Ok, when you get done laughing, somebody give me your opinion. First, I’m getting back into this after many, many years. Building a new layout from the floor up. It is NOT going to be a proto or resemble a proto line anywhere in any way other than I’m going to stick to an era (early 1900’s to no later than the 30’s), the layout will mostly be about logging and small mountain towns and I’m not going to mix an old steamer with a brand new diesel. With my limited knowledge of actual train lines, I’m seeing lots of different railroad names. I want to keep my layout to mostly west coast/Northwest area. So, here’s the question, is there one line that would service that kind of area IE: CP, NP or can I mix it up a bit with UP, SP, AT&SF, BN. Like I said, the layout is NOT going to be a proto but I don’t want it too off the grid. Any help?
well the BN wasn’t around during the 1900- til March 1st 1970, so you have three other names open to this. the SP&S, GN, and CB&Q. the the NP, UP, GN, and SP were up here in the PNW. as for canadian lines I can’t say much on their service.
Most of my experience with western logging and mountain towns tells me most of these type of RR’s were narrow gauge. I assume that there were some standard gauge RR’s that also served in the logging industry, but I don’t really know of any off hand. I would suggest an Internet search using the words ‘standard gauge logging’ and see what comes up.
Edit: Since you are not going to model a prototype RR, build it freelance. Choose a name that you like and go from there. If your RR will interchange with an outside RR, just search for RR’s that were around in the 1900’s so you can use some of those cars etc. I would think that the UP, SP, and AT&SF would have been around then, plus a few other short lines.
[#welcome]
So what is the question? A name for the railroad? An industry that you want to do, you mentioned logging. LIONS know nothing about logs (they come from trees don’t they). LION modes subway trains, at least you can eat the people. (They taste like chicken).
The name for your railroad arises from the railroad itself. My first layout (since entering the monastery) was the Eastern-Southwest North Dakota Central Railroad (Serving the middle of nowhere,) The south side of the table (away from the control panel) was the BNSF stuff, and the north side was Erie Lackawana. My parents had just moved to PA and I liked those colors. What the heck, the trains worked just fine.
The second layout was the Eregion Railroad and came out of the pages of Tolkein’s Middle Earth, so anything I wanted, I could do.
Now I run the Route of the Broadway LION, and it is a 1960s era New York City Subway motif. When I started building it, it was supposed to be a commuter railroad with some regional trains tossed into the mix. But as soon as plastic subway cars became available in HO scale, I tossed the commuter idea and shifted into subway operations full throttle. I’m not quite sure where the name came from, but I am partial to LIONS, and it is the Broadway Line that I have modeled.
Now I do not model an old logging railroad, but if I did, complete with 1910 and 1920 scenery, I definitely WOULD put a modern diesel on it, in a park surrounded by a fence with period people sitting at picnic tables around the square. But then, LIONS are different. What can I tell you.
ROAR
Ok, thank you for the different perspective on it.
Thank you Gary. Yeah, so if I understand your answer, you have to go with one line name. Meaning I couldn’t have a SP train pulling a line of cars with different but reasonably close regionally names, like UP and SP, etc?
Thank you for your response. I’m getting the feeling from a number of different sources that it’s no big thing to buy a car, passenger or freight, and if it’s not the right color scheme or name to do some alterations to it?
Railroads always interchanged cars with each other. What that means is you can have almost any RR’s cars on your line as long as the time period fits. However, the exception to that is you wouldn’t normally see a locomotive or caboose from another road (foreign road) on your RR. Your RR would have a small yard or a couple of tracks that both your RR and a foreign RR would have access to. Those tracks are known as an interchange yard or interchange point. That is where the cars would be exchanged between RR’s.
Ok, thank you, that clears up alot of the fog.
Bill
nah, that’s not what I meant. they all interchanged GN, NP, SP&S, and CB&Q all interchanged before they became the BN. they also interchanged with MILW, SP, ATSF, UP, etc. if your not against getting a BN diesel though for your early 1900’s layout why not, the cascade green will fit right in. [(-D]
Ohhhhh, ok, got it. Thanks. Yeah, on the BN diesel, I didn’t think they were around till the 40’s?
Bill
Diesels yes, BN no, the Burlington Northern was formed in 1970 from the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, SP&S and the CB&Q.
Rayonier Logging Railroad should give you some ideas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8v8Meu9BO0
It’s your railroad and you can do what ever you want. If your interested in following a particular logging line, then I would suggest doing a search on the internet for information on logging lines in the Northwest.
Ok, thanks.
Bill
Cool, thanks.
Bill
Can’t say too much for US roads, but on the Wet Coast of Canada, logging companies often ran their own lines as a normal part of their operation. I’m thinking specifically of the Comox Logging and Railway Company on Vancouver Island, though there were others. Usually they would interchange with a larger railway, but not always (Comox just ran their logs to the ocean and a tug would haul them to the mill).
Stu
you might want to look at a book called Mid-size Track Plans for Realistic Layouts. It is published by Kalmbach. It has track plans yes but there is alot more information about small railroads and/or branch lines. There is a chapter on a 2 foot guage rr in Maine.
Take a closer look at Great Northern that ran from the late 1800s thru 1970 when it merged into Burlington Northern. GN was the northernmost USA railway interchanging with other western and Canadian railroads. Great Northern also had passenger service via the Empire Builder. At a minimum, GN can be that inspiration.
A great book featuring photos of railroads in the Pacific Northwest around the turn of the 20th century is titled " This Was Railroading" . It’s out of print but frequently available on EBay at very reasonable prices. It features a lot of pics of all of the railroads in the area from the OR&N which was predecessor of the Southern Pacific in the area, NP, the Milwaukee Road SP, and many of the short lines that operated in the area. I might have missed it, but I would guess you’re modeling in HO. If that’s the case, there are a lot of new steam locos offered by Bachmann, and a few other manufacturers that can get you going in the right direction. If I was modeling this era, I’d also stock up on Jordan kits of early cars and trucks, and evergreen styrene sheets of clapboard, novelty, board and batten, and car siding for scratch building most structures. I always thought it would be a fun era to model, I hope it brings you plenty of enjoyment!
-Stan