Did You Know? Out of the nearly 650 Railroads operating today in the United States, the Brownsville and Rio Grande International Railroad sports the longest name, at 44 letters long.
This past week was devoted to prepping for Easter, and for a
monumental project: rebuilding the listing concrete-block retaining wall along
our driveway. The wall was originally built incorrectly by a previous owner,
and the roots of the apple tree have been pushing it outward for a number of
years. Bill, Andrew, Amber, and I tackled the demolition and reconstruction
project. Obviously, this took away from time to work on the railroad.
I cleared the train table, and vacuumed up the sawdust from
all the hole-drilling last week. KevinG from work got to see the room on Friday
while he was helping deliver concrete for the wall project. On Easter the whole
gang came down to see the Broadway Limited riding around Track 4, along with
Edgar's amazed looks each time it passed by. Bill also managed a win against me
in a dual of the Rail Baron board game.
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| Happy train time |
Appropriately, the fourteenth in this series of future
passenger train topics is the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited.
Along with its competitor (and future fellow member of Penn
Central), the New York Central, the Pennsylvania Railroad ran a flagship
passenger train between New York and Chicago. The Pennsy's Broadway Limited
began its run in 1912 and continued through 1995. This train was not named after
the theatre-lined street in New York, instead it refers to the "broad
way" of the Railroad's 4-track main line. It changed its appearance and
motive power many times during its 83-year run. It began as an eight-car
steam-powered heavyweight set. In 1938, it was upgraded to a streamlined train,
pulled by electric GG1 locomotives or various streamlined steamers on various
parts of the route.
The PRR had unique engines and cars - they were a railroad of experimentation. Of particular interest, since meeting my wife and experiencing her theatrical dreams, is the Theatre Scenery Car. These 45 baggage cars were designed to carry set pieces from one venue to another, as shows toured throughout the country. Currently, there is one O-Scale version of the "Shakespeare", made by Weaver Models. Other Theatre Scenery Cars included the "Hamlet", "Caesar", "Richelieu", and "Pinafore".
My fictional version of the Broadway Limited is an early MTH 5-car heavyweight set, pulled by the massive Williams GG1 electric engine. The real GG1 received its power from an 11,000-volt overhead catenary system, and this did not stretch all the way to Chicago. The peculiar devices on the top of the engine which collect the power are called "pantographs". But, on my railroad, my custom GG1 can be powered by catenary or a unique internal quantum singularity, which will allow it to travel anywhere on the layout.
My impression of the passengers on the original Broadway Limited is that they were mostly traveling for business or upper-class pleasure in New York or Chicago. Not so much the type that would fancy the dusty streets of Red Stone, or the tent accommodations of Iron Horse National Park, or the company of gruff lumberjacks and miners of Cedar Falls, or the quaint-to-bizarre agro-tourism options of the town of Pinecone, or the north woods hideaway of Fence Lake. I think these folks may take this train to have a relaxing en route lunch or meet with fellow businesspeople in the parlor car before returning to Silver Falls for cocktails and a show. Or, maybe the local theatre troupe will commandeer the train and bring their gear to the Lodge at Iron Horse National Park for a special weekend show, performing for the other passengers as they travel down the line :)
The PRR had unique engines and cars - they were a railroad of experimentation. Of particular interest, since meeting my wife and experiencing her theatrical dreams, is the Theatre Scenery Car. These 45 baggage cars were designed to carry set pieces from one venue to another, as shows toured throughout the country. Currently, there is one O-Scale version of the "Shakespeare", made by Weaver Models. Other Theatre Scenery Cars included the "Hamlet", "Caesar", "Richelieu", and "Pinafore".
My fictional version of the Broadway Limited is an early MTH 5-car heavyweight set, pulled by the massive Williams GG1 electric engine. The real GG1 received its power from an 11,000-volt overhead catenary system, and this did not stretch all the way to Chicago. The peculiar devices on the top of the engine which collect the power are called "pantographs". But, on my railroad, my custom GG1 can be powered by catenary or a unique internal quantum singularity, which will allow it to travel anywhere on the layout.
My impression of the passengers on the original Broadway Limited is that they were mostly traveling for business or upper-class pleasure in New York or Chicago. Not so much the type that would fancy the dusty streets of Red Stone, or the tent accommodations of Iron Horse National Park, or the company of gruff lumberjacks and miners of Cedar Falls, or the quaint-to-bizarre agro-tourism options of the town of Pinecone, or the north woods hideaway of Fence Lake. I think these folks may take this train to have a relaxing en route lunch or meet with fellow businesspeople in the parlor car before returning to Silver Falls for cocktails and a show. Or, maybe the local theatre troupe will commandeer the train and bring their gear to the Lodge at Iron Horse National Park for a special weekend show, performing for the other passengers as they travel down the line :)
Keep your rails shiny ~
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| Theatre Scenery Car "Shakespeare" from http://passcarphotos.info |
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| A GG1 pulling a PRR heavyweight passenger train. Photo from Bob Coolidge's site at http://www.bcoolidge.com |
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