Research
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (Canonsburg history) is located 13.5 miles south of the Pennsylvania Railroad's mainline (railroad "West"). Between the PRR's Scully yard west of Pittsburgh and the town of Canonsburg you will find Carnegie (where the Chartiers Branch breaks from the PRR mainline) and Bridgeville (where the Bridgeville & McDonald branch starts). The PRR's Chartiers Branch then continues on to Washington (about 10 miles further down the line) where it terminates. According to the "The Pennsylvania Railroad C.T. 1000 C, May 1, 1945" the PRR served ten industries and one passenger station in Canonsburg in a span of just under a mile. The "Pennsylvania Transformer Co" is not listed because they didn't move to Canonsburg until 1946. The exact location on the line is unknown to me, but the list shows my best guess. Since I am modeling the summer of 1950, this company is important, and can provide some interesting loads.
- m.p. 13.6 - Hazel Mine, Frick Coke Co.
- m.p. ??.? - Pennsylvania Transformer Co; manufactures transformers.
- m.p. 13.7 - Fort Pitt Bridge Works; produced structural steel
- m.p. 13.7 - Canonsburg Pottery Co.
- m.p. 13.7 - M. L. Taylor Estate
- m.p. 14.0 - Canonsburg Milling Co.
- m.p. 14.1 - Donaldson Supply & Equipment Co.; lumber yard, concrete suppliers
- m.p. 14.1 - Passenger Station
- m.p. 14.3 - Canonsburg Steel & Iron Works
- m.p. 14.3 - Hardy & Rankin; lumber yard, concrete suppliers
- m.p. 14.5 - Altmans Cash Feed Store
- m.p. 14.5 - M. Rom & Sons No. 1
The following photos and videos are available on the web:
- Conrail working Pennsylvania Transformer Co.
- Canonsburg's passenger station
- P&OC passing Pennsylvania Transformer Co (video)
- P&OC passing through Canonsburg (video)
- Drive through Canonsburg (video)
Model
Canonsburg, PA is one of two towns served on my scaled-down version of the PRR Chartiers Branch. It takes up the right-hand side of my "U"-shaped layout. The list below shows the industries I have decided to model in this area. It seems like there were a lot of industries packed close together, and I want to capture that in my small layout. I will have to see how that works out with uncoupling cars, but the idea is to build somewhat of an "urban canyon" of industrial buildings. I am interesting in prototype modeling, so I will try to research each of the companies and try to model a compressed version of the structures. As with all prototype modeling, I intend to scratchbuild the structures and they will probably be revised several times as more prototype research information (such as photos, drawings, etc.) becomes available to me.
- m.p. 13.7 - Canonsburg Pottery Co.
- m.p. 14.0 - Canonsburg Milling Co.
- m.p. 14.1 - Donaldson Supply & Equipment Co.
- m.p. 14.1 - Passenger Station
- m.p. 14.3 - Canonsburg Steel & Iron Works
- m.p. 14.3 - Hardy & Rankin
- m.p. 14.5 - Altmans Cash Feed Store
Overall Status
The entire area is finished, except for structures, people, and roads.
Detailed Progress Reports
03-14-2009 - Roadbed
10-15-2009 - Track
03-02-2011 - Scenery
12-02-2011 - Structure Mock-ups
10-29-2011 - Canonsburg Passenger Station
03-09-2011 - Overall Progress Photos
Latest Overall Photo
- March 9, 2011 -