Susquehanna River and Western Locomotive 10

The standard gauge Perry County Railroad purchased all of it's engines used from the Pennsylvania Railroad. All of the locomotives purchased prior to the 1903 sale to David Gring were 4-4-0 type Americans.

Locomotives 1 and 2 were not included in the sale due to their light construction and advanced age. Locomotive 3 was scrapped in 1911, being worn to the point that it was no longer serviceable. Locomotive 4 threw a driving rod sometime prior to 1924, destroying most of her right side gear. That left locomotive number 5, herself being a lady of vintage.

Locomotive number 6, a light 2-4-0, was purchased from the Baltimore and Ohio to fill the void, but proved insufficient even for the short 11 mile line and was soon scrapped. The last locomotive to be purchased was an ex-PRR H3b Consolidation like the one pictured above. It was numbered 10 and served the road until abandonment.

The H3b is not available in N scale, but the Bachmann Spectrum Consolidation comes close. The biggest difference is the lack of a Belpaire firebox. For my purposes, this shortcoming can be overlooked.

Bachmann locomotives have a deservedly poor reputation in regards to standard N gauge steam offerings, but the Spectrum Consolidation is one of the best locomotives on the market in N scale. It runs quietly and at closer to prototype speeds than the train set varieties, the detail is superb, and the running qualities are second to none.

Here, then, is my version of SR&WRR Number 10 in it's unlettered and un-numbered form. It is the last of 3 Bachmann Consolidations purchased, and is the only Spectrum on the roster so far. The other two are standard (in other words, train set) locomotives and are quite different in appearance. In fact, the only thing the two locomotive types share is their wheel arrangement.

As you can see from the upper photograph, the Belpaire firebox is quite evident just in front of the cab on the prototype locomotive. Anyone who is familiar with PRR engines will recognize right away that the model is not an accurate copy of a Pennsylvania H3b. If I were so inclined, it may not be difficult to modify this locomotive's shell. There is ample room between the cab and the first dome to add the Belpaire, but honestly I'm not that concerned about it. However, for anyone wishing to make an accurate copy of the PRR H3 class, Bachmann's Spectrum Consolidation would be a fine starting point.

H3b photo courtesy of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Thievery on the East Broad Top

For those of you who have been paying attention, you are aware of my particular fondness for a little railroad in south-central Pennsylvania.

For those of you who have not been paying attention, I have a particular fondness for a little railroad in south-central Pennsylvania.

The short story; the East Broad Top is a narrow gauge railroad 33 miles in length that mostly made a living hauling coal from the east side of the Broad Top mountain (there was a standard gauge railroad that took care of the west side, called the Huntingdon and Broad Top).

The railroad closed down in 1956 but the new owners didn't scrap it. In 1960 they brought 5 of the 33 miles back on-line as a tourist attraction. The rest of the road has sunk into 60 years of decay and negligence - but lest you think I'm saying something against the present owners, nothing could be further from the truth.

The railroad is still there, all of it (that hasn't fallen or been torn down), against all odds, and at great personal cost to the family. They are to be commended for their sacrifice, and my undying thanks go to them.

Apparently last week some sub-human miscreants made off with a quarter mile of the hundred year old rail, likely to cut it up for scrap.

This was no casual in-and-out lift a few rails into the back of a truck common thievery. Oh no, this was carefully planned and executed, complete with official looking fake contracts complete with forged signatures.

Several locals checked on the work in progress to see what was going on, and were convinced by the falsified paperwork that all was in order. The thieves made a clean getaway.

Since the East Broad Top is a National Historic Landmark the act of thievery may itself be a felony, added with the fraud and forgery charges.

One can hope that this slime is apprehended and has a lot of time to regret what they have done.

If, by rare chance, anyone stumbles upon this story and has anything to add please contact the Huntingdon County PA authorities and/or the East Broad Top Railroad.

UPDATE: The thieves have been caught and the rail recovered. Unfortunately the rail has been cut up into 3 foot lengths and cannot be reinstalled.

Photo by Larry

New Bloomfield

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The events that brought not just one, but two, railroads into Perry County were mostly political.

New Bloomfield was - and is - the county seat in Perry County, but Newport was - and is - larger and busier. Newport had an advantage over sleepy little New Bloomfield because the Pennsylvania Railroad ran through the center of it.

Because of this disparity in size and vigor, political pressure was being raised to move the county seat to Newport. If the seat were to remain in New Bloomfield, a connection must be made to the outside world.

A charter had been granted to the Duncannon, Bloomfield and Loysville railroad in 1872, but nothing had been done with it. This charter was resurrected in 1887 as the Perry County Railroad, and the line was completed from Duncannon to New Bloomfield in September of 1889.

David Gring, a logger from next-door Huntingdon County, had recently lost his lease on the tracts of land he was currently operating on and was casting about for a new location. Meanwhile in Newport, so as not to be outdone by the Perry County Railroad, businessmen and farmers were clamoring for a route to market. David Gring saw an opportunity to harvest timber from the Sherman's Valley, a deal was quickly struck and a charter for the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad was granted on July 30, 1890.

The road was narrow gauge because the equipment that David Gring brought with him from the Diamond Valley railroad was 3 foot gauge. It was completed to Loysville in 1891, but missed New Bloomfield by about two miles.

Trouble erupted when the standard gauge Perry County attempted to complete their own line to Loysville and then to Landisburg, because to do so they would have to cross the narrow gauge at two points.

A crossing was built without permission one night, and the court battles immediately began. The narrow gauge eventually emerged victorious and the Perry County Railroad was forced to make it's crossings via trestle instead of diamonds.

David Gring purchased the Perry County on September 14, 1903 and it's operations were soon cut back to it's original terminus in New Bloomfield. The narrow gauge built a spur to New Bloomfield to make a connection, and in 1921 the rails to Newport were removed. The narrow gauge's shops and offices were relocated to New Bloomfield, and that borough became the terminus of both railroads.

Little evidence of either railroad remains in what was once the central focus point of both. The dual gauged yards started just south of the ball diamond and crossed Carlisle Street just south of Barnett Street, about where Gusler Alley is now. It ended in the large parking lot just south and west of where the National Bank of Mifflintown now resides.

A small path extending eastward from Barnett Woods Road, called Train Lane, is the only reminder of the twin roads' existence, and at the end of Train Lane is a cluster of buildings that may or may not be all that remains of the railroads shops and engine house. Evidence of the standard gauge roadbed can be seen running eastward past this point, but is soon lost in the fields and farmlands.

New construction has obliterated the remains of the yard, and the only structure that is referenced on the maps in "Narrow Gauge in the Sherman's Valley" is a big red barn east of Carlisle Street. There is one on or near that spot now (on the east side of Gusler Alley just before it makes its turn westward), but it is impossible to tell from just the satellite map if it is the same structure.

Newport

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Although the borough of Newport has not seen a narrow gauge train in the better part of a century (the last one left in 1921 and pulled up the rails behind it) the satellite imagery shows that quite a bit of the railroad remains to the careful eye.

If one were to zoom in on the above map to the area just to the left of Keystone Way as it leaves Newport heading south (marked as highways 849 and 34) and just below the South 4th street label, one would find the area once occupied by the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad shops. It is little more than a widening in a dirt path now, but this is where the sheds, shops, sidings and scales were.

In Newport itself, the station was located in the northwest corner of the parking lot at the intersection of Walnut and Third (zoom in on the map using the buttons provided). The Pennsylvania Railroad tracks once ran down third street until the early 1900s when they undertook a large grade-reduction project. A part of the mainline is still evident to the northwest, and appears to have railcars parked on it.

Peach Street is between Third and Fourth Streets, and is little more than an alleyway. This was once the roadbed for the N&SVRR as it made it's way from the station house to it's shops complex. The tracks crossed Mulberry street and turned south southwest before crossing 4th street just to the north of the Little Buffalo Creek bridge. They continued past the shops complex and crossed Little Buffalo Road not far from the Keystone Way intersection. A dirt path follows the right of way.

The section of railroad from Newport to Loysville was the first to open, and the section from Newport to New Bloomfield Junction was the first to be taken up. All together the narrow gauge served the borough for which it was named for only thirty years. By the time the rails were removed the Newport and Sherman's Valley had been incorporated into the Susquehanna River and Western, although the narrow gauge locomotives would wear the N&SVRR logo until the very end.

Actual Timeline and History

The following time line and history is based on the actual events as they transpired for the railroads located in Perry County, Pennsylvania as recorded in the book "Narrow Gauge in the Sherman's Valley" by Gary Kohler and James D. Weinshencker. The Pennsylvania Railroad is obviously not considered a Perry County road, even though it's mainline ran along the edge of Perry County.

1887 – The standard-gauge Perry County Railroad is chartered.

1889 – The PCRR mainline is completed from a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Duncannon to a temporary terminus in New Bloomfield.

July 30, 1890 – The narrow gauge Newport and Sherman’s Valley Railroad is chartered by David Gring, a logger, with the intentions of harvesting timber in the Sherman’s Valley.

1891 – The N&SVRR mainline is completed from a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Newport to the village of Loysville. The N&SVRR mainline misses New Bloomfield by about two miles.

1892 – The N&SVRR is completed to Blain and the PCRR is completed to Elliotsburg via a forced crossing with the N&SVRR at Tressler’s farm. The N&SVRR gets an injunction against the PCRR regarding the crossing; it is taken up in October and replaced with a trestle at the same location. This is one of the few times in American history where a standard-gauge railroad has had to bow to the wishes of a narrow gauge one.

1893 – The N&SVRR completes it’s line to New Germantown. The PCRR crosses the N&SVRR again by way of a trestle at Greenpark and is completed to Landisburg with a branch to Loysville. The N&SVRR contemplates a Path Valley extension.

Oct 23, 1893 – The Path Valley Railroad charter is approved. The PVRR unveils an ambitious plan to run from the end of the N&SVRR mainline in New Germantown, through a tunnel in the Conococheague Mountain, to Fannettsburg PA and eventually to a connection with the B&O at Hancock MD.

Jan 1894 – Work begins on the Conococheague Mountain tunnel. On the Sherman’s Valley side the bore only extends about 100 feet before it hits hard rock and the work is halted. On the Path Valley side the rock is found to be too soft and unstable to permit a portal to be established, the rock just crumbles into the excavation. By April 1894 the money runs out and work on both sides is abandoned.

1901 – The Perry County Lumber Company builds a logging railroad on part of the Path Valley roadbed from New Germantown to the Conococheague Mountain. This is the only part of the Path Valley extension that ever sees rail.

September 14, 1903 – The Perry County Railroad goes broke and is bought by David Gring, representing the Susquehanna River and Western Railroad. The standard gauge road west of the Tressler’s Farm trestle (later renamed New Bloomfield Junction) is abandoned and taken up. The N&SVRR builds a spur from New Bloomfield Junction to a connection with the SR&WRR in New Bloomfield.

1905 - The Perry County Lumber Company harvests all the available timber and it's rails are removed.

1907 – Major renovations are performed on the N&SVRR.

1910 – Another attempt at the Path Valley extension is made and again it fails at the Conococheague Tunnel. The SR&WRR operates at a loss this year and never again regains profitability.

Dec 28, 1917 – The United States Railroad Administration takes control of the Gring railroads during WW1.

Mar/Apr 1918 – The N&SVRR spur from New Bloomfield to New Bloomfield Junction is dual-gauged.

Jun 29, 1918 – The USRA relinquishes control of the Gring railroads.

Jan 14, 1920 – Notices are posted for public sale of the N&SVRR and SR&WRR.

March 1920 – David Gring dies at the age of 63.

Mar 31, 1920 – The N&SVRR and SR&WRR are both sold to Rodney Gring (son of David) and George H. Ross for scrap prices. The Newport & Sherman's Valley Railroad is absorbed by the Susquehanna River & Western Railroad and officially ceases to exist.

April 20, 1920 - Train service is suspended on the narrow gauge between Newport and New Bloomfield Junction. A complaint is soon filed with the Pennsylvania Public Services Commission by the borough of Newport because of the suspension of services.

November 9, 1920 - The Pennsylvania Public Services Commission rules that since the N&SVRR no longer officially exists, the complaint against it must be dismissed. It further rules that the SR&WRR is not obligated to continue service to Newport since they did not take advantage of the opportunity to assume that obligation when the company was reorganized. The company quickly moves to scrap that portion of the line.

1921 – The narrow gauge mainline from Newport to New Bloomfield Junction is abandoned and taken up. The former N&SVRR offices and shops are dismantled and moved from Newport to New Bloomfield.

1933 – The narrow gauge mainline from New Germantown to Blain is abandoned; the rails are taken up in June.

1933/1934 – The narrow gauge mainline from Blain to Loysville is abandoned; the rails are taken up in March 1934.

April 1934 – The remainder of the narrow gauge mainline from Loysville to New Bloomfield is abandoned; the last of the rails are taken up in April 1935. The scrapping is done in steam; the railroad's own #5 pulls the train that takes up the last of the rails. The remainder of the railroad’s assets are sold or scrapped and the Newport & Sherman's Valley Railroad is no more, in fact as well as in name.

May 17, 1939 – The SR&WRR, who had only survived this long by eating itself, finally runs out of options when the Perry County commissioners refuse to pave a short stretch of public highway leading to the proposed site of a Tuscarora Oil Company pumping station that would have been served by the railroad. The station is built across the Juniata River in Inglenook instead, and the Susquehanna River & Western Railroad is abandoned and sold for scrap. The only railroad left operating in Perry County from this point onward is the mighty Pennsylvania.

An alternate timeline will be established when I can cook one up.

It's Here!

My copy of "Narrow Gauge in the Sherman's Valley" has arrived.

It is indeed a history of the Perry County railroads, which includes the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad and the Perry County Railroad with a brief line or two on the Perry County Lumber Company thrown in for good measure.

It is also indeed a reprint of the earlier "Bells and Whistles in Old Perry" with new photos and added information. Since I have never read "Bells and Whistles" I don't know what photos or information has been added.

There are 106 pages in all, a good number of photos, and a basic outline of the railroad's history. There isn't as much information as I would have liked, but at least the story is there.

I haven't yet decided on a timeline, but it will be sometime after the Perry County Railroad was sold to David Gring, representing the Susquehanna River and Western. The purchase was made on September 14, 1903.

The Newport and Sherman's Valley had two Moguls, one American and a small switcher. The 2-6-0 mechanism I have will work well for either Mogul, but the narrowed Bachmann isn't a very good stand-in mostly due to driver size. The Susquehanna River and Western had an ex-PRR Consolidation. I don't think any of these locomotives, with the possible exception of the narrow gauge American, will be difficult to reproduce.

My plans are to have some sort of refining plant at New Bloomfield or New Bloomfield Junction; coal will come in from the East Broad Top and raw ore from the mines on or near the Conococheague Mountain in narrow gauge cars via the N&SV. After refining, the processed ore will be shipped out in standard gauge cars via the SR&W to the PRR interchange at Duncannon.

What the raw ore may be is still under consideration. Coal may be an option, but if so there would not have been a reason to interconnect with the EBT so I'm not leaning in that direction. Iron may be another option, but iron mining had pretty much ceased in the area by the early 1900's due to the superior quality of the Minnesota iron ore that was being brought in by lake steamer and the PRR. The area abounds in minerals, so I'll just have to come up with one, along with a reasonable excuse to exploit it.

I'm still working on a basic history and timeline, and this is actually quite a bit of fun in itself. The first thing that has to happen is a new source of revenue for the railroad that would justify it's expansion. They will be published when they are completed.

The Initial Roster

So far I have collected locomotives and rolling stock that is either related to the East Broad Top or that I have found curious. I have one Mogul, one American, and one Mikado.

The Mogul was supposed to be a model of the EBT's engine #1 but it is oversize in several aspects. First off, the boiler is way too big. The EBT engine's boiler was 36 inches and the model is 60", the EBT's drivers were also 36" and the model's is 44". My plans are to update the tender - or not, because it is an interesting 6 wheel design - and re-designate it as a PVRR locomotive. In the process it will lose a sand dome and become a very different locomotive.

The American is a narrowed Bachmann 4-4-0 that I did just to see if I could. It's a rather large engine, larger even than the Mogul, and as such is probably bigger than most narrow-gauge Americans that roamed the rails in the late 1800's. I'm seriously considering updating it with a new cab from RLW, maybe expanding the boiler front a bit to make it a straight boiler, some new domes and stack, and some tender detail in the hopes I can make it a bit more modern and give the illusion that it was special built for the PVRR in the late teens or early 20's. I might just leave it as it is though.

The Mikado is, and will continue to be, an EBT locomotive. It's purpose will be to deliver East Broad Top coal to the PVRR and occasionally bring the EBT's President over for a visit or two since I have built a copy of the Orbisonia in Nn3.

Rolling stock is limited to one combine built from a narrowed Bachmann old-timer, one flatcar since it's too short to be an authentic EBT car, and a narrowed Bachmann bobber caboose. I'll build a few Bachmann coaches for the PVRR, maybe a few other passenger cars from other N scale cars, some undecorated boxcars either from RLW or Micro Trains, and some wooden hoppers.

The hoppers will have to be scratch-built because I haven't seen any kits or RTR cars. They will be based on a design that the EBT used early in it's life. They will be augmented by some steel cars of EBT/Pressed Steel design built from RLW kits.

Mining loads will be a part of the PVRR's traffic, although what and how much will be mined is up in the air at present. Maybe I'll make something up. The area is rich in coal and iron, although iron mining halted in the early 1900's.

The time frame is likewise fluid, but can be any time after 1894. That was the year the N&SV attempted to drill through the Conococheague and failed. Locomotives and rolling stock will have to reflect the era, but that gives me a pretty large field to work with.

Reference Materials

I have just ordered my copy of "Narrow Gauge in the Sherman's Valley" which seems to be the history of the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad. As I said in my previous post, the plan for the Path Valley Railroad uses the NSV as it's seed.

There was an earlier book, "Bells and Whistles in Old Perry", that I have seen once on Ebay but didn't feel as if it was worth the $100 asking price. I don't know if this is an update, a reprint, or a completely different book.

I have been a longtime fan of the EBT, but I haven't ventured as far east as Newport or the Sherman's Valley to see the lay of the land. My next trip to Pennsylvania will include the NSV's locale as well as the purchase of a topographical map of the area.

Until then I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new book!

What's this then?

This blog is about model railroading, specifically modeling in N scale. There will be quite a bit of narrow gauge as well since the locale that I am trying for is central Pennsylvania, in the southern tier of counties that border Maryland.

In that part of the country you will still find the East Broad Top, a coal hauling road that ceased common carrier service in 1956 and was bought by the Kovalchick Salvage Company. Smart money was that the Kovalchicks were going to scrap the road and sell the land, but the owner had different plans.

The story goes that Nick Kovalchick had always wanted a model railroad when he was a boy and had been disappointed every Christmas. The EBT was a dream come true.

I don't know if the story is true or not, but it deserves to be if it isn't. What I do know is that the Kovalchicks have been keeping the dream alive at considerable personal expense for the past 50 plus years now, and you can still go to the Augwick valley and see the smoke and hear the whistles.

And that is where our story begins.

The Path Valley Railroad is a model operation built on a proposed line that never was. The humble beginnings of the planned line was the narrow gauge Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad, who's tracks ran from a connection with the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad in Newport PA, down Sherman's Valley to New Germantown, and made it's meager living hauling forest products from the foot of the Conococheague Mountain.

The proposed line was to have used the narrow gauge Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad as it's seed. Continuing from the actual end of line for the NSV, the Path Valley Railroad would cut through the Conococheague Mountain via a tunnel to the Path Valley. It would send a branch through Concord Narrows to join up with the East Broad Top at Shade Gap while the mainline would continue down Path Valley to Fannettsburg.

Before it was all over the plans got to be pretty ambitious. A line through Burnt Cabins and the New Grenada-Sideling Hill Gap to the coal seams on the east side of the Broad Top mountain was planned, and the entire line was to be relaid in standard gauge. However, the contractor that was hired to drill the Conococheague Tunnel abruptly went bankrupt and the bore was never completed.

Without the Conococheague Mountain tunnel the PVRR was not to be. This was probably good news to the EBT since they were able to keep the Broad Top coalfield traffic on the east side of the mountain for themselves.

In my alternate version of the history of southern Pennsylvania the plans didn't get this ambitious, the tunnel contractor was quickly replaced, and the Path Valley Railroad came into existence to run alongside of the East Broad Top, even buying coal, excess locomotives and rolling stock from them as well as copying their designs.

The PVRR will have a few EBT trains on occasion, delivering coal and picking up the empties. There will be some aspects that are unique to the railroad, but the line will reflect the character and operating practices of the neighboring lines as well. I'll post the plans and histories as they are available.