I am 22 years old and a college senior. I have been a model railroader since I was 5. Since my 1st set, I always have modeled the modern era, eventually settling on the late 90’s as my preferred era. I collected Athearn blue box geeps and railboxes with the vision of long drags of patched, rusty boxcars and gondolas full of scrap.
However as I elaborated on this grand vision, I kept collecting all kinds of old MDC and BB kits, mostly 40’ cars that are better suited to 1950s era modeling. In the back of my head there has always been an urging to own a mikado (I assume drawn from riding on the Connecticut Valley trains), and the well-written and detailed steam-themed articles by John Pryke in MR. Until recently, this was all just kind of floating around in the back of my head, until…
I came across a collection of used athearn BB, mdc, and various other cars (35 total that I kept) that worked out to $1.30 per car (from craigslist). With a minum of work (metal wheels, new couplers, and general tune up), they would all be ready for service. The problem lay in that they were mostly AAR 40’ boxcars, 70 ton hoppers, 40’ flats, and a few 50’ boxes and some heavyweight passenger cars. I struggled with how to adapt 1950’s era cars to a modern layout, and if you had been on here a few weeks ago, you saw my post asking about if this would be plausible. (I knew from the moment I saw them that I probably couldn’t make it work, but with the ever increasing number of RTR products, these simple, cheap kits are getting rarer, and I still like them because they have a lot of potential)
Then came the most recent issue of MR. As I read through Jeff Kraker’s article about downsizing and how it worked for him (there is another thread for this subject, don’t start with shenanigans here!), I realized that I had been having the same types of problems, and on top of
My solution is the cardboard box. I pick up the boxes that computer keyboards come in, and also some that the Flavia coffee packets come in at work. At any given time, half my rolling stock is on the layout, and the other half is in boxes. So, I’ve got the ability to switch back and forth between running in the 1960s and running in the 1930s. I also swap out the engines and automobiles. Most of my structures are suitable for either timeframe, but I’ve got a couple that I will be substituting in and out once I get them built.
I blame John Pryke as well. I got into Model Railroading after seeing his layout on the cover of Model Railroader under the headline which I believe was “High Noon on the New Haven” in 1992. It was the first Model Railroader magazine I ever bought and I have been hooked since. The cover has since fallen off but I still re-read the article and look at the fine pictures 18 years later. I have enjoyed his many fine articles.
As for Jeff Kraker, he may have been just what the doctor ordered. Five years ago I moved to a new home with a large basement. I quickly unpacked all of the buildings and rolling stock from my prior layout and set up a temporary layout. I have been dreaming of filling up this large space ever since. Not wanting to waste a single inch of this vast space I have not come up with a track plan that does just that. Re-thinking the approach thanks to Mr Kraker I may just go with a simple easy maintenance layout and not fill up every nook and cranny. If this works out Mr Kraker will be thought of very highly in my basement empire. If not I will be adding him to blame list as well. Here’s to moving forward and getting past the plywood pacific and analysis paralysis.
You can choose to blame anybody for anything, but ultimately you have only yourself to blame.[;)]
I have a very small HO layout, because it is all the space I can push to afford a layout for now.
I Love and adore steam and often visit Steamtown in Scranton to watch them play with the big real steamers…and frequently go to Strasburg RR and RR museum of PA in Strasburg where thery really specialize in rebuilding steam trains and run several of their own. Both are relatively close to me.
SO I wanted to model Steam. ANd set up that way. {A broad area of steam 1900-ish to 1959}
BUT I have also come to like more modern diesels,{a broad era from GP40’s- to today}
So I like MR B have two eras I can model, by switching out trains and a few buildings and cars.
When I returned to the hobby 3 years ago, I wanted HO which I always always wanted, {had O guage and N scale to "play with as a teen} I wanted one of everything in HO I saw at the LHS and My eyes are far bigger than my layout often at train shows when I see something I just gotta have.
And I have no one to blame but myself, {and perhaps my greed} FOr my “train follies”
I hope no one took that at an insult. It was just that I felt I had kind of beaten to death the modern era themes, etc… that I liked, and It seemed like a good time to try moving back in time and doing some research and whatnot.
I can’t agree with you more when it comes to the Athern Blue-box kits. On the day they stopped making them, I went to all of the local hobby shops within driving distance (all 2 of them) and bought up all of those kits as I could. and now, when I go to train shows, they are my top priority. Un
I don’t want this to come off the wrong way but your kidding right? You are seriously considering changing the era your modeling on the fact that they no longer make Athearn blue box rolling stock (some of the cheapest stuff on the market ) and because you couldn’t pas sup a great deal on stuff you really could use but you bought it because maybe some day you would run older era trains? First off the whole thing about changing everything because and everyone else run modern era equipment is a bunch of horse poop. Go do a Google image search of the main st. of the town you live in from lets say 1957 and compare it to one from lets say 1995. I would be willing to bet with maybe the exception of a few building and the vehicles on the street that little or nothing has changed. Many kit manufactures offer “modern store front” for kits like DPM etc. If the 1990’s is the era you really like for what ever reason lets say for the type of motive power your railroad of choice was/is using thats perfectly fine and as good a reason as any. I once visited a guys extremely large home layout some 2500 plus square feet who modeled the Santa Fe late 1950’s early 1960’s. When I asked him why he choose that ear and railroad to model he just pointed to a consist of War Bonnet F units pulling a string of stainless passenger cars and said that right there. To him it was the most beautiful train he had ever seen and that sold him on building an entire massive layout around one locomotive.
Unless your the consummate rivet counter who cares about every fine little detail run your 40’ freight cars and if not for nothing else just on a temporary basis until you purchase more period correct rolling stock. I was coming home from Lowes yesterday afternoon as I topped an over pass my wife spotted an Norfolk Southern Locomotive on a siding so we hung a quick left then a couple of right and pulled up almost right next to him on that siding. Guess what was behind him 6 40’ box cars form god know when. I didn’t get close enough to re
No its not soley because I want to run athearn BB exclusively. Its more that the parts of the modern era era that appealed to me are few and far between, and everytime I build something, it look similar to something else I have. Although I find the rusty, patched, second-hand boxcars cool, you can only have some many before it starts looking somewhat unrealistic.
The reason I am a fan of the BB kits is because I experiment with inexpensive materials and techniques to see how they work. Don’t get me wrong, I have several RTR cars that are nice and correct and look great, but I feel that they don’t allow me the freedom to try things and work on stuff without ruining a nice model. And for the record, I like everyone else have boxes of cheap Life-life stuff in cabinets to experiment on as well. Also with the RTR, it is fairly expensive for a college senior to build a roster with $25-30 per car, when I can buy cheap models that with a minimum of work can look great too. Hell, when I get the time, it might even be worth converting some cheap stuff, just because.
I guess what Im saying is that the building of freight cars and rolling stock is the part of the hobby that appeals to ME. I enjoy the layout building and scenery and running trains as much as the next guy. Its just that the part I find the most gratifying is taking a photo of a specific car and making a good model of it, so that when the average person sees it, they can appreciate it as well as me. Rivet-counting is not something I find practical because, at least in my situation, most of the people who will see what I build know little, if anything, about the railroads, other than what they see daily commuting and whatnot. The main reason I use the BB stuff is because thats what my first good train set was, and I liked the freedom to take it apart and redo it. I’ve got a 50’ gondola that has been repainted 4 times in 10 years, for each railroad I’ve
I faced the same dilemma; wanting to model different eras. I settled on fairly recent times, but was able to explain the other eras through railfanning trips. The eccentric gentleman that owns my short line grew up riding older trains, and since he has the money to afford it, he bought up old motive power and rolling stock. I don’t keep them ALL on the layout at the same time, but do run some older passenger trains (heavyweights pulled with Mikes and my trusty Santa Fe #3751) He also found and renovated a Santa Fe SuperChief with streamlined cars. Run whatever you want; it’s YOUR railroad. And, most importantly, enjoy yourself!
I place the blame squarely on Darth Santa Fe for inspiring me to tackle my first Bowser kit (the ex-Varney Casey Jones 4-6-0). It’s now mostly done, just have to break it in and paint it.
Of course, I’ve ripped apart and put back together more than one old Mantua, so I knew my way around… but up until a few weeks ago I’d never touched a Bowser.
This’ll be the first of many, I’m sure. I just have to get rid of some of my excess diesels - anyone need a Kato RSC2 or Atlas/Kato RSD4/5?