hello all i am looking for info on the transition period between steam engine and desiel engine era , am looking to do layout on 4’x8’ any info will be helpfull thnk you in advance.
This is an incredibly broad question. Are you interested in a particular railroad or region? My recommendation would be to decide these things and then you can seek out the web sites for historical societies for these RR’s.
If you don’t particularly care what your model depicts and simply want to be able to run both deisel and steam then find a plan that you find interesting and start building.
I believe that Kalmbach just recently published a book about that, check the shop on this website.
Magnus
Having lived through the so called “transition era”, and now modeling it, I can get you started.
It was named after the railroad’s transition from steam engines to diesel electic engines. Right before World War II some early diesels became available, the Alco DL-109, EMD FAs and some others. Because all metals were severely rationed for the war effort, not much happened until after 1945. Then, one by one, with the New Haven in the forefont, the railroads scrapped the old steamers which were pretty much shot by then anyway and replaced them with diesels.
The New Haven replaced steam with the dual service DL-109s for passenger service during the day and freight service at night doing away with the Pacifics and Hudsons and the L1 2-10-2 steamers on the Maybrook line. Soon came the Alco PAs and FAs, the RS1, RS2 and RS3s, and all of the steamers had gone to the scrap lines.
This occured over a very short period of time. With a few exceptions, most steamers were gone by the late 50s. I remember driving by the EMD La Grange, ILL. plant in 1957 and seeing train after train of dead steamers being traded in to the neighboring scrap yard. A few years later there were none.
By modeling this fascinating era, I can recreate the famous Yankee Clipper and Merchant’s both in HW pulled by an I-5 Hudson and in later years lightweight SS consists pulled by FM 5 axle C-Liners and later by A-A PA lashups. It was a very interesting period for the nation’s railroads that were trying to preserve their passenger business in spite of the inexorable coming of the airlines and the Interstate system.
Thank you very much simmon1966 and lillen for the info and BigRusty thank you very much for the info on getting me started i am planning on doing the layout on the 1950’s era. the info you gave BigRusty is fantastic i thank you again
Kalmbach has a new book about modelling the Fifties which is what most people consider the “Transition period”. Manufacturers are supporting this period to almost the exclusion of other periods so finding locomotives, rolling stock and other stuff is getting fairly easy. Start small and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Most of all, have fun.
I picked up a copy of Kalmbach’s new $19.95 publication Modeling the '50s — The Glory Years of Rail — last Thursday. Kalmbach very clearly alerts the purchaser at the beginning that, except for the introduction chapter, the articles within are all reprints of previously published articles. Thats alright! Having one book out on the desktop is much better than having to have four thousand nine hundred and forty six issues lying around.
This probably is not going to help you but I got in the hobby in the early '60s - the term ‘transition era’ would not be used for another ten years or so. At that time - the early '60s - the recent '50s, if it was referred to as anything at all, was ‘modern railroading’. Now, that should give someone a firm kick in the slats.
I am not writing a novel partly set in the World War Two era - notice how I worded that - I most certainly wish I could have said that I am writing a novel set in the World War Two era - my aspirations far exceed my perspirations - anyway, I was born in 1940 but as a pre-schooler I really was not too well informed in the cultural traditions associated with those war years. To do my research I went to my local library and I labored through years of periodicals - Life, Look, Colliers, Saturday Evening Post. etc - I’ve got a stack of notes at least two inches thick - to get a flavor of the era and how people lived in that time. I also interrogated my parents almost to the point of getting thrown out of the house. I asked questions of many o