Exploring the Allegheny Valley
Garden Railroad
An adventure in 1:24


The Beginning
How did it all begin? Like many other railways the idea started out small -- REALLY, REALLY small. The first incarnation of the AV was actually a never finished 18" x 24" tabletop layout in N-scale! Built way back in 1993, it still exists and is in my eldest daughter's bedroom. The AV's locomotive roster still proudly wears a modified version of the Great Northern 'Glacier' color scheme that was on those first two N-scale 2-8-0 locomotives that I purchased on clearance all those years ago.

The History of the REAL Allegheny Valley
Yes, there was a real railroad called the Allegheny Valley. The original Allegheny Valley Railroad was chartered in 1837, and construction began in 1852. Completed in 1870, it's main purpose was to transport oil from Oil Creek and Titusville  South to market in Pittsburgh, and also other raw materials such as timber, coal and iron ore from deposits along the RoW.. It became part of the Pennsyvania Railroad system under lease in 1900, and was absorbed in 1910. Much of the original RoW became a 'non motorized' trail in 1992.

The Story of MY AV
...is just a little bit different. In my little world the Allegheny Valley was built as a 42" narrow gauge road, and never standard gauged or absorbed by the Pennsy. Rather it survived (if barely) by fierce determination, and shrewed management into the late '50s, transloading traffic with both the Pennsy at Kittanning, and the B&O at Parker in the south and the New York Central at Franklin in the North. Recent declines in freight traffic due to trucking companies luring away several longtime customers have cause the managers to attempt to repackage the line as a destination for railfan and tourist passenger excursion service along scenic sections of the Allegheny River valley in Clarion and Venango Couties.....

Into the Garden!
Although I had owned G scale trains since about 1989, they were mostly run under the Christmas tree, or at train shows. I never had a permanent layout. The first 8' x 12' AV garden railway began construction in the summer of 2001. Sadly, due to marital trouble it was shortlived and only pictures and a few salvaged cars, buildings and various other detail items remain.

Waiting at the station

A B'mann 'Indie' pulls a string of Lehmann cars through the long bridge

Pretty little thing wasn't it?

After the Disaster
The change in circumstances in 2003 nearly signalled a death knell for the Allegheny Valley. Stripped of nearly everything I had worked to build, the inevetible sale of many pieces of motive power and rolling stock soon followed. The various  rapid upheavals over the next few years didn't allow me much in the way of pleasures of any kind, let alone a place for a railroad. Then, in the depths of a long winter of depression in 2006-7 I found to the online communities of mylargescale.com and largescalecentral.com, which not only probably saved my sanity, but helped me find the strength to start all over again.

A garden railroad inside, on the second floor
So, I no longer had a garden, but I still had my two hands, a few bits of track, some rolling stock, and a large, rather ugly diningroom table.....

Start simple, and build

Artificial Christmas trees and cheap cat litter, not fancy, but not expensive, either.

5' x 8', who says you need a huge yard to enjoy G scale trains?

If it looks right to you, it IS right!

Moving yet AGAIN!
That layout wasn't meant to last, either. 8 months in, I was offered a larger place for the same rent. Taking it was probably a mistake for other reasons, but it did allow the AV, and myself, a period of relative peace and growth. I learned to like myself again, and gained a new partner to help me on my journey -- the myriad of changes to the railroad reflected my growing optimism.

The AV in a box... or several boxes

The small indoor layout grew and matured

Mini scenes abounded, slices of life on a small stage

Being indoors lets you experiment with methods and materials that might not survive outside

It's the little things that bring any layout to life.

I gained the courage to try scratchbuilding, and decided I enjoyed it.

I even learned how to rebuild and weather stuff

2010 - The Allegheny Valley Reborn
The beginning of the year again brought a lot of tumultuous changes, yet another move, the loss of inside space for much of anything, more financial woes... But an early Spring marked the return of the railroad to the outdoors for the first time in over 6 years....