More curious than anything, Was wondering how many have given names to their layout.
Mine is the “KC & D Railway” When I was working on the design of my layout, and trying to get “buy-in” from my wife, I thought the name might help. (Silly thought!) The acronym is Kay, Chris, & Don Railway. I do have to admit I liked the annunciation of KC. Obviously, I got “buy-in”, I’m sure it wouldn’t have mattered what the name is, or if it even had one.
Interested in hearing others.
The Cynosure Division of the New York Central.
Cynosure is a place in the comic book Grim Jack where all times and realities intersect - hence on my railroad the NYC is a transcon line and the Pennsy is a minor subsidiary!
The Blueboard Central Division of American Flyer Lines was always intended to be a temporary layout to give me some place to run the trains that I have been collecting over the years. In its early days it also served as a place to display the trains I didn’t have up on the walls. The earliest incarnation had a loop of Wide Gauge track on the outside, but it quickly became an all Narrow Gauge layout.
I have always enjoyed when folks give their layout a name, history and personality. As I got involved with posting on SPF and other places I thought it would be fun to do the same for my display layout. So the natural name seemed to be the most obvious. The entire layout is built on 2" blue styrofoam, hence Blueboard Central. And of course my collecting is primarily focused on American Flyer trains. Chicago Flyer trains, both Wide and Narrow gauge, are almost all marked with American Flyer Lines so the rest of the name was easy. It is connected to the Milwaukee Road at some point, just like the city where I live, Wausau Wisconsin was a stop on the Valley Line of the Milwaukee Road. Over the years I’ve had fun posting stories about the growth and development of the railroad and some of the interesting charaters whose lives are influenced by it. I suppose I could have named it the Lake Woebegone Northern.
Thanks for asking Don.
Enjoying the World’s Greatest Hobby
Northwoods Fl
Don,
For now it is the KMN&A Flat Line. Primarily because it has the first initials of my name and my grand-kids in the order of their birth and the layout is flat. I may have to change it when I do an addition with a raised area or more grand-kids come along. [:)]
Great names! I especially like Bob Keller’s. I focus less on naming the layout itself (Sodor Island Railway) than naming every possible thing on it - usually for my friends ie Fortner Yard; Baker Field; Eagles Ridge, etc. Railways named everything! Then I have to make more little signs. My next layout will be more ‘prototypical’ insofar as it’ll follow a track plan for the Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Company Ltd. 
Don,
**Blueberryhill RR…**To be honest with you, I have always liked that song. I also live on a hill with blueberries growing on it. I thought it sounded neat. I’d love to have a car with the name on it.
No name on the indoor “O” but the “G” out in the yard is the SP & DW RR.
Sago Palm
Dry Wash
Unfortunately it is in need of some new ballasting and revised track work. [C):-)]
Ophir and Oblivion - Because it does cost money and, since it is always a carpet central, oblivion is its terminus. The short name is Oh Oh! which is what my wife usually says when she sees something running that she didn’t recall seeing before. [:)]
I got back into model railroading a couple of years ago with my next to youngest grandson. Even though it isn’t a large layout, we didn’t have a lot of money to add on, so it is the “Day, Late, and Dollar” Short Line.
wyomingscout
Yep
SusieQ Falls Scenic Railway
It is named after my wife because she was agreeable to me having my own room just for trains!
I haven’t officially adopted this name for my 4’ x 8’ clockwork layout (yet), but I am strongly considering the Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota & Utah Pacific. That’s right, the W,I,ND & UP Railroad. Plus, it’s ironic to have such a grandiose name for a small tinplate layout. [:D]
James
My layout represents the copper mining area of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan. I call my railroad the Copper Country Central. This name is a combination of railroad and train names that were once popular in the area, such as the Copper Range, The Milwaukee Road’s “Copper Country Limited,” and the Keweenaw Central.
Karl
My son and I are the proprietors of the Cornfields and Coalfields Rail Road which models the midwest and northeastern Pennsylvania.
Though I’ve only had a 4x9 temporary layout since 1994,I have plans to build in the 30x11 room in my basement,a permanent layout of the “Eastern Kentucky & Ohio” model railroad.
I live in Greenup County in the North Eastern part of Ky and during the late 1880’s until after the Great Depression the Eastern Kentucky R.R. ran thru parts of Greenup and Carter County’s in Kentucky.
At one time before the depression the E.K. as locals called it,had talked with the Scioto Valley Railway Co. on a merger in which a bridge would be built across the Ohio River at Riverton,Ky (now Greenup) to Haverhill,Ohio.This would have opened the coalfields up to ship across the Ohio onto the Great Lakes like the management of the Scioto Valley had hoped to achieve.
Eventually the depression did put and end to the EK,and the Scioto Valley was taken over by the N&W.
So my model railroad is based on that idea of what could have been.Makes for a little history,and a lot of what might have been and a lot of fun to contemplate.
I’ve already drawn out my plans,and even got ideas on the type of paint schemes I would like to incorporate on the locomotives and rolling stock.
I’m just waiting for one to get out of college and another to start in two years [:(] .
Ah,it will happen sooner than that [;)]
“Cuyahoga Valley and Cleveland Union Terminal Railroad” is the working name I’m using for the layout I hope to build someday. Since I live a very short distance from the site of the NYC’s Linndale roundhouse where NYC trains had their hudsons switched out for CUT P1a electrics it’s always been my ambition to feature it on my layout. Not that I have room for one full roundhouse let alone 2 with a city in between! But what I could do is fake the roundhouse in low relief accross the “river” aisleway from the main table.
Otherwise I call my temporary layouts “the Thai layout”, “the prewar one”, “the postwar one” and “Disneyland”.
Becky
Being from Bergen County New Jersey, and interested in Northeast and Jersey roads especially, I call mine the Tenakill Valley, after a stream that starts in Tenafly NJ, my father’s hometown, and flows north to a juction with the Hackensack River. It runs through a number of towns starting with Ackerman and ending in Zabriskie, however the town of Bassetopia is represented on the layout. Yes, Lady Firestorm and I are owned by two Basset Hounds!
A brief history, the Tenakill Valley was chartered in 1856, and completed just in time for the Panic of 1857. “Confound it all, gentlemen!”, Colonel Demerest Northvale NJSM, president of the line said, “What ought we to do now?” Well, the 'road hung on by it’s fingernails until the Civil War started in 1861, then the money started rolling in.
The Tenakill Valley survives today as a bridge line carrying excess traffic from the other 'roads in the North Jersey area, so on a given day you might see ANYTHING from any 'road, so much so the locals call it “The Lost Locomotive Line!” How’s that for explaining different road names on a 4x8 layout?
Well, that’s a great question. I have two layouts.
One is O-27 called the “Big P” and the other is HO called the “Little P”
Why, you ask? Because all of the structures and accessories are vintage Plasticville.
Thanks for asking.
Well my layout name came about because my Granddaughter loves my trains so she said we needed to name it J&W Railroad. It stands for Jessica and Wyatt. She did this in 2008 and the name has not changed but the layout has changed some.[:)]
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc269/wmwalker_2007/Trains/Jessica001.jpg
I grew up in central Michigan, which was served by the NYC and Grand Trunk. In 1958, I received a Texas Special freight set. I am currently living a bout 1/2 a block from the old KATY right of way, which has been turned into a hiking/biking trail. My wife is currently working at the KATY depot, which used to be the district superintendant’s office.
I am running a temporary layout on a talbe tennis table, and just by accident most of my locomotives and rolling stock have some connection to the NYC or the MKT.
Inspired by my history, location, and equipment, I call my layout the Ping Pong Plain Division of the KATY Central Lines.
