There is a secret in New Eagle Pennsylvania, one of the “best kept secrets of the Monongahela Valley” as the saying goes. That secret is behind a door on West Main Street in the New Eagle Borough building, its a model railroad layout belonging to the Mid Mon Valley Model Railroad Club. The layout will be opening for the annual “Open House” to let the general public see what they have been working on all year long.
The Mid Mon Valley Model railroad Club, after moving to the present location in 1998, has been modeling the Monongahela valley, as it appeared during the 1950s, during steam's last stand, and the last full decade of the mighty Pennsylvania railroad before merging with rival New York Central to form the disaster that was Penn Central. The layout features multiple scenes and locations from the past, that older visitors may remember, and younger ones may learn about.
The two level HO scale layout runs through three rooms, and one room dedicated entirely to a device called a helix, to connect both levels. Also featured is a fourth room for railroad artifacts and the viewing TV for the club's “camera train” a custom creation that lets visitors see the layout from the perspective of the engineer. The layout runs on a system called DCC (Digital Command Control), which lets club members run any amount of locomotives in either direction at once, usually as many controllers are usable at any time.
New this year, visitors can see the roundhouse that once stood at currently used Norfolk Southern rail yard “Shire Oaks” just down the road from the club building. Also featured is the Donora steel works, an example of the coke ovens that used to dot the Monongahela valley, a model of the Maple Creek mine, and a trolley that ran in Monongahela through the 1950s. The Mid Mon Valley Model Railroad Club is always looking for and accepting new members, anyone interested in model trains 18 and over is welcome to apply for membership, and they have a “junior members”, with the requirements of the applicant being 10-18 and have a parent or guardian join as a sponsor along with the minor. The club has members varying in skill from beginners up to excellent near Master Model railroaders, so they accept everyone, and will help develop skills.
The Open House dates are as follows:
November 28th and 29th 12-5
December 5th and 6th 12-5
December 12 and 13th 12-5
December 19th and 20th 12-5
December 26th and 27th 12-5
and January 2nd and 3rd 2016 12-5
Make a little time, and visit this annual Christmas tradition.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).