The East Penn Traction Club The East Penn Traction ClubIn the early 1990s, I was looking to build a layout and started looking in the Traction Guidebook for Model Railroaders (Kalmbach Books). The suggested layouts were either so small that I would get bored quickly, or so complex that I would be overwhelmed with the complexity. I chose two 9'x5' figure-eight layouts from the book - admittedly odd sizes - and mounted them partially overlapping at a 90-degree angle, and joined them with a stretch of side-of-the-road operation. One side was a small Pennsylvania town and the other, a New England village, in acknowledgement of my personal heritage. With a ton of help from Bob Dietrich and Gary Reighn, operation began in the summer of 1998. I built a yard model that adjoined the layout in 2007, built to East Penn standards. Beginning around 2010, I began scheming about an extension, and finally in 2018, the Seaver Street module became operational and was joined to the main layout by a turnout past Bay State Junction and the through tracks through the yard module. The Seaver Street module is based on the look of the north side of Franklin Park in the Roxbury section of Boston where my paternal grandparents lived and where I watched trolley action as a little kid.
I admit to a major addiction to car building. That, operation of the layout and troubleshooting problems are my favorite activities.
(Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image)
 | 1. Track map of Main Line Transit, drawn by David Lloyd Klepper, past president of Electric Railroaders' Association and Branford Electric Railway Association. |
 | 2. At Keystone Junction: Atlantic City Transportation Company Brilliner 201 (IHP shell, Bowser Drive; prototype built by Brill in 1941) and Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 43 (kit by John Kennedy, Bowser drive; prototype built by Jewett in 1914). |
 | 3. At Keystone Junction: Atlantic City & Shore car 101 (kit from Volkmar Meier in collaboration with John Kennedy, Bowser drive; prototype built by John Stephenson Company in 1906) and Atlantic City Transportation Company car 201. |
 | 4. At Keystone Junction: Baltimore Transit Company car 5646. Kit by Joseph Spinella and Greg King in Australia, Bowser Drive (prototype built by JG Brill in 1918). |
 | 5. At Keystone Junction: Three Pacific Electric cars, all built by Suydam. Car 1240 is powered with a Stanton Drive (prototype built by Pullman in 1921). Hollywood car 703 is powered with a drive from Hollywood Foundry (prototype built by JG Brill in 1924). Car 965, ascending the grade, is powered with a Bowser drive (prototype built by St. Louis Car Company in 1907). |
 | 6. At Keystone Junction: Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 43 and Lehigh Valley Transit Company Liberty Bell Limited car 1030. Both kits from John Kennedy with Bowser drives. Car 43 was bult by Jewett for the predecessor Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company in 1914. Car 1030 was built by American Car & Foundry for the Indiana Railroad in 1931 and acquired by LVT in 1941. |
 | 7. Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 43 leaving Keystone Junction. See above captions for details of model and prototype. |
 | 8. Also a view of Metropolitan Transit Authority PCC 3187 leaving Keystone Junction. Kit by Custom Traxx, Bowser drive. Prototype built by Pullman Standard in 1945. |
 | 9. Lehigh Valley Transit Company Liberty Bell Limited cars 706 with 701 descending the grade. Both kits from John Kennedy and powered with Bowser drives. The prototypes were built by Southern Car Company in 1916 and extensively modified over their operating lives. |
 | 10. Chicago Surface Lines PCC "Blue Goose" 4023 and Toronto Transit Commission PCC 4041 A-1 series PCC at Keystone Junction. The CSL brass car built by Fairfield, and the TTC kit a 3-D print by IHP. Both with Bowser drives. The prototype for the CSL car built by St. Louis Car Company in 1936. The TTC prototype was build by Canadian Car & Foundry in 1936 under licensure from St. Louis Car Company. |
 | 11. Atlantic City & Shore Railroad cars 102 and 101 at New England Village. The kits are 3-D prints from Volkmar Meier, project conceived by John Kennedy. They are powered with Bowser Drives. The prototypes were built by John Stephenson Company in 1906. |
 | 12. Baltimore Transit Company Brilliner 7501 and Hagerstown & Frederick Combine at New England Village. The BTC shell is from IHP and powered with a Bowser drive. The H&F kit is from Joseph Spinella and Greg King and powered with a Hollywood Foundry Bull Ant drive. Both prototypes were built by JG Brill: the BTC car in 1941 and the H&F car in 1921. |
 | 13. All-Boston line-up at Seaver Street loop at north side of Franklin Park in Roxbury Section of Boston, near my grandparents' home. Type 4 car (MTS kit with Bowser drive), prototype by Laconia; Commonwealth series PCC (kit from Custom Traxx with Bowser Drive). Prototype by Pullman Standard; Type 5 (MTS kit), prototype from Laconia; and Picture Window PCC (MTS kit with Bowser drive), prototype from Pullman Standard built in 1951. |
 | 14. Metropolitan Transit Authority ex-Dallas double ended PCC 3322 and Boston Elevated Railway Type 5 car 5639 at Seaver Street and Humboldt Avenue. PCC kit from Custom Traxx with Bowser drive. Prototype build by Pullman Standard in 1945 for Dallas Railway & Terminal Company and acquired by MTA in 1958. Details about car 5639 see caption 13. |
 | 15. Pacific Electric Hollywood car 703 (details in caption 5) and Chicago Transit Authority "Odd 17" car 6140 at New England Village. The CTA kit was from Joseph Spinella and Greg King in Australia and is powered with a Bowser drive. The prototype was built by American Car Company in 1918, one of 17 cars with various builders and trucks built to replace cars destroyed in a car house fire. |
 | 16. Atlantic City Transportation Company Brilliner 201 approaching Keystone Junction, and Baltimore Transit Company semi-convertible car 5583 ascending the grade. The BTCo. car kit is from Joseph Spinella and Greg King and is powered with a Bowser drive. The prototype was built by JG Brill in 1914. |
 | 17. Johnstown Traction Company car 356 and PCC 407 at New England Village. Car 356 was a 3-D printed kit from West Coast Traction Supply powered with a Bowser drive; the prototype was built by St. Louis Car Company in 1925. The PCC is a Bowser read-to-run car. The prototype was also built by St. Louis in 1947. |
 | 18. Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 22 (prototype built by St. Louis Car Company in 1949) leaving Keystone Junction for Bay State Junction and Johnstown Traction Company car 356 descending the grade. The PST kit is from IHP. Both are powdered with Bowser drives: car 22 with the PCC 6 ft.-4 inch drive and the JTC car with the 4 ft.-10 in. drive. |
 | 19. Seaver Street loop with Boston Elevated Railway Type 5 car 5639 built by Laconia in 1923, Wilkes Barre Railway car 772, one of two cars built for East Penn Railway in Pottsville Railway by JG Brill in 1923 as part of a 100-car order of Type 5 cars for Boston and acquired by Wilkes Barre in 1933. Car 772 is built from a shell from Miniatures by Eric with a Bachmann Peter Witt drive. Alsoseen is Metropolitan Transit Authority PCC 3187, a Custom Traxx kit with a Bowser drive. The prototype was built by Pullman Standard in 1945. |
