What strikes your fancy? Myself, I model both a prototype fallen flag (Maine Central) and a prototype Currently operating( Safe Handling Rail, Inc.), so I get the best of both worlds!!
Mainly 2 fallen flags Southern Pacific and Santa Fe. Plus whatever other tight stuff from the same time period. Union Pacific, D&RGW, NP, GN, PRR, N&W. Its all good.
2 fallen flags: Sacramento Northern and Central California Traction. With occasional guest appearances by WP, SP and AT&SF motive power, plus plans for assorted private-varnish fan trips.
[:)]Model Prototype, fallen flags. 1967 - 71
Seaboard Coast Line is my primary road making connections with: The New Haven, New York Central and>>>>>Penn Central (which was created in 68).
[C):-)]Western presence: Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and Milwaukee Road.
My style of layout running: SCL long distance freights connect with the mentioned northeastern roads and in illinois with SF, UP and MR . Since run through power was not a very common practice, power would be changed over once trains arrive on the connecting road.
[4:-)][C=:-)] Passenger service: SCL Florida to New York (Champion, Silver Meteor), New Haven Commuters, Penn Central Metroliners. (I wish someone would make an HO scale New Haven EP5a! )
[^] I like prototype style operation & dispatching, but unlike Tony Koester in Model Railroader I like seeing motive power and equipment from different roads, keeps things interesting. Since the above mentioned roads connected with each other (trackage rights or direct) its “reasonably doable”. Two friends of mine that are long time modelers also operate their layouts in this fashion. [:)][:D][;)]
Out of the 14 possible roads that I could model (I’m modeling the Peoria area circa 1950), only the smallest one isn’t a fallen flag. The Peoria & Pekin Union (P&PU) is still around after 110 years, but has just been leased to another operator. I may soon model ONLY fallen flags…
I model the Northern Pacific in western Montana, near Butte in 1953. However, the mountain scenery is freelanced with mesa type mountains actually found slightly east of Yellowstone Park. I also freelance a mining/logging line, the H.P. & N.W. which has trackage rights over parts of the N.P.'s mainline. This allows me to run geared locos and any other small steam or diesel locos I desire. The N.P. was a big user of box cars, my favorite type of freight car, so there are plenty of them on the RR. I have one passenger train which is a heavy weight version of the North Coast Limited and may add the two tone green Lowey diesel version someday.
I’m modeling the UP, northern Utah in the early 60’s. I’m a bit of a rail fan and the space is limited, 10’ X 14’ in N scale, so I’ve got a rail fan scene on the short leg of the “L” and freelance operation on the long leg.
The rail fan scene is similar to a section of Echo Canyon. The operational scene is free lance. I’ve separated the scenes by using a mountain as a view block.
I have hidden staging that can accomodate freights up to 45 cars in length. It allows me to run long trains through the scenes and return them to staging, then bring out another train. The double track mainline is great for passings of long freights and the occassional passenger train.
Under construction, Freelanced industrial & mining narrow guage, in G guage, indoors, not out in the garden like most at that gauge.
Ore trains from two mines and a distillery will be the main revinue sources.
ProtoFreelance - missing from the list. Operating a freelance railroad over proto lines in a proto manner.
Tricky. I voted freelance, but as my layout’s a fictional museum line all the locos and cars are in their original paint schemes. I’ve tried to come up with vaguely plausible reasons for the locos that I run - I’ve come up with the idea of the museum being run by several different groups - the Fairbanks-Morse group, the SP group, etc. This is a common feature of many such lines over here, where there are usually several different groups operating under the overall name of the line.
I tend to run a varied mixture of stock. A regular run is an FM Erie-Built with a couple of CNW bilevel coaches - my fiction to support this is that the loco was re-engined by the group and had head-end power fitted at the same time… I also run modern freight cars behind CSX motive power, as they have track usage rights to service a couple of small industries based on the line - these trains are sometimes hauled by the museum’s locos as well. There are also other passenger services such as a Metrolink bilevel cab car with a loco, or sometimes an Oscar/Piker set (the Walthers models, again, the fiction is that they were rebuilt from parts of a wrecked observation car that were donated to the line).
Edited to fix poor spelling!
I model Prototype. Mainly Fallen Flags, but some that are currently operating.
See my profile for full details
James.
Protofreelanced as well.
I’m currently building a layout that will have a Canadian Pacific mainline with an active interchange with the Maine Central.
Gordon
i model Canadian National with a cp rail interchange
ShaunCN
2m Proto, with concessions to the small detail of being in the garden.
HOm Proto, with the selective compression method i.e. I can’t afford an arena.[;)][;)][:)]
Both of the above modelled after the RhB http://www.rhb.ch, the neatest Meter gauge railway.
My layout is freelanced and is basically a bridge route. I connect at one end with the Camas Prairie at Headquarters, ID and the other end connects with the Milwaukee Road at Deer Lodge, MT. The Camas Prairie, in 1942, was jointly owned by the Union Pacific and the Northern Pacific. My layout is based on the UP for all intents and purposes (signs, semaphores, operating rules and regulations), but remains freelanced so I can lease locomotives from railroads other than the UP. This allows me to build and operate any steam locomotive “I just can’t do without.”
Tom
My layout is going to run PRR, MA & PA, and Maine two footers. Anything that doesn’t fit those categories is my freelance railroad Virginia and Lake Erie.
Enjoy
Paul
I’m planning a layout (having moved recently), based on BNSF in the 1990’s in no particular location. But since I go off to college in a year and a half, it won’t be anything too fancy. Hopefully I’ll own a home with a huge basement someday, so I can try and recreate some (if not all) of Marias Pass.
i’m going to have BN and probably BNSF and some other roads on something i create.
Entirely notional southern California shortline from the 1900s. Though I did borrow the name from a short-lived SP branchline operation.
I run exSP locomotives, all Baldwin made, and a mix of: SP, UP, PFE, SPdM and private owner cars.
Randy
Depends I mainly model BN and UP do you consider BN a fallen flag now that its BNSF? Also throw in a touch of BAR, MEC, B&M.