Blech. You’re just no fun at all, are ya?
(Just kidding [:D])
John
Blech. You’re just no fun at all, are ya?
(Just kidding [:D])
John
And I don’t drink, don’t smoke and only have one wild woman. I may not “be fun” but I’m having lots of fun.
My kids are grown, I’m self employed, my time is completely in my control. My house and cars are paid for and life is good.
Sheldon
Hi!
For literally decades, my railroad was the Santa Fe from the 1940s thru 1957. I later extended that to 1959 as there were some models that I just had to have that were from 58-59.
About 10 years ago, the first affordable with quality (to me) models of the IC E units came out, and I added the IC so I could run the “trains of my youth” around the layout - under the premise they had trackage rights with the ATSF. My description is “I major in the ATSF, with a minor in the IC”.
And yes, I am very strict that all locos/cars and autos/structures did exist during my somewhat extended time period.
Hey, it works for me!
Mobilman44
Since my layout is an exact replica of the Anything Goes Railroad, I don’t have to deal with this issue.
I like it, I buy it.
Rich
I “protolance” the B&O and all it’s incarnates-that is B&O, C&O, Chessie System, CSX. {Or the B&O and all successors or the CSX and all predecessors}
I loved the real life Chessie Systems I watched roll by the crossing near my house as a teen in the 70’s, and I also love B&O, C&O steam.
But I get bored with only a 1-5 year span or an “era” on my layout. SO I can model steam turn of the last century or can model diesels turn of this century by changing out locos. cars, and a building or two. Many buildings {around here including wood RR depots built in the 1860s-1870s} still stand and operate as various business or stations for short lines.
I also fell in L-O-V-E with some of the PRR steamers at the RR Museum Of PA in Strasburg and so I allow PRR “trackage rights” over my B&O/C&O lines on ocassion. It turns out I found out for real that in certain areas B&O DID allow PRR “trackage rights’” to get into certain areas. so I’m not far off the mark to real life RRing.
So I can have various types of fun on my pike as I see fit, or feel like running.
But that’s jsut me and my [2c]
The name of the game of a hobby is to have fun! so do so anyway you like!
And I don’t drink, don’t smoke and only have one wild woman. I may not “be fun” but I’m having lots of fun.
My kids are grown, I’m self employed, my time is completely in my control. My house and cars are paid for and life is good.
Sheldon
Sheldon…I gotta say…You don’t look too happy. [:)]
It is your railroad, model it how you want… that was the advice I was given when I started… I am doing a more modern period and I am a CSX fan so I try to stick to with their engines but I did by an UP B23-7 engine last week as well. And seeing how 40 year old GP-38/ -7 are still in service or fairly retired I can mix them in with newer stuff but if I clash, I am not going to sweat it. I am not to picky about the rail road name of my rolling stock and I this was recently confirmed when I got a chance to see several UP trains go rolling by and they had a great mix of cars from railroads all over the country. I also look at rail fan photo sights and have seen photos of UP/BNSF/NFS trains in CSX yards or mixed in pulling cars, so as I go forward with buying new engines I will be mixing it up but trying to keep CSX engines in the majority.
In keeping with the “model railroad as theater” metaphor, my layout can either be “in character” or “out of character”.
When an “official” operating session is underway, I consider my layout to be “in character”, so the motive power and rolling stock present on it are constrained to the nominal era and road names.
If I’m just in the train room playing around, the layout is “out of character” and anything goes. It doesn’t have to be a representation of anything in particular in that state.
So I don’t feel compelled to justify or explain purchases that are outside of my layout’s era and setting. The oddballs are in my collection for the fun of it.
Yes, although I have shifted the era recently.
I am modeling Sand Patch Grade on the B&O. This allows B&O and (through trackage rights) WM equipment. Originally, I started out with a fairly broad range from post-WWII to Chessie. Over time, as I matured as a modeler and B&O fan, I narrowed it down to ca. 1955, but I was unhappy with the selection and running properties of B&O steam; also, I’ve always been interested in freight car development in the early sixties. So, I finally bit the bullet and shifted eras to the 1957 to 1964 time frame. That may seem an odd choice of years, but was carefully chosen based on what was happening on the B&O at the time. I am not necessarily religious about things though–for example, B&O began to renumber diesels from two- and three-digit numbers to four digits in January, 1957 (some had been delivered in four digits starting mid-1956). This took until June, 1957 or so to complete. Many of the HO Scale models of B&O diesels come numbered in three digits, so I use the time-lag in completing the renumbering as an excuse to leave these models as three digit numbers.
Greg
That’s me too. Although I am presently modeling a free-lanced switching layout in the 1970’s, I am an Erie Lackawanna fan and a Chessie fan too. Since the 1970’s brought us the early years of Conrail and many of the “foreign” road’s motive power (even cabooses) onto the tracks of these roads. Therefore it would not be unsusal back then to see a Pennsy SD-9 or a WM GP-9 in a consist with the home road’s motive power. I do have some (but not many) locos outside of the EL and Chessie and I will run them on occasion. The switching layout, however, allows for no multiple lash-ups of power. Six axle power is also not very practical although I do run a six axle locomotive now and again. All of this power (and the many pieces of rolling stock) that I’ve collected over the years will eventually go onto a larger layout. The main thing is what suits you, not someone else. It’s your railroad!
This is where being totally freelanced really has benifits, everything newly bought or scratchbuilt gets new roadname decals and new numbers, its then beaten and weathered so its automaticly ‘correct’ and in the proper ‘era’. As it is I only run 2 ‘official’ roadnames, “Borracho Springs Rwy” and the “Angry Beaver Logging Rwy” but I still have a couple of non-roster items in their original livery, but these are more display items rather than operational rolling stock.
I strictly adhere to North American railroads of the 1880-2010 era. I did stray once, when I bought a Bachmann Chinese 2-10-2…But wouldn’t you know it, the prototype ended up doing the same thing.
In my case, I’m building a layout that designed to rotate time periods, so I can use a lot of different era’s equipment.
For example, I model the modern era and Union Pacific. However, I have purchased SP daylight and I’m getting all the SP daylight cars that are coming out from MTH. I also have a challenger engine with a coal tender vs the oil tender it has now and the SP daylight I mentioned eariler has whitewall wheels which are from the older days of railroading.
I see no problem using steam engines currently (or at least, recently) in use as excursion engines on a modern layout…SP 4449, UP Challenger and 4-8-4, etc. I’m surprised more model railroad companies don’t offer models of these engines, like say Milwaukee 261 - you could use it in modelling the 1940’s-50’s, or the mid-90’s to today.
The more I study railroad history, and the more I learn about all the different railroads, the more difficult it is for me to stick to any one era or railroad.
For example, I may love the red/silver warbonnet of Santa Fe, and the blue/yellow warbonnet freight paint scheme of Santa Fe–but with very rare exceptions (F units running out the last miles on freight), they did not co-exist. Since I prefer to run only steam power and large articulateds, but I don’t like the look of Santa Fe steam at all, that pretty much disqualifies me from modeling Santa Fe.
Many roads had one or two or even three really great classes of steam power–but some are not readily available in HO, or I just don’t like the look of them. I also prefer modern freight cars, but do not own any that fall after the steam era, as I sold them all.
At the end of the day, my favorite locomotives would be the N&W Y-6B 2-8-8-2’s, as well as previous classes Y-3 through Y-6A, and Alco Century diesels.
My current railroad would have to be NdeM–they got some large American steam power secondhand and obtained their own 2-6-6-2’s and 4-8-4’s, owned some neat Alco Centuries, and also ran their large American designed steam power (including 4-8-4’s) at least well into 1967–thus they did coexist with some big Alco Centuries–but were in different regions of Mexico. Where I stretch the imagination too far is in my wish that NdeM obtained Y-6B’s secondhand. Though they did obtain Norfolk Southern 2-8-4’s secondhand, and later plenty of N&W diesels, sadly no big 2-8-8-2’s migrated south of the border.
The NdeM actually ran Alco C628’s on passenger trains in mountainous regions, and if I want to have a 2-8-8-2 on the NdeM—well, it’s my railroad. Also, I’m still deciding if my UP articulateds will stay or go.
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I am modeling the Lake Superior and Ishpeming and sometimes it’s difficult to find locos and rollling stock. Fortunately it intechanges with the Wisconsin Central along with a couple others so it makes the job a little easier. I guess the overall answer is yes, but sometimes I will take poetic license and just make it work, which if anyone is familiar with the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, is kind of how the ‘Yoopers’ handled many situations.
Nope, I’m one of those grubby collectors who has engines from about five or six different roads, often on the layout at the same time. That includes a couple of SD-75M’s along with my steamers; got one in the yard this minute next to steamers from the NYC, N&W, and the C&O.
I run what I like when I like. If I were bent on modeling, it would be different.
-Crandell
[:-^] Yes but Crandell, from what we have been shown of your layout (work) you could run a “Camelback” cab forward and in your settings it would still look perfect, [(-D][swg][(-D]
You always show us the way it should look, and I for one love it. You and Grampy are my heros.[tup][tup]
Johnboy out…
I go with what I like. I regularly run SD70’s and AC6000’s along with my steamers.
I stick to my era, but I like collecting custom painted/lettered freight cars for home layouts. The last custom freight car I bought was for the Bay Valley Dispatch; BVD. The logo was a pair of shorts with track as a belt. I thought it was pretty clever!
Chuck
I try to model prototype SP on the Klamath Falls Branch during the early 1900’s. I say try because, it is no secret that it is impossible ( At least for me) to do this accurately. For example, I do not know with any certainty what SP locomotives were assigned to that branch during what period of time. SP purchased the tracks for that branch in 1905 from the Weed Lumber Company in a secret agreement under the name California & Northeastern. Sometime between then and about 1909 SP stopped using that name. Further, the old Weed locomotives were also purchased but, it is not exactly clear when they were sold, re-lettered or changed from wood to coal. It is also not clear during that period, when some of the SP 4-8-0’s used on this branch modified their air piping and number boards. I could go on about the freight and passenger equipment particularly with regard to SP’s 4 wheel cabooses. Based on my research and photographs, I seem to be limited to modeling the time period between 1905 and 1909 to get it right as things on the SP were changing rapidly. This led me to consider what I call “time sharing” and once tried to have my thoughts on this subject published. The theory is that if you have scenery and industries that can span a certain era, you can realistically run different era trains on your layout but perhaps not at the same time. Actually though, you could run these trains at the same time under certain assumptions. For example: Tony Koester observed that " mixing eras is insidiously easy…" and"…the catch is that anachronisms and plausibility can’t exist side by side" I agree but Tony Koester and Allen McClelland had been sharing their 'hot shot" train number 261 across their model railroads which are separated by 500 prototype miles and twenty years of model time. ( See Time Machine Railroading", GREAT MODEL RAILROADS, 1995). Maybe such sharing does not have to be separated by 500 miles but simply by a stagging yard? But more likely, It’s best to just forget all these philosophical issu
*OP wrote…Quote: “*Do you find yourself straying outside what you set up as your era and road? I try not to because cost is already high, but there are some neat items for purchase out in the market…”
John… I think most modelers have a particular railroad prototype - historic or modern - that they like to emulate and try to re-create.
I have so many favorites that its sometimes vary hard to stay focused on the main theme of the railroad you want to model… with emphasis on the word ‘you’.
My layout is being constructed in phases - or, room by room and I model modern era(1985 - now)Union Pacific - but, I’m not modeling any particular part of it - I’m freelance-prototype modeling. When it is all finished in about 2 more years, it will overwelmingly be recognized by any visitor, as unmistakably UP in nature. But that is not going to stop me from running any steam or diesel of another era or railroad, if I wish to do so.
Eventhough I’m dedicated to the UP, I’m originally from PA and grew up in a family of PRR personel and was exposed to PRR and B&O from the time I was 4-5 yrs old -about the same time I was exposed to this wonderful hobby.
I never dreamed that I would ever see some of the amazing models and replicas being offered to us in HO(or any other scale), thanks to the technology that has impacted the hobby in just the last 20 years alone.
. There’s a lot that has changed and more fine models are available than ever before.
With all the amazing models out there, it is very tempting to ‘want’ to obtain all the different models that ‘appeal’ to our senses…it will also bankrupt you if you’re not careful.
I try to stick with my contemporary models in Union Pacific liveries. But I have a soft spot for Pennsy steam & diesel power and own quite a few(rea