Hey to all of you who model everything from heavy-rail, light-rail, streetcar, interurban, subway and elevated! Drop in and say hi! I figured we could use a thread of our own.
So, if you would, tell us a bit about your line, and what got you started modeling commuter lines?
Thanks!
~Urban
I model the GO Transit lines around Greater Metro Toronto, and my own freelanced line which competes with the GO. I like the heavy urban settings of my commuter line, and the frequency of operations. I also like mountain modeling though so I took the liberty of extending the GO’s north branch up to the Blue Mountains and Wasaga Beach along Lake Huron.
I got started doing commuter because, as someone born durring the Amtrak age, some of my best, and most frequent riding experences have been on commuter lines. Also I liked it because I also had a wide variety of operating possiblities that are not open to those who do primarily freight. Lol and ask anyone who lives in a large enough city what would happen if you took away their rail transit and I doubt you’ll get anything but terror.
I have a long shelf about 14" wide, so it seemed that I was looking at point to point operation. I’ve always liked passenger trains, and diesel railcars seemed the way to go. A lot of British OO scale models were available at reasonable prices, so I’ve picked up railcars varying from the late 1930s Great Western AEC cars (including a dedicated parcels car!) through a Park Royal three car set in BR Green, the Western Region side door equipped sets in plain blue and also the refurbished White with a blue stripe to the more recent two car Class 158 in Regional Railways colours.
These can run from one terminus to the other and reverse with no need to couple, although coupling the GW parcels car with its single car passenger equivalent seems compulsory at times.
I can also run the occasional steam push pull set, since a number of my small tank locomotives are equipped for that.
Peter
Peter,
Like the idea of point-to-point ops. Grew up w/NY 3rd Av El. Maybe someday will model it?
Right now, I’m not a commuter modeler but I am a modeler who commutes (VRE).
Dave Vergun
Dave,
I am tempted to find a way of including the Proto 1000 NY Subway cars. Did these operate on any elevated lines? I know there are “small” and “large” cars in New York City, but I’ve only spent a short time riding the subway during a couple of short visits.
Having military connections, I’ve spent more time in DC and Alexandria VA. It’s a pity nobody makes models of the bigger VRE converted GP40s (I sneaked into Ivy City yards to photograph those, since unlike the MARC units, they don’t spend much time in Union Station). I really like the MARC units with the F45 cabs. Since they haven’t been listed in the “Locomotive Guides”, only locals know they exist. There are very few commuter cars available in model form. It’s good the Bombardier cars are available, but other types would be useful.
Peter
Peter,
The gallery cars are nice to model (VRE); and the Coaster would be fairly easy to find as VRE is leasing these. There are also the plain old coaches with the 2 seats on one side and 3 on the other. Very uncomfortable to ride, as the size of the average American has increased dramatically over the last few decades after they were built.
A VRE layout would actually be pretty cool, as you can model NS or CSX freights sharing the tracks and, if you are esp. ambitious, you even could have metro “el” connections, such as at Alexandria. The DC metro is sort of an ugly brown and dull silver color but it would at least add variety.
The els I most recall were the low-Vs, which, I think they got rid of in 1969. Just 4 years later the 3rd ave el was abandoned (sections in Manhattan were torched in the 50s, leaving just the Bronx).
The blue World’s Fair subways were the most colorful. Those and some red birds would add nice variety.
The real expert to ask is Joseph Frank who modeled the els in O scale and has taken pictures of them from the 50s to 70s. He’s at: nycmodeltransit@webtv.net
Dave Vergun
Dave,
I would think that variety would be an advantage in a model, so Metrolink would be boring, if easy to model. MARC, and to a lesser extent VRE, would be interesting. In real life, you can take the radiators off an RDC, and the roof is there underneath. With a model RDC, you have a major job to do the same so the early VRE ex-RDCs from Boston are too hard to model.
However, since Athearn produced Bombardier cars and F59PHIs in N scale, you can get started easily. I have all this track left over from an abandoned N scale layout of many years ago…
Not that much else is available for commuter service in N scale, however.
Peter
I operate a few commuter cars on my layout - an Athearn Bilevel cab and coach in Metrolink livery, and a set of Walthers C&NW bilevels (2 coaches and cab car). Strictly speaking, I need some new motive power, as my current locos for these sets are a C&NW Erie-Built (Proto 1k) and a SF Warbonnet PA (Athearn). They do look good though!
I mainly use these cars as my layout is end-to-end, so to provide passenger service with minimal hassle and switching the push-pull concept makes sense. The Illinois Rail Museum has a preserved set of C&NW bilevels - the photos on their website inspired me to get a set of the Walthers cars as they’re the closest thing available RTR (The preserved cars are to an earlier design than the Walthers ones). As far as the Athearn cars are concerned, I just liked the Metrolink paint scheme, and it blends with assorted motive power very nicely (can’t find an Athearn F59PHI to match them at the moment, and anyway, I like using the PA with them! Other locos that have made appearences are an Athearn SD9 in SP livery…)
I’ve always like the New Haven RR, with the big Juice Jacks and all, but one small train that’s always held a fasination for me is the Electroliner. Gauranteed, by this time next year, I will have a scratch built model of it and I’ll publi***he photos of it. I may even try my hand at an article.
Freelancing a commuter line is what really added the variety for me: I run some old Athearn streamline coaches that I superdetailed, both Athearn and P1K RDCs, Walthers Horizon coaches and the newest stock would be some of the Bachman Chinese double decker coaches that I turned into commuter cars and repainted.
One of many themes i model is New Jersey Transit. I have a nice little fleet now, but no layout to run them…
Michael,
Trains Mag (June04) has a critical piece on the new Camden to Trenton line. Cost overruns, etc. Unsure if that’s NJT.
Anyway, as railroads are still sheding hundreds and hundreds of miles a year, growing cities continue to demand new commuter routes. Nice that at least one aspect of railroading has growth!
Modeling modern commuter lines; the really new ones at least; doesn’t seem to have caught on yet in model railroading.
Dave Vergun
does planning a CNW commuter train count is do i’m in
Hello,
I have a rather eclectic collection of commuter stuff. I have several RDC’s which could be used in commuter operation although they primarly serve as branch line connections to the mainline passenger operations. I operate exclusively on a club layout. I have a CNW four car gallery set with an F unit for power. I have two GO Transit bilevel rakes of six cars cach, one pulled by an F40 and the other by a Geep (obviously in GO livery) and then I have a two car Class 158 DMU set in Scot Rail livery. That may not really be true commuter as I rode it between Kyle of Lochalsh and Edinburgh so perhaps it is “mainline.”
For what it’s worth, I see by today’s Toronto Star that GO is worried their F 59’s are not going to make it to their service life of 30 years and want to go out and get new engines instead of rebuilding the fleet.
Dale
haha I’d believe it about the F59s. ANY locomotive on GO gets use that on any other road would be considdered abusive on most other lines, as Amtrak found out when they bought the F40s from them.
My bet is that they go with either the F59PHI, E30, or something really tough from Europe. I doubt there is the political will in Toronto to electrify the lines even though something like an Acela HHP would be absolutely perfect for GO operations,could you immagine the 20 coach rakes they could pull with those things? That’d solve the Toronto-Hamilton overcrowding problems haha! I also doubt that GO will ever switch over to DMUs with all the money they invested in the bi-level coaches. It’s also nice to hear that they already have the funding lined up for the new units, looks like that extra billion loonies was just what the doctor ordered
I model the C&NW commuter lines. I have a couple of the Walthers bi-levels, an old Reynolds kit and a couple of 3 Brothers kits. For locos I have a P2K E7 and E8 and some Atheran F7’s. I try to have a model of every train that I have been on, and I have been on the CNW commuters more than any other. Interestingly, my son has a couple of the Walthers bi-levels in Metra colors because that’s how they were when he has ridden them.
A dream of mine might be to somehow include a Chicago “L” train on my layout but so far that has only been in my thoughts.
I have 2 Proto RDC’s & a 3-pack of Athearn GO cars.
As my layout is set out in the middle of no-where, the GO cars will be used in excursion service & the RDC’s will be used on a branch line.
Gordon
For HO scale commuter operation I plan on having:
New Haven EP5 and EP4 electrics pulling E&B Valley New Haven “American Flyer” style corrugated cars. The cars are silver with the wide, red stripe across the window rows, just like I remember them when I was a kid!
I’m getting the EP5 from Branford Hobbies in the fall. I’m ordering the EP4 from Fratesci in South America.
Have one and will buy another for a total of two New Haven RDC cars from Proto 1000. (for the price, excellent models!) I wonder if dummies are available?
4 car Bachmann Metroliner Electric MU (currently remotoring, repainting and detailing into Penn Central)
Theme mid-1960s.
M636C,
Yes, New York City Subway trains also ran on the elevated lines as the “el” lines were all interconnected with the underground lines. I rode the “Red Birds” very often with my parents as a kid. Always enjoyed the rides! Was angered when graffitti started showing up on a massive scale in 1971.
Cheers!
The Acela Express is a commuter train, and thats what I model.
I have a 10X8 version of the modern Surfline. Coaster,Amtrak Surfliners,and 1 Metrolink train, take up the tracks, as well as the through freights out of and to San Diego. This is usually a vehicle and a manifest train,as San Diego does not have the traffic it used to.
The layout takes the place of Oceanside and is double tracked to run more trains,and have meets. Still being built,all the track is in,and scenery is being done now.
Since I work for BNSF, and my girlfriend works for Amtrak, we like to take trips and get great pics of the territory.