I’ve herd of layouts called " free laced layouts" what exactly are they?[%-)]
That would be “freelanced” layouts.
That would mean that the owner has fabricated or imagineered the route or the railroad. Normally the layout is based on a real railroad. It could be you model the BNSF, but an imaginary route. Or you could model the imaginary SFBN based on part of the BNSF.
How much is imaginary and how much is prototype can vary all over the map and I’m sure there will be vigorous debate over the various names given to such efforts resulting in no conclusions. 
Dave H.
A freelanced layout can be one of two things: either a layout that does not replicate a prototype of any kind, or a layout that while featuring a prototype railroad company, does not replicate any particular place on the prototype layout.
‘Free lanced’ could mean quite a few things: mainly that artistic license was used to create a ‘fantasy’ RR instead of having to ‘follow the rules’ and limit the modeling to historically accurate situations.
That no specific prototype RR was modeled, instead creating a fictitious RR in a fictitious area, or a real area.
That a real RR was modeled but in a time or place that is not historically accurate, or so favorite types of equipment could be run before or after it was not in service in reality.
…and so on…
edit: I guess I’m slow at typing! [swg]
Most modelers use a little license, some use a lot.
Some of the most famous layouts have been totally freelanced. How much anyone chooses to modify history is entirely up to them, of course.
Not to confuse the issue, but there’s also a term used lately called “Proto-lance”, which usually means that the modeler follows a real railroad, down to a particular time-frame and models that railroad’s motive power and rolling stock as accurately as possible, yet the ‘setting’ might be fictional. For instance, my own MR is semi “Proto-lanced” in that I model two specific railroads (Rio Grande/Southern Pacific) set in a specific time-frame (big steam during WWII) yet the setting is a fictional route through the Sierra Nevada of California.
Some fellow modelers would call what I’m doing “Free-lancing”, others might refer to it as “Proto-lancing.”
All I know is that I’m having a whale of a good time doing it.[:P]
Tom [:D]
So basicly my layout is freelaced, it follows bnsf and predicesor lines, but I have consists from 1900’s to modern.
Some folks might even argue that every model railroad is freelanced to some degree, since we all have to use some form of selective compression.
It’s really all about the fun, if it ain’t fun, why are we doing it?
Basically, if your layout is not trying to model a given place and a given time, it is freelanced.
A lance is a spear. A free lance is a mercenary, ie someone who is not bound to a particular master. Lace is a type of thin, delicate clothing material.
Grin,
Stein
A GOOD LAYOUT is one that works - ‘freelanced’ or not.
Is your layout working yet?
Am I the only one with suspicions that our old friend, Al, has slipped in through the side door?
I have been wondering about exactly the same thing.
Stein
Yes it is, its been working for 2 1/2 years. That would be how long ago I got my strater set. And I’m about to expand it.[:P]
I was thinking more along the line of UPChuck, remember that piece of work? I wonder if this guy and Chuck are one and the same?
I hope you realize that by using that word you’re inviting the lawyers from the Walt Disney Corporation to beat the poop out of you. [:)]
You will also see the term “proto-freelanced” which would be a synonym for “proto-lanced”
My railroad (or at least the one that lives in my head) is a real railroad that was purchased by the ACL in like 1920 but quickly sold to the Southern, who pretty much abandoned it. In my world the ACL kept that branch as part of the ACL and in 1952 was still using it and it supports several major industries… that makes is “proto-freelanced”
Could be! Very well could be!
I had forgotten about UPChuck. I always tried to be civil towards him but he became very uncivil. So far Been Nothing Since Frisco (BNSF) has been very polite and I certainly would hope that we are all wrong in our suspicions.
Mine is totally freelanced, with not one of my towns existing in the real world, and set in locations where no real world towns exist (e.g. there is no East Iron Mountain, MI, nor Wolverine, WI with Wolverine being northeast of the real world Rhinelander).
I also decided long ago I wasn’t going to limit myself to a particular time period. For the most part, the layout’s scheme matches-up with the mid-to-late 70’s, but I also have two WSOR GP38-2’s (the WSOR is my favorite current-day paint scheme), two Amtrak Genesis locomotives, a Fox River Valley SD24, a Wisconsin Central GP35, and rolling stock spanning several decades (mostly from railroads I’m most interested in regardless of period). The SOO transfer that just entered my Ivy Ave. Yard in St. Paul was lead by an F7A/F7B pair and had a Penn Central box car and a WSOR box car in the consist.
I also like to build freelance model RR’s. That way I can model what I want, the way that I want. However, I do try and keep it looking like it might have been a real RR somewhere. My last layout was narrow gauge and located in the Illusion Mountains of Colorado. My new layout now underway is located in the east and has a branch that goes up into the Anywhere Mountains. I name my RR’s too. The narrow gauge line was called Possum Valley Short Line, and the new one is the Chesapeake and Atlantic. Loco’s that are owned by the RR are painted in their own colors with the RR name on the side and a number under the cab windows.
For me, the enjoyment of model railroading is running trains and building models, not duplicating history. However, I do have to do some research to make sure things “look” right. Most of my inspiration comes from the model press and not prototype information, although I do use prototype information to keep things looking correct. I still like to go to RR museums and tourist RR’s, but I don’t rail-fan sitting by the tracks waiting for a train to go by.
My first layout, in HO, called the Stockton & Darlington ran between the Bay Area and Portland, OR. based on the WP/GN inside gateway. I grew up in those areas, also my father’s family was involved in the Stockton & Darlington RR in Durham County UK, the worlds first common carrier railroad.
My present N-C-O Division RR in 1.29 scale is standard gauge based on the WP and SP as the USRA ran them during WWI, however my operation is 50’s and 60’s; give or take. That’s my example of freelance.
My first goal is always getting some operation going.
Have fun, Rob
NO. I dont detect any any of Al’s identifying ‘Importance’ (Big Al), etc.
Comparing to '(BNSF) 's apologetic (I’ll work on my spelling), and penchant for 'moving subject matter, I think his interest in model RR’g may be more in finding ‘pen pals’.
I DO suspect they share a common syndrom, aside from Model Railroading. I hope this is oblique enough.