I have just been watching a new video I bought and it is one you are unlikely to see at any store or swap meet. It is about a tiny 10 mile railroad in north western Illinois called the Hooppole, Yorktown & Tampico. It always had but one locomotive (a 2-6-0 and then small 0-6-0s, the last one a former CB&Q), for a while it ran mixed trains with an old wood combine but when that wore out anyone could ride the caboose for free. It hauled grain, livestock, and other supplies for a largely rural area. This could potentially be a great little model railroad featuring Code 70 track, rugged structures, and farm fields and country roads. It interchanged with the CB&Q at Tampico (itsself a line now abandoned), which happens to be former Pres Reagan’s boyhood home town. The train never turned, so this could be the ideal prototype for your first linear, point to point layout. There were no sidings at some towns - the train would wait while livestock was loaded on the “main line.” The final 0-6-0 closely resembles the Model Die Casting 0-6-0 which Athearn has yet to return to production but which is often seen at swap meets.
The video is $23.85 postage paid from Tampico Area Historical Society, PO Box 154, Tampico IL 61283. it features still photos of old equipment, some rare color movies, modern video of a guy showing what the old ROW looks like now, and interviews with old folks about the railroad – some of them obviously filmed in nursing homes and you have to be patient with the old timers as they struggle to remember stuff. This is not your typical railfan video but it is STRONGLY recommended if you have a taste for small town railroading.
http://www.tampicohistoricalsociety.citymax.com/catalog/item/2156275/1625906.htm
The historical society also has a great set of photo