19-09-28a PHOTOS: Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania - Outside

My 2019 tour of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania continues as I move into the outdoor exhibit yard where the rolling stock deemed liable to dirty the floor with their rusty wheels are left to mingle with the stoners and the goth kids. For those of you who missed the indoor part of my tour you can find it here. Also included in this segment will be my return to Philadelphia after getting dropped off at the Paoli SEPTA station. Like before you can see all of the photos from this set here (mirror).

The star attractions of the outdoor exhibits were PRR M1 Mountain #6755 and K4 Pacific #3750. The 301 M1 Mountains built during the 1920's were used as a fast freight hauler for high priority, low density merchandise trains. With 4000hp available, they were roughly equivent to an SD70M and the large drivers meant they could also be used in passenger service. In practice this was rarely necessary as the 425 K4 Pacific's were available in such numbers to make stand-ins unecessary. The most numerous class of Pacific ever built, the K4 developed 3600hp and after large numbers were displaced by Atlantic region electrification, the PRR found it easier to double or triple head its premier passenger trains with K4's during the depression, with no new passenger equipment being ordered until the T1's of 1942.

Nicknamed the Brick Shithouse, the General Electric E60, represented by Amtrak #603, was a 6000hp freight derived passenger locomotive used by Amtrak for its heaviest and longest trains between 1972 and 2003. Somehow heavier than a GG1, the C-C freight trucks led to high speed derailments and poor tracking at speeds over 90mph. It's poor performance led to the purchase of the AEM-7 to replace the GG1's in high speed service.

Budd Metroliner #860 is perhaps the last remaining Metroliner with some of its propulsion system and original interrior intact, the rest having been converted into unpowered cab cars Although capable of speeds up to 165mph, the Metroliner was crippled by an over ambitious analog control system that proved to be an unreliable mantainence nightmare. Entering service in 1969, they were all out of service or being used as coaches by 1985.

Also outside were PRR L1 Mikado #520 and H10 Consolidation #7688, both missing their tenders and undergoing restoration and asbestos abatement. The 575 L1s' used the same boiler as the K4 and filled the same freight role as an SD40 or SD45, being later bumped from some of the fast freight jobs by the newer M1 Mountains.

Although not very glamourous, Monongahela Connecting Railway #701 was one of only 26 Alco Century C415 heavy switchers ever built. It is powered by a turbocharged 8 cylinder Also 251-F engine. 

Maryland and Pennsylvania NW2 switcher #81 is possibly the only surviving from the rural shortline that connected Baltimore and York.

At this point I had covered everything the Museum had to offer and went back across the street to where N&W #475 and #611 were running on the Strasburg Railroad. After a lunch in downtown Strasburg, I got a lift to the SEPTA railhead at Paoli where the new center high level platform was now in service, using the space previously occupied by the underutilized through tracks 2 and 3. PAOLI tower was still open with the interlocking having been modified, but not yet re-signaled.

A new high level concourse allows for ADA access, but increases the level of effort needed to board the trains and also makes the restoration of a third track difficult if traffic on the main line increases.

A Clear signal indication on the east end's 28R signal indicated my SEPTA local to Center City was due soon. AC MOTOR STOP signs had been added to the track 2 and 3 stubs which preclude them from being used to store MU trainsets. 

My train to Market East was headed up by SEPTA Silverliner IV #427.

The Gallery Mall had been re-opened allowing a climate controlled single level walk to the PATCO station at 8th and Market. Needless to say, the new mall did not seem to have attracted A-list vendors.

The following day I returned to 30th St to continue my journey back to Baltimore. A Silverliner V provided a view of the Suburban Station ramp and its new stand of L&W supplied ersatz PRR pedestal signals. 

Amtrak's Race Street Engine Facility had the usual mix of GP15D's (#571), GP38H-3's (#720 & #724), P42's (#121) and ACS-86's (#661).

The Penn Coach Yard had two PRR private cars, Catalpa Falls and the Chippewa Creek, as well as the Boston and Maine's Salisbury Beach.

Well, that completes my busy day at the Strasburg Railroad Heritage Complex. Hope you enjoyed the ride. Next week I'll be heading out to Homewood Jct on the PRR's Fort Wayne Line west of Pittsburgh.