I ran into a guy the other day that noticed my Santa Fe t-shirt and asked me if I worked for the railroad. I told him no, but that I am a model railroader. He replied, oh yeah, me too. So I asked him what road or roads he was modelling, and he said none in particular… At first I didn’t quite get what he was saying, but as it turned out he’s only got a couple of locos and about twenty or so cars that are all unnumbered and unlettered. He said that he prefers it that way because it doesn’t matter what caboose he runs with what loco and so forth. Of course I found this to be very odd, but then, like the old saying goes, each to their own…
Most of my locomotive roster is lettered for the Undec Railroad - that will shortly change just as soon as I finalize plans for the Red over Coral and/or Brunswick Green over Salmon - having just a little bit of trouble making up my mind on this one - color schemes of the Seaboard and Western Virginia Railroad. The Undec Railroad doesn’t have too many freight cars but that will also change in the near future.
Not a single unit of my rather varied and extensive roster has a visible road name, nor does the color scheme give any direct clue to ownership.
Those units belonging to the Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo display the road’s herald - the kanji symbols Tomi and Kawa crammed inside a circle 400 scale mm (5 actual mm) in diameter. The far larger number belonging to the Japan National Railway display nothing.
If you’re a government monopoly with exclusive rights to all long distance passenger and freight operation you can get away with that.
Where is it written in the Rules of Model Railroading does it say that everyone needs to model a particular railroad, and only have rolling stock for that road? Did I miss something somewhere?
If I did, then I’m in serious trouble. My personal line is the Fundy Northern Railroad. I have locos, cars, MOW cars, cabeese, etc. lettered for the name. But I also have an extensive collection of Canadian Pacific and Canadian National locos and rolling stock, as well as a few from other area lines. Am I doing it wrong?
Where is it written in the Rules of Model Railroading does it say that everyone needs to model a particular railroad, and only have rolling stock for that road? Did I miss something somewhere?
Look in the new and unlearned modeler’s manual page 5.
It states buy only cars that has the same road name of your locomotive and caboose.
Where is it written in the Rules of Model Railroading does it say that everyone needs to model a particular railroad, and only have rolling stock for that road?
See the chapter on “Freelance railroads”.That chapter states that freelancing isn’t real model railroading since the freelance railroad only exists in the mind of the owner and therefore not real modeling.
If I did, then I’m in serious trouble. My personal line is the Fundy Northern Railroad. I have locos, cars, MOW cars, cabeese, etc. lettered for the name. But I also have an extensive collection of Canadian Pacific and Canadian National locos and rolling stock, as well as a few from other area lines. Am I doing it wrong?
You obviously have not read the chapter on model railroad ethics that plainly states you can not model more then one railroad at a time…
Never say never…however, I will say I can’t remember the last time I saw a train that didn’t have a mix of cars in it. Even unit trains of containers and such have cars from more than one road. With all the mergers it would be next to impossible not to have a mix of cars.
THEREFORE!! We must add a chapter to Brakie’s mannual that states since railroads run interchange traffic, “you are not really modeling if your trains have only home road cars”.
This chapter can go right in front of the one that says “if it works, run it’”
I would bet that a very large percentage of layouts do not have names or themes, many, many, many people just like to get a few locos and some cars and build a nondescript layout and just ENJOY themselves, it seems if you do this, by some replies, people think you are nuts, well guys , go ahead and “prototype” yourselves to oblivion, you would be surprised how many people out there are just having fun with no guilt, try a logging system with much different equipment and names like “Bob’s Logging and Storm Door Company” c’mon guys —have some fun.
Funny, I have always found it harder to get unlettered / unnumbered locos and cars. You have to seek them out and even then I haven’t always been able to get them. Is this a leg pull?[:D]
I was thinking that myself. (don’t know about the pulling your leg thing) Don’t most people starting out buy stuff because of a paint scheme they like or a road name they see a lot or grew up around? Most newbis don’t know enough(or care) to not run a certain caboose with a certain loco.