I tried writing this topic earlier today under a different title, but a troll named FOOT LOOSE BRUCE ruined it and Bergie had to delete it.
Anyway. I’m one of those characters that has to have everything right and prototypical on my layout, otherwise it drives me nuts!.
I went to great lengths to get my community as close as I possible to the actual town that it’s modeled and named after according to photos and research. I also only run factory painted and decaled steam era locos with factory painted and decaled steam era rolling stock and passenger cars. All of the buildings, structures and automobiles also have to be from the correct period, otherwise, it’s no fun for me…
Someone recently asked me what I thought of weathering locos and rolling stock, and my reply was - though I only weather my buildings and structures, that I’m all for it if it’s done right. I don’t weather my locos or rolling stock because I don’t want to hurt their value if I ever attempt to sale them. Not everyone appreciates weathering…
If you feel you need absolute fidelity with the prototype, then go for it - there is absolutely nothing wrong or odd about that. I want to run any train I please, but that’s my choice. In short, do what You want, so long as you enjoy the hobby - it’s meant to be fun !
Yes. I try to be as prototypical as possible, BUT…only within reason.
I do only run locomotives and rolling stock that were in the era I am modeling. I am also careful the automobiles, buildings, and structures are accurate to that time period. I want my layout to be a snapshot of a time gone by, as if I were actually there myself.
However, I also enjoy adding detailing to my buildings and structures and the freedom to turn them into a something that would or could have been used in that era and roadname. Since I am not modeling a specific location on the NYC, I can enjoy certain creative but prototypical liberties with the idea of turning my layout into a believable town or location. I find that to be fun, without being overbearingly restrictive.
I am a combination of both. I am sticking with only locomotives and cars from the late 70’s and early 80’s that ran on the Maine Central or interchanged with it. But I have strayed a bit on the buildings and locations. I am modeling the Mountian Division from Portland, Maine to St. Johnsbury, VT. I have added a few industries that didn’t exist but are very prototypical. For instances, the MEC never served any Power Plants, but did serve many paper mills that produced their own power. On the mountian division there is 2 paper mills one at each end. The mill closest to St J. I converted to power plant. Also, there was a small Agway (feed mill) in one town, I am subsituting it with a large grain silos (Walthers Kits) its not prototypical, but I can get away with it.
I didn’t get in the hobby for the resale value of my rolling stock, let me see if I have this right? you have to have everything right and prototypical on your layout, doesn’t that mean “everything”? so you have a beautiful weathered layout and brand new shiny (manufacturers photo-quality) trains? doesn’t sound too prototypical to me. I have never heard of weathering a layout but not the rolling stock, sorry.
I model the 50’s NYC/NKP (which is not protypical) and I only use steam and diesel loco’s that are appropriate for the era and RR. 95% of my rolling stock is accurate. Once in a while I will get a boxcar or something in that is early 60’s but I don’t sweat it. You can’t always tell online exactly when the car was made. I chose the 50’s for two reasons. The obvious transition era so I can have a little steam and allot of diesel. Also rolling stock tended to be smaller during that time. Other than three 50 ft express reefers all my rolling stock is 40 ft or less. Looks better on my little pike. I am in to it for the enjoyment and the challenge so I really don’t worry about crossing the line on occasion.
Terry [8D]
I am satisfied to achieve the ‘flavor’ of the prototypes I loosely model, so somebody seeing the finished product can say, “That looks like a town I visited once,” but nobody will be able to say, “You tried to model (fill in the blank) but Jones Street has a Woolworth’s store where you put the bank.”
The one thing I won’t do, ever, is put in something either prototypically inappropriate or totally preposterous. There were no Taco Bell franchises in central Japan in 1964, nor was the local logging outfit using a dinosaur to yard logs, so anyone seeking such on my layout will seek in vain.
i tire and be faily prototypical, things are fome the same era and work well together, my buildings though are not the exact ones as the prototype but i at leat put them were they belong… i know the prototype for my layout only ran SW1200RS units on the section ofmy layout, i ran some GP9’s and SW900’s instead, there all CN like they should be just not the right model engine, so i’m close to being prototypical just not exactly on.
It depends. If you can’t do a good job of weathering, then yes, you can kill the resale value of your equipment.
But if the sales prices of equipment on ebay is any judge (just ask Aggro) then reasonably weathered equipment will at least fetch just as much as unweathered. And if you take some time to hone your equipment weathering skills so you can do a realistic weathering job, then distinctly weathered equipment often goes for far more than unweathered equipment.
I mean come on, a $15 boxcar, nicely weathered, can fetch hundreds of dollars on ebay.
Doesn’t sound like decent weathering hurts the resale value at all to me.
Hey jfugate. What was that about a $15.00 box car nicely weathered fetching hundreds of dollars on ebay ?!. For that kind of money I’ll start weathering anything that crosses my path!.. ([;)])
No offense taken bcammack. I am obsessive/compulsive. I mentioned this a while back here on the forum and everyone thought I was joking. It effects just about every aspect of my life-especially my hobbies… Most perfectionist are actually obsessive/compulsives.
Absolutely! Of course, My layout is completely a figment of my imagination… But it is set in 1925. Being a freelanced layout gives me a lot of leeway on what was “prototypical” on this layout. I do try to be realistic as in running stock that was made prior to the date of the layout and making sure that the equipment used is USRA or earlier. I blew a mental fuse when I bought a flatcar that had Waterloo Boy Tractors on it that ceased production in 1924 (John Deere) but were being transported new on a 1929 Flatcar… DUH! Athearn didn’t even reply to my nasty e-mail. They could have at least said, “opps”! But then all this is just part of the fun of MRing.
Says who? On the portion of the Nickel Plate that I model (the Peoria Division) the NKP and NYC ran side by side or on the same tracks at at least two locations:
From Lafayette to Templeton, IN, the NYC and NKP used their side-by-side mainlines (as in, within ten feet of each other) as a double-tracked main. It was full CTC controlled, and interlocked at both ends. It was about the only place out east where you could see a J-3a with a streamlined passenger train racing a 2-8-4 with 69 cars!
In Bloomington, IL, the NKP mainline paralleled the P&E, a NYC subsidiary (like the B&A). While this track was not run as a two track main, the lines did share some facilities and had reciprocal switching arrangements. Each line ran eight or more trains a day through town, in addition to having assigned switch engines, so it was a busy place indeed (and one of the reasons I’m modeling it!)
yes by all means do it your way,its your RR.my bldgs.aren’t weathered but most of the rolling stock is.haven’t got around to the loco’s yet.most of my 25 cars are modern but i do have and run some cars with roof walks.doesn’t bother me.enjoy yourself.
hey track sup
I have to say in a word yes
it has to look real I try to save some cheaper model’s, I find that with a coat of paint
it helps more then you think, I sprayed some floquil (mud) and was shocked at how nice it looked, it sead look I got dirty here at work, lol
your just like me if its out of place its off the layout(I never toss stuff )
I started with a published plan for the trackwork (glad I did) and changed the scenic
virus virus virus HOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOO
to look more like a city type layout sorry no cows here (but we love milk)
no date for me, if my old 4-4-0 stop’s out for a visit , no problem
its hard to pull the big drag off the pike (yard not up …y …u )
oh well I missed the mayhem earlyer but glad to see you stll hanging in there
Ken