I’ve been trying to figure myself out with this model railroading hobby. You see, the problem is I like’em all! By that I mean I love big diesels like the AC 6000’s and the older Dash 8’s and 9’s. But… I like steam engines, like my Class A and, just as much, my smaller steam switch engines also. This back and forth keeps me in a state of minor agitation all the time. I don’t know whether to build structures that fit 1950 or 20005!! I don’t know whether to buy model T cars or F 150’s. I love the deep rumble of the diesels with their turbos and short air letoffs. I like the idea of modeling what I see all the time but I like the nostalgia of bygone days. I envy those model railroaders that can pick an era and stick to it so faithfully.
But, my layout isn’t huge. It has 22 inch r. curves and, mostly… peco medium turnouts and that’s most suited to the older GP-7’s and 9’s, (which I have and run), not an AC 6000.
But wait, it gets worse. I like different roads paint schemes. Most of what I have in diesels is Norfolk Southern and Southern. Gee oh wow… black and white, somebody hose me down! I love the yellow of UP and the many colors of BNSF. I like CSX also. I like the red of Gulf, Mobile and Ohio even if it is a fallen flag.
So, do I seek professional help or am I a hopeless case? Am I really not a modeler in the true sense of the word? Am I more a collector, or would be if I let myself? Am I destined to roam here and there in the hobby, never really having a home?
Welcome to the club, I feel your pain. I’m 64 and have managed to “tie myself” to the ATSF (with an IC minor) with nothing dated after 1959 (althought I do run stuff that was gone by the late '50s). But, the sight of NYC Hudsons, UP Big Boy, SP cab forward, several roads colorful F units, etc., is something special too. I had to tie myself down, however, because the drive to have a somewhat “realistic” roster of cars & locos was just too strong to ignore.
But that’s what worked for me. And if having modern locos running next to '30s era steamers, or a container train passing a stock car consist works for you, then it is just fine!
The manufacturers just LOVE me and people of like mind, they get to sell us every road and color in the book!! [:)]
You know, A man and woman was in the trainroom the other day, non model railroaders, and I was explaining what different things were to them. After a while I pointed to a concrete coaling tower and asked if they knew what that was. They didn’t have a clue. People, for the most part, outside the hobby could care less what you’re running . They’re just fascinated by it.
I know what you’re going through as I’ve been there myself. I usually stick to modern motive power now (modern being that my oldest diesels are SD9’s and E units and the newest are in the realm of SD40-2’s) with a steam tourist excursion thrown in for variety. I usually run KCS, what I think the L&A may have become if it hadn’t been absorbed by KCS and my fictional road the MGRy. But lately I’ve been seen to run a BNSF and SPSF loco also. Near my location I see a lot of KCS and TFM locos as well as NS, BNSF, UP, Electromotive, Southern, SP and even an old D&RGW loco once in a while in a congloration of power ranging from GP35’s to the newest stuff out there. Once in a while there’s a steamer or two that come through. This is all on the KCS mainline that runs by near here. If they can run such a mixed bag as that then why can’t you?
First off, as a New York Central modeler: Black and white is BEAUTIFUL, baby!! [:)][tup] Even so, the locomotive is the show, NOT the paint scheme!
Jarrell, I decided early on to concentrate on modeling a protolance NYC layout. Although, there are the occasional locomotives that catch my eye and would be nice to have (e.g. Berkshires, heavy Mikes), that original decision has made it much easier for me to stick to my guns, keep my focus, and not buy locomotives from other roads. (And, yes, I am aware that the NYC had Berkshires in their B&A division and P&LE had heavy Mikes.)
With that said, I do have a soft place in my heart for the Erie and have two S1s, and FT, and an 0-8-0 in the Erie herald that I all bought off eBay for well under their MSPR. (The S1s were $30 each and the 0-8-0 was $80 - all brand new.)
And, for the anticipated modern locomotive operating session at my club, I also have two Norfolk Southern GP38-2s. (For me, the NS has the best looking logo of all the modern fleets - hands down!) However, I don’t plan on running the GP38-2s on my home layout.
BUT…although I will mainly model the NYC, I may try and see if I can’t somehow incorporate the Erie on my next layout at either a crossing or allow the two of them to share trackage rights with one another. And, this is very plausible. From the NYC maps that I’ve seen, since both the NYC and Erie operated in somewhat the same region, there are places where they they did cross over each others mainline or shared one another’s track.
Indeed. I was firmly established as a Transition Era modeller - mid 1960’s to be more exact. But then, I was at my LHS looking over what was new on the in-store layout, and dark, steamy beauty caught my eye. She even whistled at me. I guess I rung her bell, too, because the next thing you know I had placed an order for a P2K 0-6-0, with sound. My downfall had begun.
Now, most of my train purchases support my “transition from Transition” back to the 1930’s. I’ve been buying high-wheel box cars and Jordan vehicles. But, everything I get can be removed from the layout, so I really can go back and forth, setting the Wayback Machine for either the 30s or the 60s, as the mood suits me. My structures are pretty generic, and I take care not to put up anything which wouldn’t have been around back then before even an oldtimer like me was born. One possibly offending building, a Transition era movie theater, is removeable and will be replaced by an older style hotel.
You see, I’m running out of unfinished space on my layout. To keep feeding my modelling addiction, I need to keep adding things. One plan is this dual-era thing, where I can build different structures for different times, as long as I build them so they can be swapped out for other buildings.
Yes, it’s a BLI. I gave it to myself for my birthday a couple of years back. It was a Trainworld closeout, $130 with QSI sound. I felt guilty getting it online when my LHS had it on the shelf, but I wouldn’t have bought it at the higher price.
Sometimes I’m in a modern mood. Sometimes transition-y. Sometimes 1920s or 30s.
It’s a big part of the reason why I set my layout in nothern Ontario. Things don’t change much up there. Same rocks. Same trees. Buildings that have been there forever.
I have been experimenting with a “fast calendar” and it’s a lot of fun. I start out with early equipment on the layout and as trains move in and out of hidden staging, I progressively “modernize” the equipment.
I don’t sweat too much about historical details on my freelanced layout but there are other ways I can change the “era” of the layout as well.
Autos are a no-brainer. Just swap older models out for newer ones.
I’ve been making multiples of the same billboard with ads from different eras on them so I can swap them.
And Brawa street lamps are designed with plugs that mount in the layout. I can just unplug older style street lamps and plug in newer ones. Walthers has lamps like that as well.
I suspect that the “true” sense of the word modeler is in the eye of the beholder. At any rate, you’re not alone-- I am also unconcerned with things like era or making sure all the locomotives belong to the same rail company, or such things-- I just use anything that looks cool to me.
I’ve asked on the forum for advice on aspects of modeling that I’ve never troubled with before but am interested in now, while on other aspects I remain nonconformist and unconcerned.
Go, and do likewise! It’s all about what you like.
“Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again.” Lazarus Long.
My choice of modeling nationality is a result of family politics, non-negotiable and not subject to discussion. My choice of month was pure serendipity - aka sheer (stupid) luck!
September, 1964, was the cusp of the transition era in Japan. Truly ancient (and much more modern) steam locomotives were swapping whistle signals with brand-new diesel hydraulics. New motors were showing up under the 1500VDC catenary - but that catenary was not being extended since the new standard was AC at a higher voltage. Mass-produced freight cars of brand-new design were locking coupler knuckles with older cars which were already earmarked for withdrawal and scrap. Having a nice new DMU luxury express train right across a high platform from some private railroad’s ancient teakettle and one wood coach was an everyday event. As a result, I could buy virtually ANYTHING offered as a kit or RTR and have it go into service without stretching the cover story.
Not until much later did I realize just how fortunate I had been to have that particular timetable!
I concentrate on Union Pacific - regardless or era. I have the #119, as well as a AC6000!! I also picked up the Bachmann DeWitt Clinton, King of Prussia, and John Bull!! Then there is the San Fran cable car (O scale?) The still in box IHB 0-8-0 by AHM, and the still in box MPC 1/25th General!! Add to this an Army train for the grandson (at least the loco is UP Camo), a Conrail diesel (because he likes blue) and not the least, Thomas, Percy, James, and a dozen cars for them!! When that “dream layout” gets built, I plan on a town set for each era - oh well, dream on!![zzz]
I’m “fixin to” rebuild my existing 11x15 HO layout of 14 years after the Holidays. At age 64, it will likely be my last layout. When I first made the decision to rebuild, I “assumed” I would stick with HO, and the ATSF / IC '50s era. My big change - other than eliminating a few bugaboos in the existing layout - would be to wire for DCC. OK, so this was the initial assumption, but soon I got to thinking (a dangerous state of mind at best), and I thought…
Why not model On3 in New Mexico / Colorado, which might really be fun - with lots and lots of mountains and steep grades and details you can really see.
Why not just build a Lionel postwar layout and get that collection off of the shelves and out of the boxes. Heck, I started the hobby with Lionel, so maybe I should end it with postwar.
But nahhhhh, given all the HO locos and rolling stock and stuff I’ve accumulated, and my love of the ATSF and IC, long trains of coal, oil, and varnish, I’ll stick with what I have.
Of course I haven’t yet started the rebuild, so who knows what it will be. But you know, whatever era, road, scale, or degree of authenticity we use, as long as we are happy with it, that’s all that matters!
One can have "live " scenery ,where the buildings are not glued down so that you can change eras and rolling stock. Ian Rice has track plans that show whole sections of scenery including track,that can be lifted out and replaced. Say trade a refinery for a lime quarry. Or a sawmill for a dock scene. I sorta by accident and not design havae a set of steam and a set of deisels thatI change out when I get frustrated with trying to run light articulateds on Atlas turnouts. The answer to almost finished layouts is tear it out or at least parts of it and try to improve it. BILL
Many of us modularize our layouts so that we don’t have to keep rebuilding them…entirely. Why not adopt the same approach to the visual aspect of the hobby as you would like it to be? Pluck off the coaling tower and other anachronisms from their “holes”, insert the appropriate stuff hidden on shelves under small dust prevention sheets, and swap the rolling stock and engines to change eras. The whole thing could be done in 10-15 minutes or so, and you could have that Black Widder howling up your grades within seconds.
I have a dogs breakfast of engines…truly…and wouldn’t have it any other way. My taste may change eventually, but, as Tom says, you can’t have enough articulated engines.
