Just Curious

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Do most of you buy your locomotives based on the type of train it is or because of the roadname. I personaly buy them based on a color scheme that i like or the style of train that gets my attention. An example is A SD series or the Gp series to me look awesome and just powerfull. Just curious to see if i’m alone in the way i buy them or if anyone else buys them this way.

Steve

2

I usually go for something that looks good and runs - being in Britain I have to take a chance on what I see at exhibitions, regarding north american stock. British locos I tend to buy are small ones purpose fitting to the dimensions of my small layout, which is a branch line and would not reguarly be served by large locos.

Ian

3

I buy the type (model) of locomotive with the roadname I’m interested in. I will however buy an undecorated one and paint it myself if nobody makes that model in said roadname. BUT, it has to be prototypical to the roadname.

Glenn

4

When I can get a PRR loco I will buy it but if there is another engine I really like and the PRR didn’t have it I letter it for my Alleghehy Railroad (ARR) that follows PRR practice and has trackage rights.

5

Road name, and then by locomotive type.

6

Same here.

7

I purchase my locomotives for two reasons…1…the time period i model and 2… the roadname…I model SP/UP merger time period so my locomotives are either SP, UP, or DRG&W because there are a few of them left over from the SP/ DRG&W merger…chuck

8

To limit my expeditures I have tried to limit my locomotive purchases to only a couple of railroads and a relatively narrow time frame (1975-1985). Having said that there a few locomotives that I have admired since I was a teenager, for example the steam locomotive 2-8-4 Berkshire of which I now own 3. I have also strayed from my basic plan of buying only Southern, NS and CSX diesels on occasion but have basically kept my purchases restricted to railroads found in the southeastern U.S.

Bob DeWoody

9

Like Ralph, Joey, and Chuck, I pick the roadname and locomotive type so that my layout remains prototypical to the era that I’m modeling. I also pick the correct buildings, structures, building and structure styles, cars, trees, etc.

I did pick up a different road name for a couple of S1 switchers that I bought recently. BUT…I also picked up a matching caboose (not easy to find in this roadname) so that everything was correct. (I plan on using the switchers on my club layout someday.)

I like running my layout like this because it seems more real to me that way.

Tom

10

I buy mine based first on quality and then price. My railroad has the authority to buy and run which ever roadname it chooses.

11

Both and then some…

Equipment based:

  1. I model the NP just because of some of the locomotives that they owned like the Z6 Challengers and Z5 Yellowstones.
  2. I have and extensive collection of Alco PA’s because I am trying to collect at least one of each paint scheme they were ever painted in (yes, even including -gag-gag- Freedom Train).

Paint Scheme Based:

  1. I have models of the GN and Minneapolis & St. Louis (The Minnylou) just because I liked their paint schemes. You can almost add the Central of Georgia to that list but haven’t made the plunge yet. Self restraint - self restraint - self restraint.
  2. Hard to resist a Red Warbonnet or Zebra Stripe painted locomotive. I have wayyyyyyy tooo many.

Model based:

  1. I had to have an Atlas Train Master Gold. Not because of anything other than it was Atlas (It is in my opinion on of the best implemented models). Paint scheme didn’t matter. Another brand would not have mattered.

Train Based:

  1. I will have a set of the ugly WP F3s just because they pulled the California Zephyr. I really don’t like the WP, the silver and orange paint is one of the most blah schemes ever, and F7s are just average locomotives…
12

I freelance, so it doesn’t matter that I stick to a theme…except, of course, that it is steam. I am doing the transition era, and have a TH&B J1d, a NYC S1b, a PRR K4, a PRR F2 A/B, a “rusty” old 0-6-0 owned by Sentinel Coal, a UP Challenger, and a WP&Y 2-8-2.

So, the finally address your question, the road has some bearing, but hardly when you look at my hodge-podge. Mainly it is the looks of the loco. I like them all immensely, and have only two more acquisitions to look forward to in the next few years. I would like a Consolidation (road not terribly important…but I’ll look far and wide to find the ‘right’ look), and maybe save up for a brass PRR J1 .[:P]

13

Roadname first (CB&Q), then type of motor (loco in Q terms). The locos are chosen based on the type of train they would typically handle, E units for the Zephyrs and other passenger trains, GP40s for fast freight, 6 axle U boats and SDs for coal drags. My new layout will have a couple of interchange points and at grade crossings with other railroads, first to enhance operations and second to get some different paint schemes and locos on the layout. The Q was almost totally EMD (E, F, GP and SD) with a few GEs thrown in, but no Alco road power. Several of the roads that interchanged with them did, so I can have an excuse to have an RS-3 or C-425 on the layout!

Rick

14

I buy type of loco first, since no one makes anything for the NorthWest Pacific or California Western Railroads.

Actually, I buy close like a Baldwin 0-6-0 saddle tanker kit knowing that I will have to convert it to a 2-6-2 saddletanker.

15

Me three.

16

Road name and then by type. However, since I’m a Penn Central guy, I have a huge list of engines to play with–black NYC, PRR, NH. Quite a few of these engines got ‘patch-over’ schemes before getting repainted. One of my current projects is an ABBA set of Baldwin RF16s. These are former NYC engines that will eventually be stripped and be repainted for the Monongahela RR.

17

Type first, road second. Changing the paint’s easier than rebuilding the whole loco.

18

me too.

19

I by mine by model, price, quality, roadname

20

-Time period
-certain road names
-certain beloved designs