This is something that both has my curiosity up and will help me determine kinda sorta what the general bent of the group is. Although I already have a good grasp of certain individuals, I wonder where the majority lies. Of course this poll might be skewed because some of the old timers and better modelers might avoid this post simply because it’s a poll.
My location is specific however I don’t have exact time , ie, 11-16-25, only that it is early fall 1925
My current layout is totally fictional perhaps even whimsical, but it is set in SP country in 1885. I chose that date so that I could run some Central Pacific motive power without repainting. So I guess I fudged a little.
The next layout I am building is forcussed on the Union Lumber Company and it’s railroad the Californina Western in 1917–at least Phase I and II are. Phase III joins with the Northwestern Pacific.
Lately though I’ve been toying with the idea of picking up two other engines that that really characterize the California Western–the Skunk Railroad. The Skunk is a goose-like Mack deisel and the Super Skunk is a Light Mike. But I’d have to shift the layout 20 years for this to be prototypical. But the only reason I would do this is because I think the engines are cool. It would really limit operations as they are just short line passenger trains. Still every once in a while…
The notorious “Transition Era.” 1945-1955, or so.
Allows both steam and early diesels. Works for me.
Note: Someone important to me gave me one of these for Christmas.
Wrong on every level, from a purist’s point of view, but it will see track time… I really don’t see it as a problem. I am the CEO, after all.
Sliding era, between July 1970 and the present. Anytime when I shoot photos, I want the architecture/vehicles and motive power to be consistent with the era, so it can look ‘believable’ to 95% of the viewers. Otherwise, anything goes!
I checked the first choice as The Seneca Lake, Ontario and Western is operating in the first week of August 1925. As far as the location, we are talking somewhere in the Finger Lakes region of NY State. It is a completely freelance RR that only exists in my mind… I guess it still qualifies. Hmmm, if I remember right it was Aristotle who said that the true reality is what exists in your mind. I seem to remember the subject from Philosophy Class in college. The least reality is the actual thing… Oh well, I am still recovering from New Years Eve anyway. Oh BTW "Happy New Year, everybody! [:D][:D][:D]
Chip, my yet to be built layout will focus on the rural farm setting of my youth back in the 40’s early fifties of western NY state and will be serviced by the ERIE RR. As much attention will be given to the dairy farm land and a couple of small towns as the railroad will get. There will be no large yards-only a couple of staging tracks as space is limited, yet I will have enough industries (agricultural) to make switching operations fun and yet just let trains run if I want. Even though the railroad is ERIE, other liveries will be allowed to run on it also (once in awile). Ken
My timeline is as specific as ‘modern era’, or the generally accepted Modern 1990-present time frame. My location is loosely based on the Lithonia-Social Circle line of CSX in Georgia.
I run what turns my crank. My first loco was TH&B Hudson, the next an undec 0-6-0 (hope to label it after my fictional coal mine, Sentinel Coal Ry), a PRR F2-A/B set, a PRR K4 (my Lord, that is a sweet loco from BLI!!), a UP 4-6-6-4 (cuz…ya gotta!), a WP&Y Mike, and soon to add a NYC Niagara. I wonder which railroad ran all of those?
Why, mine, of course! [:D][:D][:D]
So, I have kept to an era, but have such a marvelous right of way that several corporations lease my lines. Aahh!
Back when I first started designing my layout, I was going to go strictly steam era of the 1920s - 40s. Then I decided to build it so that I could change out the automobiles and a few structures so that I could go from the 1920s to the 30s, 40s, 50s and so on so that I could run anything I wanted, and so far it’s worked out real well.
Tracklayer
Chip,
I think this is one poll that does hold some interest. (And…it didn’t start out with “What’s our favorite…?” [tup]) I guess my vote will have to be “Other” because, even though I’m trying to model a specific RR at a specific time, I don’t have a specific location picked out yet.
Tom
I picked what I liked to run (big steam), and where I like to hang out (middle of nowhere Illinois), and picked my main prototype (Nickel Plate). Once I knew the three basics, I hunted around for a prototype. Since there’s a modeling Borg that’s modeling the NKP’s southernmost western mainline (to St Louis), I decided to look into the central western main, to Peoria. Once I started digging into the history of the line, the time frame picked me: 1947-1952, leaning on June-July, 1950.
Well, from the answers so far, most of us are leaning toward the specific.
My layout is based on Milwaukee Road line in SW Wisconsin. The time era is sometimes in the late 50’s. Most of the engines/cars fall into that time frame(at leat what is on the layout). I do model other stuff(like a WSOR GP35), and things that are era correct, but not the Milwaukee(like a Rock Island ‘Rocket’). They are usually in the wall display case or run on a club layout…
Jim
I guess I have a hard time staying focused, I keep bouncing back and forth between the CB&Q, GN, NP merger, and the BN ATSF merger both focused in Northeast Mo
Though mine is a totally freelanced layout, I do model a specific time and area. The time is summer, 1960, and location is in the fictional town of Deere Valley near Stockton, CA. This freelanced approach lets me run lots of western road equipment (UP, SP, WP and AT&SF) along with the fictional DV&W (Deere Valley & Western) using John Deere motive power.
Sliding between the 50s and the 80s. But it has a different look when things are different. I eplace structures, scenes, people, not just the rolling stock! There is a huge intermodal terminal that springs up in the place of a flour mill, and the coaling tower disappears, and a lot of old buildings are torn down, and such…
The Texas Colorado and Wyoming will be a fictional prototype set between Dec 2004 and Dec 2005. My plan is to model my layout in several sections representing different enviroments from Dallas, TX to Cheyenne, WY. The plan is to interchanges with the Union Pacific, and now that they have a decent paint scheme the BNSF.
Probably some of the people on this forum know by now that my Rio Grande Yuba River Sub is set in late October of any given year between 1939-1950, during the WWII and Korean conflicts. Since it’s the high Sierra Nevada mountains, I can model fall colors on the deciduous trees and even have a dusting of early snow on the higher peaks (which I’m considering), and still have an excuse to run a lot of late-season California Valley reefer trains behind big steam. No diesels have encroached as yet, and if any do, they’ll probably be limited to FT’s, F3’s and maybe a PA or two. Haven’t decided on that, yet, either. I like steam too much.
Tom [:P]
I’d call my approach flexible prototype.
My layout is based on a fictional Rio Grande standard gauge branchline that runs from Moab, Utah down to Grants, New Mexico via Durango, which is a dual gauge terminal as modeled. From Durango, various narrowgauge branches still radiate. I model the Silverton Branch and the Mears lines above Silverton, all of which busily feed the line far more than is protypical. But it’s my railroad.
The era is any time from roughly the end of WWII to 1970. If anyone comes out with a decent HO tunnelmotor, then it may slip up to the mid-70s.
;>)
But you have to do more than just change the locomotives to change the era. You at least need to change some significant part of your rolling stock also. I have drawers where I keep excess rolling stock, allowing me to swap eras by merely doing some fiddle yard work. And there are various scenery items that really do date a scene, like billboards, but you can select carefully or make them interchangeable.
Most of my narrowgauge, once you leave Durango, is on a deck above the standard gauge. I’m planning on having it look "older, say the 1950s, " than the lower, standard and dual gauge deck, which will be circa mid-60s.
The whole idea is to allow me to credibly run equipment common from several different eras on my layout. Model railroaders tend to keep building and buying rolling stock and it is really hard to restrict yourself to just a specific time for many of us. I think options like mine allow for a variety of permutations once you get your layout built.
Also, any major layout usually takes long enough to build so that your tastes may change over the course of its construction. Particularly if you’re new to the hobby, don’t narrow your options down too much right at first by setting things in stone in the planning and initial construction stages that you’ll have to go to great trouble to alter later. As construction proceeds and operations start, you’ll