I am planning to build a freelance model railroad once I buy myself a house in 6 to 9 months. So in the mean time I have been casually working to create a freelance railroad. I already have an undecorated Atlas master series SD26 that i plan to use. One problem I have had in planning is desiding on a name and then creating the railroad. I want it to be realistic and have a good back story. The thing is a name I came up with some years ago demands atention, but I dont know if it sounds realistic or if it would be hard to create a story to go with it. The name is ZTRail, which is short for Zachary Tyler Railway. Zachary Tyler is my first and middle name and is what I am called by my family when im in big trouble. The shorting is inspired ofcourse from CPRail and BCRail. So does ZTRail sound realistic and good to put a story to or should i come up with a name that ties the railroad to a sertain location. Any help and advice is much appriciated. Thanks.
Do what you feel comfortable with. A mining layout that I built many years ago needed a name and I decided to keep it close to home. My niece had helped me with some of the scenery for the mine area so it was christened J&M Mining. The J and M are the initials of mine and hers first names.
[:-^]
Hi ZT.
A name for a model railroad is quite a personal thing, I do not believe there is a right or wrong.
My first layout was called Great Western Plains RR. and that served me well from a 4x8 through several expansions by my Father and I until it filled about a third of our basement. Then through that expansion we became aware that we wanted some varied terrain, yes indeed, Mountains and so the name didn’t quite work as well as it had before on the plywood. Seeing that we could not build a whole range of mountains the decision was made to call it the Last mountain and Eastern, making it fit with the Mountain and the prairies. In honor of that time with my Father, through out all these years, 60 to be exact as I was 12 at the time and I am now 72, I continue to use that Name, it still fits and serves me well.Even though the mountain now has become a range and is about 14 feet in length. Back then it was Lionel 0-27 and now it is HO.
Z.T. has a good ring to it and with that as a starting point look at all the names that start with those letters and keeping in mind the type of railroad you envision it should give you some ideas for the name. If I may ?
Something like Zorro’s Trail, Zane’s Trench. but only if you were trying to put a fun twist on it. But, ZTRail sounds just great. The nick name could then be Z Trail, Whatever you come up with is fine and it is yours. GO FOR IT…
Johnboy out… Long live the LM&E
What ever you do, don’t let your snarky friend name it. I let one of mine name my first fictional line, and he came up with the moniker the Stebby Central Union Managed RR, or SCUM RR.
But we did come up with a heck of a company slogan: “SCUM always rises to the top.”
OK, the LION has built three railroads since moving to North Dakota.
The first was the Eastern South-West North Dakota Central Railroad (serving the middle of no where)
The second was the Eregion Railroad, running through North Dakota’s Middle Earth.
My present layout is “The Route of the Broadway Lion”
ROAR
Why not? R.J.Corman used his name.The Austin,Todd & Ladd is a short line named after the owner’s Grandsons.
Thanks for all the help, ZTRail will do it for me. Also it let’s me pick practically any location to model.
ZRAIL,
Copy-Cat !!! [(-D] NAW,Just kidding,I think it sounds Good…
Cheers, [D]
Frank,AKA,zstripe.
Yet another twist on this is to name your RR to fit a certain geographical area with the initials as the names of members of your family, yourself or others. For example, my railroad, the Toledo Erie Central RR, is, of course, set in the Toledo area of Ohio. The TEC initials/reporting marks, however are the initials of the first names of mine and my two sons. I also have a story line/background for this fictitious railroad’s existence that I have posted at least once on this forum
There has been an unwritten rule in model railroading that would apply here. It is know as the “my basement rule.” Fairly self-explanatory. Apply that, and no matter what you name it, it will be the right name.
ZTrail has a somewhat modern ring to it, like it was created by a corporate marketing department. Almost like a rail holding corporation that has more than one short line in the family all over the country. That give you the option of changing the specific theme later (say from northwest to deep south) while still having a standard paint and backstory.
However, if you go further back in history, RR’s tended to be more of an A, B, & C type thing. In that case you might use it as the initials for Zachary & Tyler Railroad, those being the two named towns. You don’t even have to model them on the RR, just create the story from there.
Heck, my RR is named after the first cat my wife & I owned 30 years ago. Smokie turned into Smoke River which easily fits most shortlines from logging to today.
Let’s not forget the John Galt Line.
Do you mean this one?
The herald is a bit on the small side, but I’m currently working on a 1937 AAR boxcar with a larger version. The heralds are courtesy of a friend whose model railroad is the John Galt Line.
Zachary, you’re entitled to call your railroad by whatever name you choose. However, I’m curious if it’s to be known as Zed Tee Rail, or the more provincial Zee Tee Rail (and the latter is not French). [swg]
Wayne
I like the sound of it. One suggestion: ZTrail could be taken as Z Trail. ZTRail might help avoid confusion, or ZT in one color, followed by Rail in another? Dan
ZTRail sounds like a very businesslike, very no-nonsense. Perfect for a modern short line.
Although if you go with an ampersand, you might want to add a “Pacific” to the end. Such as Zachary, Tyler & Pacific, to give it a historical ring. Many roads did this.
NW
Eventually your taste will change, be it concept or scale. Trying to sell private road models is tantamount to selling bagels to Arabs. Before you begin custom painting fairly expensive models with your road logo or whatever, consider having your own railroad with whatever name you choose…but fictionalize a leasing policy whereas your road leases equipment from any railroad that has locos and rolling stock you feel you would want to play with. You can then rationalize by saying that equipment has not had time be repainted in company scheme.
After all this hobby is about imagination. Having your private road is about imagination, but consider the hit you’ll most likely take if you try to sell.
My twenty bucks worth,
HZ
If that is what you desire, then go for it. You can name it anything you you want. It’s your railroad.
I had a small steamer only line I called the “GB&S Railroad” {the Grimy, Black & Sooty Railroad}.
You can also name it after two {or three} town names you pick for the outer limits of the rail line. Like the “Owego and Harford Railway” for the towns of Owego at one end, and Harford at the other.
You can name it after regions. “The Northern Nevada and Western Railroad”, for example.
You can name it after family members. The "SS&B RR} {The Sally, Sam and Bob Railroad}
Once you have a name, you might want to think of a slogan…NOT Needed, but fun to do. FOr example One forum member Screenname “Howmus”, {Ray} has the “S.L.O.W. Railroad” {Seneca Lake, Ontario, & Western Railroad- “we’ll get it there sooner or later”}. You don’t HAVE to have a slogan, but it can be fun. Yours COULD be a take-off on the previous Idea of “Z TRAIL railroad” mentioned above. You could adopt the old line of “Happy trails to you”, or something like “our TRAIL leads to your door”…or “The RIGHT rail TRAIL for your cargo”.
The hobby {or any hobby for that matter} Is supposed to be FUN. Have fun with your RR and names!
OR be as serious as you like.
Just think, after you get that down, you can have fun with business names for RR clients, or for your town’s business district, too: such as “Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, Attorneys at Law”. Or “Penny Cash, Certified Public Accountant”
Have fun and enjoy it!
[8-|]
G,
One of My all time favorites,Miracle Chair Co.,‘‘If it’s a good chair,It’s a Miracle’’,[(-D]
Cheers, [D]
Frank
Gotta go 21st Century.
Make it ZTRX.
Rich
The SD26 is a rebuilt SD24. These re-builds were done 1973-1978. (Don’t you just love Google and Wikipedia?)
For a modern-era railroad, you’d probably only find this engine on a short line with limited financial resources.
I model earlier times, and I tend to prefer names with bodies of water in them, or Native American names. My own town is Moose Bay, for example.
For a line where that engine might be seeing service, though, I think ZTRail is perfect.
Hint: When choosing your color scheme, choose a light color for the engine body if you plan to make your own decals.