History of the  Portage Model Railroad

The HO scale railroad described here is based on the  Pennsylvania Middle Division circa (1865-1885)    Harrisburg to Altoona Pa. I fell in love with this section of mainline after reading  "ON THE MAIN LINE"     The Pennsylvania Railroad in the 19th Century By Edwin P. Alexander. Most of the (367) illustrations in this book were taken by the P.R.R Photographer's special excursion train. I began designing track plans, and researching for this layout in 1988, and dreaming about all the possibilities.

In September 2002 I found a permanent location for the layout in Ravenna, Ohio. The place is right downtown with a large storefront display window. Just 1/2 block north of the courthouse. 

 In Jan. 2003 I began construction of the bench work and roadbed for section 1. Next came the bridges, and trestles this took a lot of time, (months) They were built from scratch and involved thousands of hand-cut pieces.

 I started laying track in Sept. 2003 and completed the mainline for section 1, Dec. 2004. The track is code 83 flex-track nailed over cork roadbed. I opened the front window to public viewing in Jan. 2005, after finishing the waterfalls, mountains, and scenery for the visible section of mainline. At this point the two track mainline is now able to run 2 trains opposite directions in a continuous loop. This will allow me to run them in front of  the window for display. I also have a Coal Mine branch on the top level that will run back and forth with a stop/delay/reverse to service the Flat top Mine. I made all the trees my-self using a variety of techniques. I decided on early autumn for the season. The bright Fall colors look great. I am now adding structures to this (window) section, designing electronics to control the mine spur. (and making trees), (and making trees).

2005 - 2007 Was not a good time for the Portage Model Railroad. I made commitments to other projects that took 1010% of my attention. The PMRR was temporarily on the back burner.

2008 I spent most of the year making walls, rocks, and trees.    I concentrated on financing for the  project, and laying the ground work for a fantastic 2009. 

2009 I started working on the rock details of the mountain with the Coal Mine, and planted another 1000 trees & bushes. This is a before and after slide show.  I spent most of April  molding and inserting rock work under the bridge at Birmingham. The tower at the eastern end of Altoona will look great on the new stone wall. In May I cut and expanded the layout by 12 feet, this will allow better access to the Birmingham station area and allow room to model the roundhouse at Altoona. Making the hills and tunnels on this section took me in to September, but it looks just like I envisioned. I can now build Perrysville (Port Royal) in the center of the layout, but 1st I will have to make and plant 1000-2000 trees on the hills behind it. This will take about 3 months, then I can lay the track to Perrysville circa 1862. I am also finalizing the track plan for the rest of the front room, building bench work, adding more wire dropdowns, getting ready for DCC. I was so happy with Perrysville station that started immediately on Thompsontown Station "I love this old building".           

 2010- Thompsontown station is going well, the windows are done. Moving on to the roof detail. Planting trees is next on the agenda. The top layer of trees are planted, now I can layout the roads and trails before adding buildings and tree details. 

In June 2010 I purchased my first DCC Engines! 

With Thompsontown almost finished! I pulled out some old models to work on 3 plastic models I built 1st in the mid 70's. This will be round 3 for them. I also found a balsa wood scratch built Coaling Shed I built srom scratch in 1980. It was destroyed in accident.  After 29+ yrs in a box in pieces it's time to rebuild it. and The Chama Coaling tower (Champbell kit) I started and never finished. & A Pump house (Campbell kit) All these models have been on the back burner, for a long time.  I think I'll finish them before I start any new building projects.

2011 begins with

The addition of  an NCE  DCC starter system!

and The placing the Thompsontown Station

e-mail me at gemstonemine@yahoo.com or call 330 221-6067 

   Sometime in the future I plan to add live web-cams, and possibly an in cab live cam!  

I would highly recommend becoming a member of the "National Model Railroad Association" and I would like the opportunity to tell you about all the benefits that come with membership so call me, anytime.   This is a link to the local chapter "Division 1 "of the "The Mid-Central Region" of the NMRA

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 Ordering your supplies online may be easy at times but it's your local shops that keep model railroading alive! Kids that want to get involved in modeling need places to shop for supplies, ideas, and ask questions. Kids are the future of modeling so get them involved, they will love you for it.

  If you would like to help me keep this dream alive, you can. 

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       http://www.portagecountrycrafts.com/

 Special thanks to    for their help with   Web hosting and technical support!

History of the  Middle Division

Pennsylvania Middle Division circa  (1865-1885)           This is a collection of photographs of the 132 Miles from Harrisburg to Altoona     Rules and Regulations 1857