed and included in an RMC article. It had a cupola that was destroyed by a water leak.
We move on to the the East Broad Top section of the PW. This is the coal tipple which serviced many an EBT loco through the years. We're getting ready for a tourist train to run over the entire restored railroad, which is a dream of all EBT lovers.
Some EBT freight cars are on display.
Some are Sn3 kits, some are HO kitbashes and some are scratchbuilt.
The passengers are already waiting for the train at Orbisonia Depot.
The train waits for boarding, headed by #12.
We pick up more passengers at Saltillo.
At Aughwick Mills, on the way to Mt. Union, we go over Aughwick on the four arch concrete bridge.
Another view of #12 on the Aughwick Mills bridge.
We pass by the main line of the Penn Western. Some day we hope to model the interchange at Mt. Union.
The M-1 gas electric is ready to pick up passengers at Orbisonia Station.
The M-1 moves past some hopper cars on the way out of Orbisonia.
The M-1 has passed through a tunnel shared with the Penn Western standard gauge railroad.
The M-1 passes through Sideling Hill Tunnel.
Here's a special freight made up for the railbuffs assembled along the route.
We're in coal country now.
The train passes through mountain country.
A man-made lake reflects the train.
We're near Blue Mountain and Cowans Gap State Park.
