Hello everyone. Threads like this are always fun, you get to talk a bit about your favorite road and maybe explain why you chose that road and era.
Myself, i have chosen the B&O “west end” concentrating on the region between Keyser and Grafton, West Virginia, around 1948. This was the last year for the slow, powerful, and unusual LL-1 class 0-8-8-0s, the 2-8-8-0s and EM-1s still ruled the mainline on coal drags, and its the region of West Virginia i am from! Rugged mountains, beautiful scenery, big power, and steep grades and sharp curves made this road and era the natural choice for me.
My layout is protolanced. It’s called Autumns Ridge Railway & Navigation Co. and it’s based on the real Belfast & Moosehead Lake RR along mid-coast Maine. The timeframe is the late 1920’s. My grandfather worked on this RR for many years and all of my moms side of the family is from around there.
Chessie, Freelanced. If anything it is gaining a little hint of Hinton, WV (no punn intended). My dad worked the chessie in the early eighties in that yard - so my heart lies there. I actually drove a locomotive in the Hinton Yard as a small child. …
Ah, you people with money, time, and pemanent layouts…[sigh]
I have a layout I put up twice or thrice a year (God and space permitting, I will smuggle it to college with me and set up something more permanent). It is a town that has CSX and Amtrack service. Thanks to a neighbor, I have a general store, a second station, churches,houses, autos, and more rolling stock. If I bothered to create a photobucket I could show you pics… but I can’t [:(] .
Why? I got an Amtrack Amfleet as a Christmas present and a 4x6 board (now 4x10) I also have been to expo’s and bought CSX cars[:D] and also received an Acela for Christmas. My only regret is that I have 8 unbuilt buildings which are 3rd station, court house, restauraunt, lumber mill, 2 stall engine house, trucking transfer, car dealership, school etc. I built a station with Dad and initially I had a brick street system and a built-up Firehouse though we are working on the Engine house. Not to mention my neighbor has 2 more boxes of stuff in her attic.
Era: I model mostly modern but my layout indicates signs of the past, like some of the buildings and cars. Where in America is this supposed to take place, you ask?
My answer: I’m still trying to figure that out[:)] Who knows;Who cares; Im having fun; thats what matters![:)]
I model Norfolk Southern, but I haven’t settled on an era yet. The mid 1950’s would be cool, but as I model N scale and no one makes an N scale AS416, I would have to scratchbuild a few of them. I also think the late 1920’s would be cool. Norfolk Southern steam would be really nice. However, once again, there is no readily available N scale ten wheeler, and NS had a sizable fleet. Scratchbuilding a railbus would be fun. The Electric Division and Norfolk Union Station would also be cool.
A question that I’ve been pondering for the past near a year.
My Doc said that I would be able to “gently” ease back into modeling, with a myriad of caveats I have to add. So I canceled the storage unit rental and my Son and I brought everything back to the homestead. THEN Doc found a problem with my left lung and now I’m scheduled for CAT scans on Monday. He tells me now to wait just a bit longer before resuming any hobby. First he says get a hobby to keep your mind active and your body limber, and NOW he says don’t. ARRRRRRRRGH!!!
So this has left me still in the mental planning stage. Now that I have the many boxes of stuff in house I’m trying to get a handle on just what I want to do.
I had to chuckle over the packages of Kadee couplers marked 50¢. That should give you some idea of just how long I’ve been storing this stuff.
So now I have to decide the What, When, Where, and Why. My original plan was to freelance my road, the “Cache & Carrie RR”. I know, stupid pun. In the “Transition Era”. I have always loved Steam. I remember watching the big steam units as a child. There were times that I remember my Dad pacing a long coal train on our way down to visit my Aunt here in Florida. This was before Interstate Freeways. We used to take US-27 through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennesee and Georgia. I also remember seeing the “E” and “F” units hauling freight and passangers. My Aunt lived in Lake Worth, across US-1 from the RR tracks.
So now that I have all of these boxes of “stuff”, I’m rethinking just what I want to model. Space Mouse has made me rethink size. There are other “new” considerations. I remember my Grandfather reading me the story of the Andrews Raid. That was my first lesson on railroads and one that I coumnt as starting me in model RRing. So I do have many 'Olde Time" cars and a couple of 4-4-0’s and 2-6-0’s (yes I have a model of the General and the Jupiter). This has led me to think about modeling the “Civil War” or “Just Post Civil War” (1870’s-1880
I build primarily Southern, Norfolk Southern and CSX models. My switching layout is based on a southeastern industrial park setting but nothing specific. Basically set in the early 1980’s
While famous for its passenger operations, the New Haven (properly the New York, New Haven, and Hartford) actually ran more freights than passenger trains in this era.
Sexy new diesels and electrics for the signature passenger services, grungy old steamies for some of the outlying freight lines. The variety of locos you can use is huge.
Patrick McGinnis was running the railroad, bringing in a sporty new orange, black, and white paint scheme which was gradually replacing the older orange and forest green and forest green and gold paint schemes. All three paint schemes were found on active locos in this period, even on the same train.
A huge variety of industries, agriculture, and population centers were served by the New Haven.
With the notable exception of New England Colonial and Saltbox houses, a wide variety of commercial models will stand in for prototype buildings with minimal kitbashing.
No Penn Central yet.
lain-- Presumably you mean the fallen flag NS, which was acquired by the Southern Railway System in the early seventies… The current incarnation of NS wasn’t born until July 9, 1980 from a merger between the Norfolk & Western and the Southern. I believe the current NS operates a couple of fallen flag NS steamies as excursion trains.
The key era is early fifties before the South Shore moved the East Chicago running off to the bypass as I want to model the double track down the middle of town.
Aside from that I am multi road modeling with interchanges, the key is moving coal between lines. N&W, Virginian, NKP, some NYC, IC, BrC, North Shore, C&NW. HOn3 feederline and a freelanced traction included.
Awesome NYC steamers, original Berkshires, and lots of diesel variety. Big time railroading on a mostly 2 track main through the Bershires to Boston. Lots of curves and very respectable grades. Interchange with the CV, B&M, NH…
New England scenery. Quarries. Dairy. Riverside Mills. General Electric. Smith & Wesson.
I’m protolancing though. My pike is “THE BERKSHIRE & ATLANTIC RR”. I want to capture the flavor of the B&A but without torturing myself with being completely prototyically faithful.
A very big difference. The primary one which may affect your situation is that for the 1860-1880 era there is very little rolling stock or motive power available other than craftsman kits or scratchbuilding. The major commercial model makers think railroads were invented around 1920. With your medical condition that may be an issue.
The good news is that there is starting to be decent selection of craftsman kits.
If you want a challenge and a layout that will won’t be just another cookie cutter “transition era” layout like 90% of the other layouts, then it will very enjoyable. If you want to be able to buy RTR cars and engines with minimal work and exposure to chemicals, glues, etc. then the 1940 to 1960 era is the way to go.
Ha! I started out to model the southern Ohio, and Kentucky area, in the 50s. Got lots of GP-7s and 9s, F-7s, RS1s, 2s, and FAs, and E units. Then I got into trainwatching a couple summers ago, in the Detroit area, and bought some Dash 9s, SD 40s, 50s 60s and 70s. Some in NS, CN and GTW. Now I’m adding some Southern RS-2s, and F units, and SD-24s, and E-8s, which bring back fond memories of my See America From A Boxcar tour, in the summer of 1962. Yeah. I know it’s a confused mess, but I’m having fun. I run one era at a time, and take the locos from another era off the layout, and put them on a display shelf.
I freelance (almost completly, except I see what the real world does). My era: Currently 1979, plan to chop up layout (only has track on it) and remake into a modern day layout. The 1979 is a supposed shortline between Aiken, SC and Latta, SC. Only have Aiken on 4x8. Modern day will be a short-line crossing the Appalachian mountains (extremly steep grade, enough to justify a Sd60 & 2 SD40-2s per train on a 16 ft. real life, not scale line). BTW, this is in N scale.[:-^] Hope it works out fine Scoot![:D]
I model two roads. The first is a prototype, the KCS. I loosely model the KCS Southern division. Why? It’s close by and there’s a great deal of information that I can tap into locally. The second road I model is my fictional road, the Midland Gulf Railway. It’s loosely based on the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway which has been been a part of the KCS since 1939.
Hi Dave,
I do have about a dozen or so old RTR cars, 2 palace style combines and 6 old coaches and several 28 to 30 foot stock, flat and box cars. Also (2) 4-4-0s and (a) 2-6-0 for the head ends. My first idea was just to run them as “Tourist Trains” so they could fit anywhere in the Transition Time frame. Then I joined the Yahoo Early Rail groups and the idea of imagineering a 19th century layout got stuck in my mind. Maybe it’s all of the Meds that keep me rethinking over and over, the days of yore. I also have made the “Pilgrimage to Marietta” several times. I have a lot of Great Train Chase stuff in the boxes I just brought back. My Son has commandered the books and has crawled into them, asking all sorts of questions and all. I told him that if Doc gives me a green light that he and I will make the “Pilgrimage” this April for the anniversary of Conductor Fullers pursuit of “His” train.
I thought I would have to make a snap decision about this, but I see now that I still
