Homepage
Related Photos
-
John Rucosky
Discussion
Model train traces local history
PORTAGE — The whistle sounds at South Fork and a train, loaded with goods from the Midwest, moves toward Portage. It passes a bony pile at Sonman and through the Gallitzin tunnels before making the big turn at Horseshoe Curve.
Sporting a striped engineer’s cap, Charles Edwards is at the controls.
But rather than in the engine, Edwards sits behind a control box on the second floor of the Portage Station Museum, along Lee Street in the borough.
It’s an HO scale train that is making the trip – part of a permanent display depicting life along the railroad during its heyday from 1930 to 1950.
Although it isn’t
quite finished, the model railroad display is open to the public – while Edwards and others work on hundreds of trees covering the mountains and spruce up the ground areas.
“I hope it will bring more people into the museum, and I hope it is something people will enjoy,” Edwards said.
Edwards is largely responsible for the intricately detailed, hand-crafted display which fills most of the second floor of what was once a train station.
The display, built with the spectator in mind, includes a 15-inch-high platform to one side for those who want a better view of the action.
The trains run on 225 feet of track.
Hundreds of hours were spent building the tree-filled mountains, tunnels, rail beds and towns that surround the tracks.
Edwards hopes it will provide visitors with a realistic glimpse into some of what he remembers as a child.
He vividly recalls his youth, living in South Fork where the railroad played a significant part.
“As a kid we had to walk over the tracks to get to our house from school, and I’d sit at the front window and watch the tracks and look out into the valley and see a mile of the Mainline,” he said.
Much of the display features Edwards’ private train collection, but more has been added through donations.
Money to build the base for the display and to purchase basic supplies came from the sale of sports memorabilia contributed by the late Robert “Bing” James of Portage.
Frank Serbian, a local artist specializing in landscape, donated his time to the project.
Al Moore, another local resident, built 90 percent of the display’s buildings and assisted with the scenery.
Regis Huschak, president of the Portage Area Historical Society, which owns and operates the museum, hopes the display will bring plenty of visitors.
“It should draw people in,” he said. “There are people who will go anywhere to see trains.”
- Local News
-
-
Northeast braces for Earl's arrival
A tropical storm warning has been issued for New York’s Long Island coast as Hurricane Earl barrels toward the Eastern Seaboard.
-
NEW – Police dog bites girl, mom
Police say a western Pennsylvania K-9 was likely being protective when he bit a 6-year-old girl and her mother after his handler offered them a ride to school.
-
Bleier: Flight 93 fundraising dinner set for November
Former running back Rocky Bleier and other ex-Pittsburgh Steelers are organizing a fundraising dinner to benefit the Flight 93 National Memorial.
-
Handyman gets prison
A former part-time handyman/caregiver for an elderly West Hills woman was sentenced Wednesday to six to 15 years in state prison for misappropriating more than $600,000 from the woman, who thought of him as a son.
-
Barrel contains murder victim
An investigation into a series of thefts has led state police to discover a barrel containing the remains of a homicide victim in a body of water in Indiana County.
-
Northeast braces for Earl's arrival
- Sports
-
-
Pitt hoping to rise to occasion in Utah
Utah has been among the most dynamic offensive football programs in the nation in recent years and has been particularly successful at home where the Utes have 17 straight victories.
-
Steelers get last chance with Roethlisberger for at least a month
The Pittsburgh Steelers will get one last glimpse of Ben Roethlisberger playing quarterback before he begins his NFL-mandated suspension.
-
Bolden to start for Penn State
It’s a Bolden move for No. 19 Penn State.
-
Nittany Lions to face Cornhuskers every year
Penn State will get a Big Red rival in the new-look Big Ten Conference.
-
Linebacker U. sporting a new look
Linebacker U. will have a new look this year.
-
Pitt hoping to rise to occasion in Utah
- Features
-
-
Soul music | Annual gospel festival to feature continuous praise
Good news will be proclaimed continuously when the 25th annual Fall Harvest Gospel Music Festival is held Friday through Monday at Camp Harmony, 1414 Plank Road, Hooversville. Singing will begin at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday through Monday.
- Something for everyone | More than 100 vendors will offer crafts during Log House Arts Festival
- Crafts, fireworks, games highlight annual jubilee
-
Soul music | Annual gospel festival to feature continuous praise
- Lifestyles
-
-
Resentments unleashed
The second season for (un)apologetic productions opens with “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
- Religion in Brief
- On the record
-
Resentments unleashed
- Multimedia
-
-
'Church was the center of all things'
Michael Makuch’s father came to America with $36 and a few clothes. Carol Kaniuk’s grandmother liked to say she had “the dress on her back.”
- 'They are a people without a country'
- Pysanky eggs | Works of art carry messages of faith
-
