When the P&LE discontinued passenger service between Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio my days of riding trains came to an abrupt end.  It wasn’t until a visit to Station Square, the shopping and entertainment complex at the former P&LE main terminal building in downtown Pittsburgh, that my interest in the P&LE was renewed.  While walking in the parking lot with my wife Debbie I heard the blast of an air horn.  As I looked toward the tracks I couldn’t believe my eyes.  There was a passenger train backing into the station.   It consisted of a dusty GP7 and three grimy green coaches. I had no idea that the railroad was still running passenger trains.  After talking to the conductor I came to understand that this train was called “The Beaver Valley Local” a commuter train that ran between the town of College, PA and downtown Pittsburgh.   So I made plans to ride it in an attempt to recapture the memories of my youth.  The possibility of future rides was short-lived, however.  Shortly after my ride that service was also discontinued.  I did have another opportunity to ride the the rails of the P&LE, however, this time behind the NKP 765 steam engine on an excursion trip.

All of these factors led me to model the fictional town of Beaverton on my 4×8 foot high-rail O-gauge railroad.  The layout was initially conceived to recreate a typical river town along the P&LE’s 65 mile right-of-way in south western Pennsylvania.  The time period is the late 1950′s.  I have since up-dated to the 70′s with the addition of more modern engines and rolling stock.  But changing back and forth is as easy as changing automobiles and railroad equipment.