CSX, NS, and a regional Cincinnati Hamilton and Dayton RR. The C,H, & D was once a real railroad but it vanished back in the dark ages of steam [:D]
My version is what the C,H,&D could have been had it survived until present times. Plus a lease unit.
I started out with one but it sort of evolved from there because of some really neat stuff available. So now I have CB&Q, AT&SF, UP, C&NW and IC. All pre-merger stuff. All roads cross somewhere in the midwest.
I’m a certified C&NW nut so I’ve got a lot of green and yellow. Throw in UP, a couple of AMTRAK units, Santa Fe, and I’m just finishing a California Northern GP-15 (Ex C&NW)
Southern Pacific and Santa Fe both interchange with my UP subsidiary San Gabriel & Southeastern.
– Paul
I have 2: my Central Missouri & Southern and its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Osage Valley Tie & Lumber Co. The OVT&L is a self-contained logging road. The CM&S will eventually interchange with Missouri Pacific and M-K-T (“Katy”) - when that part of the benchwork is completed.
Anything that used to operate along the Colorado Joint line in the 60’s / 70’s.
Mostly Canadian Pacific and Canadian National in western Canada, as well as a logging shortline of my own creation.
The question is a bit too open ended (ie ambiguous) I run locomotives of one railroad that I Model with a few of predecessor roads when I modernize for a session but have rolling stock from all connected and some further foreing as would be found on the prototype.
My own road, plus some “visitors” from the Illinois Railway Museum (models of engines in the IRM collection).
Right now my layout is “laid up”, but soon I will be running MILW RD, GN and SOO. Kind of an upper midwest rural locale. I would like to add CB&Q, and NP just to add a little flavor! Recently, Atlas added the GE U25B in N scale to its excellent line of diesels. When I saw a CB&Q & GN in Sky Blue together, I thought that would make a great patriotic combination![;)]
The Santa Fe is my main road. The UP and UP family (MKT<CNW etc) are secondary.
Canadian National, Union Pacific, Santa Fe (before BNSF), Western Maryland; no specific period from the 60s until today. I also run a TGV Atlantique set.
Martin
Québec City
Yes I have three, my main one ATSF. a few S. Pacific’s, and one named after my wife; Zarina Pacific Rail( ZP Rail )this is a short line.
I run what I was given as a youth: motive power - Rock Island, Amtrak, Sante Fe, UPRR, C&O and B&O. I’ll likely change them all to my own road name sometime later
I RUN THE D&P RR… THE DISMAL AND PATHETIC… NO BALLAST,ROADBED OR
SCENERY. FEC,N&W,GREAT NORTHERN,CSX,CONRAIL,NS,BM,ACL,SBD,UP,SP
AND WHAT EVER ELSE I WISH. WITH ABOUT 100 FEET OF TRACK,LOOP TO LOOP
AND A SECOND SHELF CONNECTED WITH 20 IN. RADIUS TRACK THERE ARE
ALSO THREE SIDINGS. I JUST ENJOY WATCHING THEM RUN.
TO EACH HIS/HER OWN. ENJOY MENT IS THE NAME OF THE GAME.
Three
Union Pacific, Milwaukee Road and Rock Island
I’m running 6 regional carriers most of which are now fallen flags that still live in my basement, Most of which have online interchange with my own Fictious AC&E RR
The others are B&M, MEC, D&H, CP and BAR . The RR is large, double decked, and divided into four main areas of service. B&M is predominant in one area with a smattering of MEC and my road doing a few jobs. MEC is the central player in another with the BAR & my road handling some of the work. Bar is predominant in another section with MEC making up a few consists. The road primarily handles wood products from the great Maine woods and ships them south and to the online industries (3 Paper Mills) Thie empties return North on other scheduled trains. The CP & D&H are merely interchanged and used as turns in two of the major yards.
My own AC&E RR has it’s own yard and services a seaport and 16 industries (requires 9 units to handle the work). There is also a lot of run-thru traffic from one staging to another some 500 feet away.
All in all I’d say the answer to this question is whatever is plauseable and you have the space, ability & time to portrey in a reasonably realistic fashion is what works. Operations sessions (8+ Operators) are enhanced by the use of multiple schemes but a single carrier can be just as effective
There’s no right answer or wrong for that matter. Just enjoy “keeping em on the tracks”
i run my railroad name sagebrush and southwestern with a private logo on that equipment. but most of the equipment is santa fe. the layout is of a southwestern flavor and santa fe fits right into it. my branch line sagebrush and southwestern interchanges with the santa fe at needles ca. the layout is generic otherwise. a freelance design and runs between barstow ca. and santa fe nm.
I run almost all Great Northern (circa 1966-1967) with interchange from NP and Soo, but my 9 year old son sure likes modern Santa Fe and BN/BNSF so who am I to discourage him becoming a model railroader himself? The lash-ups might look a little strange but it’s priceless.
My own lines, MCR, MHR, MSR and MTR, along with NS and CSX. From time to time you will also see leased /run-through units from BNSF, UP, CP, KCS and CN, along with individual leased units, including one from NERLX. Amtrak also operates on the MCR System.