Fancy Pushers

The Elmira Branch always seemed to be the poor step-child of the PRR when it came to motive power.  Some of the last Pennsy steam ran there when other lines had already dieselized.  The same held true with diesel power.  When newer power arrived on the mainlines the older locomotives cascaded down to the branches.  The Elmira Branch was no exception.  At one time even a Baldwin centipede wondered on to the branch and after tearing up a bunch of track in Southport Yard, it was banished from the Branch.  One of the really unusual specimens was the pair of Alco PA passenger diesels that were used as pushers north out of Williamsport in the mid-1950's.  Still in the tuscan red and five gold stripe motif, PA's 5751 and 5757 worked as pair to boost loaded coal drags up the steep grades from Ralston to Snedekerville.  Usually teamed with an I-1, it made quite the sight as the former passenger train varnish provided much needed thrust to the westbound coal trains.

So, in the era that I model, no respectable Elmira Branch layout would be without the PA pushers.  The problem for me is that no one really make a respectable PA is S scale.  The American Flyer version came close, but the body shell suffered from having a flat roof, and the trucks had a wheelbase that was way too short.  About 15 or so years ago, American Models came out with a scale version of the PA and PB, but the shape of the cab and nose was off considerably.  Ironically, the rest of the body was spot on with very detailed side screen and the correct roof curvature.  I tried in vein to correct the cab and nose shape deficiencies, but no matter what I did it still didn't look right.  At one point, I though that it would be easier to reshape the roof of the Flyer PA than to modify the front end of the AM shell. But, then one day it dawned on me, why not use the Flyer nose and attach it to the rest of the AM shell.

Bingo!  It worked and here's the result:

It still has a ways to go.  The cab windows need to be reshaped a bit, but it looks a far cry better than the alternatives.  The trucks and power mechanism is from a Omnicon Flyer re-powering kit that was offered in the 1980's.  The brass, fully sprung powered trucks are well detailed.  The white plastic strip on the roof is where I removed the dynamic brake detail.  With the exception of a few dual service FP-7's and some RS units, Pennsy passenger diesels did not have dynamic brakes.  I've since replaced the side skirts on the AM portion of the shell.  They were too straight and didn't curve inward at the bottom like the prototype.  Now i'm working on the steps and then I'll start on the Pennsy specific details such as the antenna brackets and angled number boards but it won't be long before it's serviceable.