Overview of the Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum

It's the early 50's steam, steel, and stamina power the economy. The people around Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Cumberland Maryland are hard at work building the American post war prosperity. The country will soon revel in the radiance of the Eisenhower years. It's a good time to be alive in America. The Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum works to capture that time and place in its large, historical HO diorama style layout. The museum has been around since 1938 but now the members have their own permanent home to showcase this massive educational project. Two railroads are featured in the 10 scale miles of track between Pittsburgh and Cumberland. The Baltimore and Ohio, and the Mon Valley parallel each other through most of the layout. Welcome, I'm Allen Keller and this is Ray Mueser the president of the Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum. Ray, what's the guiding principle behind the museum. We want to show the public our trains running through historical areas back in the time when trains were the real way to travel. The Mon Valley fills the second floor of the museum's own building. The 40 by 100 foot island style HO railroad has all of its mainline completed. The group plans to finish the entire layout by 2005. The minium radius is 38 inches on L-girder bench work. This display type diorama runs from Pittsburgh to Cumberland Maryland. We'll start our visit in downtown Pittsburgh.