INTRODUCTIONThe 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.

 In Jan. 2003 I began construction of the bench work and roadbed. 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 in 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. 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).

 The layout will be open to the public on holidays and special occasions beginning in the Fall of 2007. 

If you would like to help keep this dream alive, you can. Just go to my Craft site and order a handmade gift for your self or a friend. This is how I finance this project. 

       http://www.portagecountrycrafts.com/

Sometime in the future I plan to add live web-cams, and possibly an in cab live cam! The future may also include a model railroad club to get the public involved in HO scale modeling. If you are interested in joining the club, e-mail me at gemstonemine@yahoo.com

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