Pat McTeigue’s Lehigh Valley Junction Railroad
The Final Run
In 1990, I started Planning my full basement HO model railroad. I was thinking about modeling something that I could visit so the Railroad would have a Prototype feel. A field trip to East Penn Junction in Allentown, PA sold me on Conrail and the East Penn Branch, developed by The Reading Railroad.
Going West from Allentown, I modeled: Emmaus, Macungie, Alburtis, Lyon, Fleetwood, Blandon, Tuckerton, Temple, part of the Beltline and Reading. I also modeled some industries on what was called the Evansville Industrial Branch.
The era was late seventies so I could include the motive power of the fallen flags that went into Conrail. I have around 250 freight cars and 50 Engines on the layout.
A normal crew includes: the Dispatcher, an Allentown Yard Master (YM) with 2 helpers, a Reading YM with 1 helper, a Beltline Tower Operator who managed traffic between Upper Staging, through Reading and Temple to Blandon. The Low Grade between Temple and Blandon was single tracked. The Beltline Tower Operator also managed the CP Beth Interlocking on the lower level. A crew of 2 or more train crews would keep the yards busy.
In 2006, I lost my sight from an auto accident. Since then, the scenery and structures have been done by the members of the Tuesday Night Round Robin, (TNRR).
The railroad has five levels and a Hump at Allentown. A three turn helix is between Macungie and Alburtis. Under that, I have return loops for three staging areas. What I call the Mid-Level Staging area, at the level of Allentown, are the Phillipsburg Staging to the East and Lehighton Staging to the West. In the Low Level Staging, is the Saucon Yard and the Bethlehem Steel Ore Yard which supports some Unit Train traffic. The Upper Level Staging Yard is for destinations beyond Reading: Rutherford to the West and Port Richmond to the east along with East Side Yard, a B&O / CSX Yard. On top of the Helix is Reading which measures about 8 feet by 50 inches. It started as a circle but I was talked into making it an oval.
My individual project became a club effort.
The railroad will be dismantled in the near future as I will be relocating to Atlanta, GA to be closer to my family.
Eastbound:
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Westbound:
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Flyover:
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Slideshow:
