Exploring Operations on the Reading Railway

Jim Hertzog’s HO scale model of the Pennsylvania coal region is a remarkable recreation of history. He accurately portrays the diverse landscape of the coal mines of the 1950’s with carefully planned grades. Helper action assists as elevation poses a threat. The locomotives make their way up and down the mountainous track. The grades are just one of the many notable features of this layout.

Exploring Operations on the Reading Railway

In this segment of the Reading series, Allen Keller walks you through a typical run on the Pennsylvania tracks. We follow various locomotives as they travel the rails.The locomotive first makes its way from Tamaqua Yard to Downtown Tamaqua. After traveling through the tunnel and past the creek it arrives at the east Mahanoy Junction. Buck Mountain and the Mahanoy Tunnel are next. At Saint Nicholas the lead F3 #263 picks up three hoppers at this coal-marshaling yard. Two loaded Pennsylvania hoppers and a Reading hopper are added to PN7. After Mahanoy Creek, a helper train is needed to get over the Locust Summit grade. At Lavelle, the F Units begin the assault on the Locust Summit grade. After making its way past the Locust Summit, the helper is cut off and returned to Gordon. The journey ends with the F Units leaving Shamokin Yard heading towards Newberry Junction.

Take a closer look at the operations as we jump right into the action of the Reading Railroad. You’ll witness how Jim’s operations excellently mimic the movements of the real Reading Railroad. Having a basic understanding of operations will greatly improve your own model railroad.