Fall 2026

TCA Fort Pitt Division Newsletter

As Lou Redman reminds us, “Never forget; it’s these little trains that bring us together.”

President's Report

Welcome to the 2026-2027 Train Season! What an exciting time to be a railfan and a member of the Fort Pitt Division. 2026 was the Summer of the Big Boy! I hope you got to see the 4014 somewhere this summer.

Have you ordered a model of the Big Boy? There are numerous variations in production from Lionel and MTH. Personally, I have ordered the LionMaster edition from John Brady. The display for our September 26^th train show will feature Big Boys in a variety of gauges. An interesting one is an HO 1/87 version built from a Revell Germany kit by Division member, Carl Oehling. Pictured here as a work in progress, the completed model will be on display at the show.

Celebrate 50

Have you ever looked closely at our Fort Pitt Division logo?

In the center, you will notice two dates. 1973 was the year that the Fort Pitt became a chapter of the Eastern Division. In 1977, the Fort Pitt Division was formed with Jim Burke as the first Division president.

Beginning in January, the Fort Pitt Division will have a yearlong celebration of its 50^th anniversary. Each of our train shows will have a special theme highlighting our heritage. We are planning a celebratory banquet on May 23, 2027 at the beautifully restored DiSalvo Station, the former Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Latrobe. Watch for more details and ask how you can be involved in the festivities.

The Summer of the Big Boy

As you know, the Union Pacific Big Boy #4014 traversed the nation in honor of the country’s 250th year. By the time it gets back to its home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Big Boy and its crew will have traveled over 7000 miles. It made numerous stops across Pennsylvania, including an extended stay at Steamtown in Scranton for two weeks for scheduled maintenance, and in Altoona. Many members also saw it in Crescent, Latrobe, Derry and Leetsdale.

Calvin and Ray in Leetsdale

This summer, Ed Dickens became a familiar face, not just to railfans, but to the general public, as well. In addition to his duties as the Union Pacific’s Senior Manager of Steam Operations, he was also in charge of Big Boys’ servicing crew. Two videos you might find interesting from the Roving Railfan YouTube channel are, Ed Dickens: Born to Run the Big Boy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySrC6rhkCro#:~:text=ED-,DICKENS,-%2D%20BORN%20TO%20RUN

and Working on the Big Boy – Union Pacific 4014. In this video, you can observe the boiler washout procedure.

David Matthews, President

Fort Pitt Division Activities

2026 Fort Pitt Division Summer Outing

Among the most enjoyable parts of my work with the Fort Pitt Division is the opportunity to arrange the annual summer outing. On Saturday, August 1st, fifty-one members and their families traveled to Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania for an exciting day at the East Broad Top Railroad National Historic Landmark. Our outing included a guided vintage shop tour, a choice of a boxed lunch, a Northbound Colgate Grove Excursion behind narrow gauge Mikado #15, and a trolley ride with the Rockhill Trolley Museum.

This monument reads:

“East Broad Top Railroad America’s oldest extant narrow gauge railroad exists today as a result of the vision, commitment and generosity of Fannie and Nick Kovalchick and their family.”

The Summer Outing is a Fort Pitt Division benefit for members and their families. As a benefit of membership, the Fort Pitt Division sponsored Lenzner Coach transportation from Warrendale and Monroeville to Orbisonia Station.

Fort Pitt Division Summer Outings
Year	Destination	Railroad
2007	Oglebay	Association Dinner
2008	Washington, PA	Trolley Museum
2009	Frostburg, MD	Western Maryland
2010	Bridgeport, WV	Clarence Robinson Layout
2011	Altoona, P	Altoona Model Train Museum
2012	Millcreek
2013	Pittsburgh	Duquesne Incline
2014	Schenley, PA	Kiski Junction Railroad
2016	Elkins, WV	New Tygart Flyer
2017	Pittsburgh	TCA National Convention
2018	Titusville, PA	Oil Creek & Titusville RR
2019	Hollidaysburg, PA	Everett Railroad: Steam into the Cove
2020-2022	Covid 19: Corona virus - No Outings
2023	Cumberland, MD	Western Maryland Scenic RR
2024	Sugarcreek, OH	Age of Steam Roundhouse
2025	Romney, WV	Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad
2026	Rockhill Furnace, PA	East Broad Top Scenic Railroad & Rockhill Furnace Trolley Museum

This is a list of recent Fort Pitt Division Summer Outings. If you have information or photos from earlier summer outings that you would like to share, please send them along with a brief description to [email protected].

2026 Spring Train Show

The Fort Pitt Division held its spring train show on Saturday, April 11th at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The show was a huge success with 220 vendor tables sold and more than 800 attendees to the show.

Prior to the start of the show, as required by the bylaws, the Fort Pitt Division held its Annual Meeting. Jack Lucot and James Ickes were honored for their 50 years of membership in the TCA.

Tom Garrity, was presented the Neil Curran Award for his many years of leadership, most notably at least 12 years as Chairman of the Fort Pitt Division Kids Club. Tom has also been long term member of the Board of Directors.

The train show began promptly at 9:00. The Fort Pitt Kids Club, Hi-Railers had displays as well as the Z Man, Mike Kuhlman.

It was a great day to make a deal!

Cameron Dietz was the April 11 Kids’ Raffle winner. He has an N scale layout (his first train) and a Lego layout. He was 11 years old and in the 5th grade. Cameron is shown here with his father Ray Dietz and his grandfather George Dietz.

Member Feature

Member Features

Layouts of Boyhood Dreams, by Mark Tolby

Everybody who knows me, knows I have had fascination with Lionel service station tools, Lionel factory paper, and Lionel dealer displays. My first display was a Lionel 224 from 1958. It is a survivor! When I bought it, the layout was in two sections. The first section was purchased at York in 2003. I had to wait 6 months for the other section to be delivered to Pittsburgh. At that point the late Thom Shepler and his Hi Rail friends help me bring it back to life!!! I am so happy I saved it from being destroyed!! For anybody who might be interested it is featured in the January 2007 issue of Classic Toy Trains.

The second layout I have is the Lionel 223. As I walked through the Blue Hall, a gentleman had a picture of it, a 4’ by 8’, also from 1958. Who says there are no finds still at York? The man sold it to me and once again Thom helped me. We had to drive to Tennessee to pick it up and again, bring it back to life. Let me tell you, it’s easy to find a dealer and buy a display if you have the cash. But it’s something else to find a long forgotten layout and bring it back to life; though I would not have in any other way! God bless Thom and all the gifted layout craftsman that have the ability to save such treasures!

October York is coming! Will I find number 3? We will have to wait and see!

You can see Mark’s Dealer Displays in action on the Brian’s Train Room channel. Here is the link. https://youtube.com/shorts/FfFdfntOZqE?is=BuH97Fq5NTZcJ28X

PaTrain, by Joe Fello

Choo Choo! Grab your ticket and step back in time to experience what it was like to ride the PAT train. Last night Karen and I drove out to the McKeesport History & Heritage Center to do just that. Alan Blumen presented a video on The PaTrain, Pittsburgh’s Last Commuter Train and offered the book he authored of the same name.

The video was a narrated description of the entire route of the PaTrain including all of its color schemes from the multi colored coaches to the beautiful, my favorite, final Cleveland Browns orange, cream and brown consist including Observation Car w/controls and the EMD F7s, 6690 & 6691 (1948).

Did you know, on February 1, 1975, Port Authority of Allegheny County ran the first PaTrain between Pittsburgh and Versailles? The video included operations during the last month of service, April, 1989. After the video, Mr. Blumen opened the floor to a Q&A session and asked the audience to share any stories about the train. How did those 3 hours go by so quickly?

Steamtown Railfest 2026, by David Matthews

A popular event for many scenic railroads is a “railfest.” We love Steamtown in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and we especially love the Radisson Hotel, set in the beautiful Lackawanna Station. My wife, our Freddy and I chose to return to Steamtown National Historic Site for its annual Railfest on September 4-6. Events included a short train ride behind Baldwin Locomotive Works #26. During the trip, passengers were able to disembark for photo and video runbys.

I always enjoy a speeder parade, and this one included a special treat, a turntable demonstration!

Across the parking lot from Steamtown is the Electric City Trolley Museum. On our vintage trolley ride we had a special guest on, the famous Phoebe Snow, who gave a short talk about her career in marketing.

Railfan days at scenic railroads are a lot of fun. If you ever have an opportunity to attend one, I highly recommend it. And please, share your story and photos!