I’ve seen quite a bit of these, and the good ones are actually quite fun. All Union Pacific steam fans know that Challenger 3985 and Big Boy 4023 were stored with 2-10-2 5511 through the early 70’s, but a modeler I knew took this one step more and created an “extended oil crisis” on his layout. He had 4023, 3985, and a coal-burning 844 running side by side with Centennials and SD40s set in 1970.
I’ve also seen a couple of die-hard fallen flags fans who model their home road as if it had survived to modern times. Others have pretended that their roads acquired newer steam power, like a Mopac 2-10-4 I once saw.
Who else has done something like this or knows of someone who has?
Actually I plan on modeling the BN in a what if scenario where they don’t merge with SF but instead just buy it. Also having on hand Heritage units from all 4 original roads that made the BN, I will get a frisco unit soon maybe an F or E unit with a streamliner set. Also this fictional BN will have retained many of it’s F units, E units, and early locomotives due to extensive maintenance operations and overhauling engines. As well as fabricating parts with original designs from GE and EMD. the first newest BN units on my fictional roster is the first of the 5600 series SD90/43MACs #5624.
My layout has GTW and BN trains running engines from 1960s through the 1970s. CN is no where to be seen, in my layout GTW won their Independance from CN. I will have a SD70I and SD60F painted in GTW. Additionally they both run passenger trains as well.
LION has always thought that the railroad mergers were done wrong.
Suppose that PRR merged with NP. We would call it the “Penn-Northern”
Suppose that NYC merged with GN. We would call it the “Great-Central”
What paint schemes might you come up with.
Maybe with these mergers AMTK would never have happened… What might passenger cars look like.Remember that tall cars can not enter the tunnels to NYC stations, or run under eastern wires.
Here on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL we have some alternative history, but it is subtle. In the early 50’s, both trucks and trains were heavily regulated, and this restricted the growth of Piggy Back, limiting the travel of some Piggy Back equpment to specific regions.
In our version of history the government got smarter faster and got out of the way of this new technology for moving freight - so Piggy Backs from all roads can be seen on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL in the fall of 1954.
Being freelanced, the ATLANTIC CENTRAL is also alternative history in that it exists amoung the C&O, WM and B&O and is similar is scope and size to them.
We also take some liberties with EXACTLY when the C&O and B&O changed some paint schemes and stopped using some specific steam locos.
But it all “close” to what happend, so it has the flavor of the history with some slightly revised out comes.
My Golden State railroad is an alternative history railroad. It started out in 1849 serving the gold rush towns. Continuing thru the 1980’s as a shortline, it helped the Southern Pacific stay independent as a leaner, meaner railroad by purchasing some of their lines including part of their transcontinental line from Colax to Norden and arranging for the D&RGW topurchase the rest. The Golden State thus prospered by became a regional railroad handling all traffic through northern California.
I tell the (rather short) story of my Philadelphia Delware Terminal (PDT) in this thread, where other modelers also share their “Alternative History” railroad stories.
Actually those stories for Proto-Free-Lance can exist more or less in OTL (our time line), but is the OP including major What If scenarios (a common one being the South won the US Civil War?), or even moderate affect ones (e.g. The St. Lawrence Seaway project is never undertaken in the 1950s, such that Buffalo NY continues to remain a very busy internal port).
Alternate history would fall under free lanced roads be they real of imagined so long as they have a decent “back story” or a way to justify what we see in some fashion. Alternate history is a good subset of these free lanced efforts.
My own road, the narrow gauge, Pardox Uravan and Placerville was created for the WWII mineral rush that blossomed and boomed west of the RGS Placerville location. A short line dedicated to hauling various war critcal metal ores, especially the then secret uranium, billed as copper ore. (happened in real life)
The PUP was only 56 miles long but had value for its short existence of 1939 to 1953.
In this case, history added a short line that helped with the war effort, but fell at the same time that the RGS closed down and the Placerville connection to the Durango Uranium processor facility was broken. Plausable but never happened and tied to real time frames and real events in a perfectly historical manner.
There are many such useful and plausable scenarios that allow the MR to run what he wants, where he wants and when he wants if he is knowledgeable, has studied his railroading history, geography and has a good imagination.
Being locked to a real prototype operating in its real historical period can be costly and limiting, but model railroading can handle all types of model rails and its all about sharing the experience and imagination.
I was looking to “create” a plausible short line between the AT&SF and SP somewhere in California. A bit of research revealed that the Santa Ana & Newport operated around the area I was raised. Although this line was absorbed into the SP around the turn of the 20th Century, I prefer to think that the SA&N survived independently (at least into the late '50’s). Though most of the original SA&N tracks are gone now, at one point the SP extensions of the original SA&N lines creating a prototypical loop of track around the north half of Orange County. My layout models a portion of this “loop” but also includes connections to the AT&SF, the SP and the Pacific Electric. Being a late '50’s short line, my layout assumes the SA&N is “making do” with second hand small steam acquired from both the AT&SF and the SP while the other three lines are all dieselized. The PE had abandoned electric operation on most of its lines by the late '50’s so my layout runs PE diesels leased from the SP. If I had the room to model a little more of the “loop,” I might have been able to include the UP in the Anaheim/Fullerton area. Fortunately, my current layout size is about as much as I can handle right now.
THE FACTS: Somewhere around the last turn of the century, there were going to be rails laid between Myrtle Point (not far from Coos Bay) and Roseburg, Oregon. I beleive this was independant of Southern Pacific, (which became the carrier of both regions, and likely would have absorbed the line, had it been built.) The right of way was even graded, but the rails were never laid.
SP’s “Coos Bay Hauler” was a very profitable operation for many decades. That is a real fact. It extended from Eugene, OR to Coos Bay, and on to Myrtle Point, about 30 miles past . Also, chrome was once mined between Coos Bay and Myrtle point for a short period of time. (I don’t know if it had any rail connection) Another fact that doesn’t come into play on my transition era layout is that there are huge coal deposits in the Coos Bay Area, in the '80s plans were made to tap this resource by rail, but it never happened. Too high sulpher content
THE ALTERNATE: Mmmm…What if those rails WERE laid over to Roseburg? And let’s just say the harbor of Coos Bay, Oregon had been extended just a little farther south, enough to accomodate a few more industries typical to the area? The area could well have been called…“Southgate”. (See a connection there?) And if chrome was mined and shipped rail-to ship (or barge)?
That alternate history is the basis of my layout. Southern Pacific dominance is strongly felt and represented. I may keep the little independant line open, with SP having trackage rights, or it having trackage rights on the SP track. Thus, a freelanced layout, but keeping to these believable guidelines gives me “room” to be creative and still work within certain comfortable confines regarding geography, types of freight service, engine servicing, etc.
I like this topic, and reading all the comments so far. Dan (Southgate)
I have toyed with the idea of modeling a “modern” (1980) version of the Blue Ridge RR. It was conceived as a route connecting Charleston with the interior as a route over the Blue Ridge mountains of NC. Construction started and digging on several tunnels, including the Stumphouse Mtn began in the 1800s. However cost and the civil war got in the way so the grand vision never occurred. The Blue Ridge ran for a while as a short line and eventually became adsorbed into the SR. But what if the grand vision had been realized? Would the BR have been the core of a CSX or NS?
I Googled Ace 3000 a week or 2 ago. There are some scratchbuilts out there, far and few between.
There was a limited production of 10 brass ones made and they looked as high of quality as brass can be. And as rare model; priced accordingly! Look here:
In my world, the Great Northern stayed intact, due to the growth in agricultural sector ( grain exports )in the upper Midwest and northern plains. What they did do, to preserve smaller communities’ linkage to the GN system, was to develop subsidiary regional lines that could be supported by the GN (track maintenance, engine and car servicing) but were better positioned to work with smaller customers in their areas. That was the basis for my layout, the Minnesota, Sioux Lake & Western, serving central and western MN and eastern North Dakota. The Goat lives, and so do its several subsidiaries " the goatees"!!!’ Cedarwoodron
I planning a PRR-themed layout but with the twist of Pennsy merging with the Atlantic Coast Line instead of the New York Central. This way I can have my two favorite roads on one layout.
Mergin the Pennsy with the ACL is a great ideal. It would give them access to the southe east from Washinton to Florida and west to Atlanta and Birmingham.
Has anyone ever modeled a railroad in the throes of bankruptcy? Or the forced merger/court-ordered dismemberment subsequent thereto?
Might be an interesting exercise for the historically inclined.
Note that I won’t be doing it. Three of my four modeled road names are governmental entities, and the fourth is, for the moment, quite profitable, thank you.
Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but some old copies of MR fell into my hands, including the 50th anniversary one where the staff of MR “found” a Milwaukee Road Class A Atlantic. The article describing its adventures on railroads across the nation was very entertaining.
As a question for the moderators, does MR&T still run the Hiawatha every now and then? Or was it just run during 84?