I’m attracted to modeling odd and obscure railroads in minority scales that are seldom modeled. That’s why I like modeling narrow gauge in On30, G(F), and Gn15. You can use many components from HO when modeling these scales.
I’m a freelancer and era and setting is my choice. Late 80’s to modern with steam run as a excursion like today you can see steam from time to time on our UP mainline. I remember steam switchers running behind my house as a kid, but desiels were the king of the rails. 6 to 8 U33 in line pulling 100 plus cars over the grade. I like the new stuff being a truck driver I’m around rail quiet of bit, don’t get me wrong I love steam thats where my excursions come in. The raw power of a coal powered loco can not only be seen but felt miles away.
As a child, growing up on my father’s farm, I was fascinated by the old roadbed that crossed the edge of one of our fields. My dad told me that was a railroad that ran from Hopewell Junction, NY to Connecticut (he didn’t know the name of the line). Years later I did some research and determined that the line was the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad. Later research reveiled that the N.D.& C. was eventually taken over by the Central New England RR which, itself, was absorbed into its parent the New York, New Haven & Hartford. Times changed and the little 50+ mile line served no purpose and was torn up in the 1930s. Anyone interested in more information (I have left a lot out) should obtain Bernard Rudberg’s Twenty-Five Years on the N.D.& C. - available from Purple Mountain Press.
My layout is a freelance (very) version of a small portion of the N.D.& C. and the Clove Branch RR. It is set in late September/early October of 1899. We primarily haul milk and coal (with a good mix of general freight). This means running 4-4-0s (although the prototype did own one Mogul and one Atlantic over the years) hauling short trains composed of 36’ or smaller cars. The layout is located in our garage and can (is) folded up when not in use…no, I don’t run trains in the winter!
Anyone interested in the N.D.& C., or the other railroads that shared that roadbed, is invited to contact me. Thanks for asking.
I wanted to create a layout based on an American prototype - I had a yearning for a layout based on fairly early diesels, freight, switching. Preferably Minnesota, preferably Twin Cities, preferably late 1950s.
Why preferably Twin Cities/Minnesota ? I wanted a US location I am somewhat familiar with and would have a fair chance to do research on. Minnesota is the part of the US I am most familiar with, since my wife is from the Twin Cities and we visit the cities every summer. There is an excellent history center in Saint Paul, which also has a large collection of photographs - much of it also available online.
Why preferably late 1950s ? 1950s diesels and 40’ boxcars are smaller than more modern equipment. The 1950s had a lot more businesses that were directly rail served than these days. Better for a small switching layout, which is what I had room for if I was going to do a H0 scale layout in my home - I wanted H0 because the engines, rolling stock etc was large enough and not too large for my taste.
So I cast around and tried various ideas - I tried for the Minnesota Transfer Railway in the Midway area of Saint Paul, and worked up a design for that. It was tempting, since the MTRY (“The Mighty Midget”) handled interchange for a lot of cool railroads :
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Milwaukee road
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Rock Island
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Great Northern
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Minneapolis & Saint Louis
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Great Western
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Omaha Road/C&NW
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Northern Pacific
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Soo Line
but the design just got too big & complicated to build as a first layout. Maybe for
I live in the Southwest and it would be a logical conclusion that I would be modeling the railroads found in this region–Uncle John Santa Fe and Sufferin’ Pacific–but I have never really become infatuated with those “native” roads. A goodly portion of my diesel locomotive fleet as well as my cabeese and passenger cars are lettered for Santa Fe or BNSF but that is representative of the themes carried by my local dealers
Hobby press articles dealing with Appalachian railroading and Appalachian coal hauling would instill intense salivation and I have gravitated towards a (model) railroading theme operating in that geographical environment. Right at the moment my (modeling) era is centered on “now” however as the availability–and hopefully quality–of N-Scale steamers increases there is a likelyhood that I will thin out–read:dispose of–my current fleet of second and third generation diesels and gravitate into the “transition” era. This is going to be highly dependent on some manufacturer producing a reasonably priced and good lugging eight axle articlulated; there are a few good Mallet/articulates on the market however offerings which show some immediate promise as far as wheel arrangement come up with derogatory reviews in lugging capacity. When I market my novel–knock on wood–I am going to build a multi-thousand square foot train room and long coal drags are going to be desirable. Barring a move to the transition era I wil probably continue in the now era. We shall see what we shall see!
Never having resided in the Appalachian region–I am a westerner born and bred–and having only brushed along the edges in my travels I don’t really have a favorite road from the area hence I have attempted to garnish the flavor of B&O, WM, C&O, VGN, N&W, Southern, CC&O, and L&N. Because I do not have a specific favorite from this region I have op
No I don’t model the familiar, as I live in the Netherlandsthere is nothing familiar to me in the States, well at least there wasn’t. Now that I have read several books on my prototype and had lots of help including photo’s , booklets that were sent to me by very nice people etcetra I am beginning to get very familiar with Newton Kansas and the Santa Fe and MoPac lines around there. I have a year set 1959 because I love 1959 Corvettes and I wanted them on my streets but I also wanted the Newton Roundhouse ( broken down in 1955 ) on my layout and some Steam so I am cheating a bit with the time of my layout. And I probably won’t be aible to exactly copy Newton , but I do intend on scratchbuilding the Station and some other buildings. I just hope that I get the general feel that it is Newton.
I’m also modeling the p-line as a proto-freelance run by the Wisconsin & Southern out of Horicon, Wi. From Horicon to Portage will be staging, the line will run from Enderver to Plover. I’m Modeling this area because I used to drive to Plover to visit the inlaws about twice a month and I liked the layout of the land. I’m modeling WSOR because I like the red and white paint, and I see it all most every day
Russ
I, too, chose an era I was familiar with: the 70’s in prairie Saskatchewan. I’m basing my layout on my personal experience growing up next to (literally) the main Canadian National rail line in the towns of Nokomis and Rosthern. My Dad worked as a sectionman and I loved playing around the tool sheds and station. I rummaged through the pails of old spikes, fishplates, and other rusty things, and regularly rode the motor cars (speeders/jiggers) with the crew down the tracks.
My layout will incorporate all these details and more once I get a space to set it all up, but for now I’m scratch-building lots and collecting everything.
I model the New York, New Haven & Hartford RR, which was absorbed by the Penn Central on 1/1/69. I was born in 1975. Therefore, the only NH things I’ve seen for real have been in museums.
I am a “townie”. There have been 5 generations of my family that’s lived in my town, and I’m kinda fond of the place. I like it so much I want to model this area over any other. No other place really holds any interest for me. This leaves me to only pick an era.
Modern railroading around here consists of an electrified RoW, the Amtrak Acela Express, HHP-8’s, AEM-7’s, MBTA F40PH’s, GP40MC’s, and CSX GP40-2’s. Boring!
Railroading that I remember as a kid was Amtrak F40PH’s, MBTA F40PH’s, and Conrail B23-7’s. Boring!
Railroading around the time I was born was not boring…but it was miserable. Penn Central E-units, GP9’s, various PC odds and ends, MBTA RDC’s, and FP10’s. However, all the equipment was falling apart, the RoW was weedy, the physical plant was seedy, and what wasn’t rotting in place was rusting.
Going back to the 1960’s, 1950’s and 1940’s were anything but boring. Steam, diesel, passenger, freight, name trains, local freights, oddball equipment, and mainline freights. The New Haven could be accused of many things, but boring wasn’t one of them.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
My planned pike is based on the Cadiz RR (where I lived for three years), a 10.3 mile road between Cadiz, Ky and Gracey, Ky, where it connected with the IC and L&N, started in 1901. It’s got a great history of steam and diesel on a modelable scale. I had the opportunity to walk the old right of way with the last president of the line, and grandson of the founder. There is a yahoo group that has collected a great deal of information on the line, with more added regularily. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/cadrr/
I am a steam buff, and have been able to get a number of models which match the prototype quite closely. In fact I am, until the space is available for the RR itself, building dioramas from the photos on the group site.
The connections with the other Railroads add a lot of operational possibilities.
Legend has it that the distance the RR would cover, in a straight line, would have been a bit over 8 miles, but to achieve the necessary 10+ miles to be able to call it a ‘real railroad’ the founder added a number of curves.
Thanks
I’m familiar with the area that I chose to model, but not the era/s - 1975 and 1983. Let me explain. I’m modelling [and operating] the part of Maine Central’s Mountain Division between Whitefield, NH and St. Johnsbury, VT. The primary era that I model is still 1975 because that enables me to run Boston & Maine F-units [through Whitefield], some of which still existed in the mid 70s and ran north up the Conn. River line, and it also allowed me to include the still-operating St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County that arrived in St. J from the west. When Stewart came out with a MEC U25B several years ago, I had to have one. I eventually added two more custom painted units in two of Rock Island’s “as-delivered” paint schemes - a red and yellow unit with speed lettering and a baby blue and white unit, each with “Maine Central Railroad” stencilled on the cab sides under the units road number. In order to run these during an operating session, I remove the B&M F-units and MEC RS-11 801 (subbed with a Geep), shut down the StJ&LC and the evening becomes 1983.
Having grown up in Ottawa, ON, my family used to vacation a lot in New England, but I wasn’t a railfan [way] back then so I have no photos of trains in the area. But I always loved our trips there and the numerous, fabulous Morning Sun books covering railroading in the area soon helped me decide what I wanted to model. Cheers, Marty on Vancouver Island
Modern NS and NJT in north jersey.
I actually do not model the familiar. Living in New Zealand, I could have quite easily modelled New Zealand Railways – the steam era - as mainline steam ran on express passenger trains up to 1971 – and I rode them. As New Zealand steam locomotives were very similar to American style, I have always been attracted to the US railroads. 20 years ago I saw in the Walthers Catalog the Roundhouse Overton Coaches lettered for the Sierra Railroad, and this piqued my interest. My local library had the book Sierra Railway by Dorothy Newell Deane that I borrowed, and I was hooked! I now have my own copy. This railroad had everything that was interesting and varied to model from gold mining, timber both in log and processed form, cattle, fruit etc. From small beginnings, I have progressed to personal contacts with others interested in the Sierra, to researching the area and actually building a layout based upon the Sierra Railroad and its interchanges with Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. The era was to be around 1948, as after that American cars changed their shape. However, it has moved forward in time due to the Athearn Ford F100 range becoming available, so I can have automobiles in between 1948 and the mid 1950’s. I may never get to the Sierra Railroad, but in the mid 1950’s it will live here in New Zealand.
I made up the town of Black Rock so that I was not tied down too one era or prototype, I can change the whole town or just small sections of it as I get bored with the same scenery.
Maybe some day I’ll pick a real town or rail line too model but for now I’m enjoying the flexability that creating a fake town gives me.
I can have the whole population comprised of mimes if it makes me happy!
I do respect those who model prototypical lines as they have their work cut out for them, may the rail Gods keep these modlers safe along their journey.
Some may say that I’m lazy or just plain old crazy and too that I say…“Thanks for at least realizing that there are many more like me out here in Train Land”.
We are not lazy or crazy, we just have a will to be free in our creativity.
All RR modelers are a bit crazy anyway.
Happy Rails,
Jess Red Horse , Mayor and King of Black Rock.
I have been freelancing my same little road in various guises and scales since the early 80’s, which has been mostly based on the Buffalo Creek & Gauley/ Elk River Mine & Lumber Co. which operated between Dundon and Widen WV up until the early 60’s.
Being a California girl, I had never been to the east, and only became familiar with the BC&G when I was a student librain in high school. I believe the book was Rails of the South. I already loved trains, but this funky lttle road stole my heart.
Another odd influence has been the Disney Land Railroad (Frontier Land - New Orleans Square - Rivers of America) and Big Thunder Mountain at Disney Land. I hate roller coasters but suffered through many rides to see all the little scenes, relics and buildings
Set in the early 60’s, feeling like the early 40’s, still pulled by steam and struggling to stay relevant in the budding space age, my pike is a combination of BC&G/ERC&L for overall operations and atmosphere; California Western (which I have never seen in person) for its scenic line through the woods to the coast; West Side Lumber Co. for big show lumbering lessons; Sierra Railroad for additional charm and flavor; and a good helping of John Allen, John Olson, Malcolm Furlow, and Walt Disney’s Immagineers for style, whimsy and fun.
Thanks MR for featuring Mr. Allen in the next issue. I can’t wait.
Shana
My scenery is generic,and my era is late steam through the present.My motive power runs from an IHC SP 2-6-0 to an Athearn Genesis Alaska Railroad SD70 MAC.
It’s my railroad,I’ll run what I want![oX)]