I have lived in West Virginia for the past 15 years and have modeled the B&O and Western Maryland. I am moving back to Nevada and will be building a new railroad when I get there perhaps UP, SP or WP if I stay in HO scale. Most of the buildings on the layout are area specific and I plan on donating them to my model railroad club here in Morgantown. What does everyone else thinks is the best way to deal with the rest of my equipment? I have some brass and a number of Atlas, BLI, Athearn locomotives and cabooses. Most have decoders installed. Sell it on ebay, trade with someone on the internet, buy new western prototype painted shells for the diesels and keep the drives? What have others done in this situation? Your thoughts? - Nevin
Pardon me for an obtuse question, but - why switch prototypes?
I decided to model a very specific subset of Japanese prototypes in 1964, when I was serving in Japan. That decision saw layouts built in Texas, Illinois, South Dakota, California, Tennessee and, now, Sin City, NV. I reasonably expect that when I move to Monolith (the starship, not the city in California) I will still be modeling what my signature says. C.P.V. Monolith is scheduled to be commissioned in 2342…
OTOH, if you absolutely HAVE to model prototypes operating in Nevada, the choices are boring (UP’s LA&SL route,) ho-hum (UP’s northern transcontinental route) and museum operations (Nevada Northern and Virginia and Truckee.) None of them can hold a sputtering candle to West Virginia for either scenery or operations (the interesting parts of the old SP and WP routes are in California.)
Just my [2c]. Feel free to disagree
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
While I could continue to model the B&O moving back does entice me to change, I got interested in railroads after I found David Myrick’s books Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California when I was in college. I only became interested in eastern prototypes when I moved here 15 years ago. I like to build specific scenes and try to be as accurate as I can. That requires some reseach and field trips. I really love the Nevada railroads and will want to model them if I am living there. - Nevin
I also move around a lot as a military member… but my prototype doesn’t change. In fact, folks in places like Florida and North Carolina are often pleasantly surprised to see my Pennsy layout; it’s a nice break from the predominantly southern prototypes modeled in these areas. Now, if I take my layout back to Pennsylvania, it’s suddenly a whole lot less unique.
I would, however, second the suggestion that you consider the Virginia and Truckee as a prototype. Very neat railroad. Nearly all of the locomotives and cars are available commerically. The new Bachmann 4-6-0 high boiler looks like a good stand-in for V&T #25, and IHC makes the 4-4-0s like the Reno and Inyo. You can model a bit of the SP’s line through Reno, too, if you want to.
I like your idea of buying new shells and keeping the drives/decoders, will be much cheaper in the long run unless you can find a way to get replacement value for your current stuff.
Good luck with the new layout.
While everyone’s tastes are different, I model a local road. If I were to move tot he other side of the country, I think I’d still stick with my chosen prototype - and might have an easier time of obtaining equipment. Most manufacturers do not let dealers pick and choose, and local roads tend to sell best in a given area (outside of ones that sell everywhere, liek SF). Around here, that means unless I am first in line when a new arrival comes out, I probably won’t get one locally. If I were in a different part of the country, I’d probably be the local shop’s best friend, taking all those ‘foreign’ road pieces off their hands.
Maybe.
–Randy
I would, however, second the suggestion that you consider the Virginia and Truckee as a prototype. Very neat railroad. Nearly all of the locomotives and cars are available commerically. The new Bachmann 4-6-0 high boiler looks like a good stand-in for V&T #25, and IHC makes the 4-4-0s like the Reno and Inyo. You can model a bit of the SP’s line through Reno, too, if you want to.
The V&T has a lot going for it. The Bachmann can be modified to look like the #25, there are many trackplans already designed for it in HO. A fair amount of brass has been produced for it over the years. Roundhouse is producing some V&T stuff as is Rio Grande models. The only questions are about getting the smaller engines to preform well and getting decoders into them. The old Rivarossi Genoa and Reno 4-4-0’s are oversized and pretty poor performers. The problem of course is that I love the T&G, LV&T and T&T too. The Bachmann 4-6-0 would be perfect for those roads too. I also like the UP through Las Vegas ( my old home town!). I grew up watching the UP Streamliners and building the LV depot would be really neat. Decisions, Decisions. I still have to figure out how to get rid of 75 B&O and WM coal cars! - Nevin
I would go ahead and pack them up as though you were going to ship them by mail
but wait till you arrive at your new location
You may find that selling at a swap meet in the new area a good way to go
I model the C&O but live in Houston
There’s not alot of C&O stuff at the LHS
You may find some B&O people at your new location that would love to have your stuff
If not you can sell it on ebay since it’s already packed for shipment