The Museum In Miniature
Railroad locomotives are enormous. Even the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s modest Plymouth switcher is quite a bit larger than most highway vehicles. It’s hard to grasp the scale of these machines because we tend to see them only from a distance. But stand next to one and it becomes overwhelming. Stand among several, and it’s like standing in a modern industrial version of the Temple of Luxor. Reduce the scale to HO, where one actual foot represents 87, and things become easier to comprehend.
Moreover, while wandering through this temple of railroading at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, it’s easy to get lost in it all. There are 43 locomotives and 52 pieces of rolling stock in the Museum’s historic collection. Rolling Stock Hall is 100,000 square feet and, within a year’s time, an additional 16,500 square foot roundhouse will be open, along with nearly five acres of easily accessible outdoor display area. How is a visitor to find his or her way around? And what about locating a favorite piece of equipment?
Enter the Museum model. The brainchild of director Patrick Morrison, the 5-foot by 13-foot HO scale model of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and its grounds can help with both of these issues, right down to the “You Are Here” sign. The model was built and assembled by Museum volunteers Art Johnsen, Tom Hofer, Jeremy Palmer and me. Pat did some original modeling for it, too. A good deal of original modeling and kit bashing has been necessary because there are a significant number of Museum artifacts that do not exist in model form. We also had help from Whistle Stop Shop manager Alison Silverman, from Bachmann Trains and from Garden Spot Village.
The first section of the model was completed in time for the Museum’s 50th anniversary ceremony in April 2025. Since then, it’s been expanded and improved so that it now incorporates both the main Museum building and restoration shop, but also the future roundhouse building and train yard. Models of the equipment in Rolling Stock Hall are placed in their current location. The only thing we still need for it is a 4-truck Climax. Pieces in the yard and roundhouse are not placed, as yet, because their final location won’t be determined until after the roundhouse project is completed.
The Museum model — now located in Rolling Stock Hall behind the reception desk — rests on its own legs, with wheels, so it can be moved anywhere on the property with ease. It can also be disassembled and set up at train and hobby shows to promote the Museum and encourage visitation. Over time, everything in the Museum, right down to the information kiosks, will be represented in this model.
So. Find the “You Are Here” sign – it’s red – and you’re on your way!
Article by Doug O’Brien, who has served on the Friends of the Railroad Museum’s board of directors, including as president, and was named Museum volunteer of the year in 2016. After earning a history degree and a law degree, he began his lifelong career in radio and television news. Doug has been a railroad enthusiast since age 6 and enjoys modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad and train travel. He and a crew of other volunteers maintain the operating HO scale layout of the Pennsylvania Middle Division in the Museum’s second floor gallery.
