Piedmont Pilgrimage 2022 Part 2

 Greetings All,

Piedmont Pilgrimage 2022 Part 2

On the afternoon of November 6th, 2022 I had the good fortune to visit two more excellent model railroads as part of the Piedmont Pilgrimage 2022 layout tours.

Johnstown & Gerryville Railroad

The first layout I visited was the HO scale Johnstown & Gerryville RR belonging to John and Gerry Travis of Hoschton, GA. This layout was amazingly detailed and built for railroad operations with signaling and computer aided dispatcher in a separate room.

The layout is set in 1954 in the Johnstown area of Pennsylvania and focuses on the transition era from steam to diesel. This is the third J&G RR that started being built in 208 when John and wife Gerry moved into their current home and serves as the home of the Deaton Creek Model Railroad Club. A photo from the layout graced the cover of  the 2018 issue of Model Railroader. 

All of the scenes and structures are thoroughly detailed and lighted for night time running.

The passenger station below the above photo and to the right of the first photo. A nice mix of commercially available kits set around a broad curve. 

Another shot of the corner scene from a different angle. The sanding towers are Bachmann and I used the same kit on my own engine terminal.

The scenery was beautiful as we catch an empty hopper train heading into a tunnel.

Did I mention the buildings were well detailed and lit?

Another very detailed industry. The camera doesn't do the size and detail of the building justice.

Upper and lower level staging in a separate room.

Another nicely done section on the lower level.

Hemingway Finishing Company is named for one of John's friends, a fellow NMRA-SER-Piedmont Division-Deaton Creek Model RR Club member who regularly works on the layout, participates in the op sessions and was present during my visit. 

The banter between him and John was great and Mr Hemingway offered me a throttle and train to run several times which I politely declined. The business is a tongue cheek name as John was chiding Mr. Hemingway that he never finishes anything!

Another well done industry. 

The same industry trackside. The gray boxcar is a J&G RR car. The company slogan is "Stay on track with us"

J&G hoppers and two more J&G boxcars in different paint schemes and lettering.

A J&G steam engine brings a train towards the tunnel entrance. Note the tabs on top of the freight cars. They are used during op sessions to let the operators know where the car is going.

The BINO says hello!!

A model of Loyalhanna Creek stone arch bridge. The bridge is beautiful and this is the most realistic model of water I've ever seen.

B&O FAs and an Alco RS1 burble away waiting for a green signal. All of the engines running this day were sound equipped.

The MT. View Inn looks like a great place to vacation!!

Looks like the RS-1 got the green signal.

I did mention this layout was well detailed. There is even a cat licking up the spilled milk!

A B&O hopper train gets stabbed on the hill.

Another impressive industry. From what I recall Rolling Rock Beer was brewed in Latrobe PA.

An RDC hangs around the roundhouse and bring this visit to its conclusion. 

A special thank you to John, his wife Gerry and the various folks operating the layout and greeting the visitors. These were some of the nicest and friendliest people I've ever met. I had a great time and could have stayed here all day talking with them and taking in the tremendous amount of detail on this beautiful layout but I had another layout to visit.

You can read more about the J&G RR here.

Delaware & Hudson Penn Division

The next and final layout visit of the day was the HO scale D&H Penn Division belonging to Justin Jankauskas of Hoschton, GA. This layout is set in the Carbondale, PA area and models the D&H in transition between 1977 to 1979.

The layout is beautifully done and brings back fond memories for layout owner Justin who lived in the area and watched these trains. The layout really captures the look of the area that I see on the Railfanning with the Bednar's videos. I was constantly looking for Pops, his bench and Big Mike!!

The good looking backdrop adds a lot of depth to this scene of a rail served brewery.

A D&H train comes thru town powered by a set of Alcos. The first two units were custom built by layout owner Justin. All of the engines are sound equipped.

The D&H train heads out of town. The track to the right takes the train across the bridge to the other side of the layout. The track going into the distance will bring the train to lower level staging yards.

The hind end of the train as Big Mike would say!

The train crosses this very impressive bridge built by Justin.

Three different types of Alco units.

The lower level engine area featuring some ex LV units conveyed to the D&H during the Conrail start up and D&H expansion in 1976.

I'm looking for Pop and his bench!

Does anybody remember the Railfanning with the Bednar's video where Pops was amazed as the masking tape numbers on the Reading units? Here they are faithfully reproduced in 1:87 scale. Layout owner Justin was very accommodating to me when I asked about them and brought them up from a lower level staging yard for this photo and the video at the end of this post.

The realism of Justin's D&H Penn Division was amazing.

Some video footage of the Penn Division. All we need is Big Mike to narrate!!

A big thank you to Justin and his crew for allowing me to visit and being such great hosts. I had a great time watching the trains run and talking with Justin. This was another layout I could have spent a day with!

You can read more about the D&H Penn Division here

I had such a good time visiting all four layouts I visited two more on November 12th and was glad I did. I'll cover those in Part three coming soon.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See you soon!!!