Welcome to the N Scale Pennsy project

This site chronicles my attempt to be prototypically correct to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s operations in the early-mid 20th century with emphasis on the “Fleet of Modernism” era (1938~1948) in N scale. I attempt to list (mostly) accurate product offerings for each piece of rolling stock on the market today. Occasionally I may list “close enough” substitutions for hard to find items. I generally will not list items I consider unprototypical (see lots of the Con-Cor lightweight cars in Fleet of Modernism colors). I recognize that “prototypical” is a bit of a grey area in N scale, but generally I subscribe to the philosophy that if I can tell at a glance or two from typical viewing distance that it doesn’t belong I won’t list it. For example, a NYC-style observation car with the large rear windows or any of the various dome cars in Pennsy colors is a surefire way to get my attention, so I won’t list those here. However, Bachmann’s observation car has one or two misplaced windows but generally “looks right,” so I’ll include it. My tolerance for these things generally increases as availability decreases so these rules aren’t hard and fast.

In the long term, this project will help me facilitate market research for car or locomotive kits that may be released under the Uncommon Models banner. Feel free to bookmark that website for updates, or even schedule a consultation if you want to see a particular project come to life. I have one or two Pennsy projects currently in the pipeline so stay tuned!

Got questions, comments, or suggestions? Email me at nscalepennsy@uncommonmodels.com

There are probably numerous omissions here and I am eager to hear what others are able to dig up.