I am curious how many people model real railroads in a specific time and place. If so, how faithfully do you try to model the prototype. Unless modeling a short line, some selective compression is almost certainly required, but other than that, do you try to make your layout as accurate as possible.
Well, I’m a proto modeler.
I’m modeling the NKP’s Peoria division between Bloomington and Peoria, IL. My timeframe will be somewhat flexible, ranging between the spring of 1947 and the summer of 1950 (different engines were assigned to the division on those two years). Having to squeeze 45 miles of mainline track onto a four scale mile long mainline does require a lot of compromising, but the layout will be “faithful” to the prototype, meaning that all the track on the layout will reflect real track arrangements, all small towns will be modeled with ALL their trackwork (albeit shortened), the only engines that will run will be ones that actually ran on the line (kitbashed or superdetailed as needed; I’m working on one now), most of the lineside structures will be scratchbuilt based on the real structures on the line (some condensed, some not), and all the freight cars that run will be at least 85% accurate representations of real freight cars which would logically be seen on the line at the time. My automobiles will be accurate (no '57 Chevys), the buildings will be as accurate as possible (no White Castles or cheesy diners, since there weren’t any in the area), nd the advertising signs will be accurate (1947 Coke billboards, rather than 1940 billboards). Essentially, if it wasn’t there, I won’t model it.
Prototype modeling means limited imagination in my opinion. See because you basically follow a blue print of a real area. When you model freelance your imagination can go wild with anything you want on it. I model freelance and think it’s better that way.
Or…freelancing (if some can call it that) means you can be sloppy, without any sense of reality.
I really don’t think one way is better than the other. It’s a matter of preference. I am a freelancer myself because I want the freedom to run the equipment I want and to design my towns and scenery to look like I want them to. But I have a great respect for those who are faithful prototype modelers. There is a lot to be said for trying to accurately recreate something that really did exist within the space constraints we all have to live with. As a freelancer, I am trying to create something that looks like it could have existed. With either approach, the important thing is how well you do it.
yes, I do try to make mine authentic…although trying to get it exact can be a challenge because of space involved, I do try to make it exactly how it looks from photos and the like that i’ve actually railfanned but there are portions that are freelanced…I think my biggest concern when it comes to “prototype modeling” is the rolling stock and locomotives, having the right numbers and accessory equipment on the model as it pertains to the real thing rather than say , exact prototype scenery or an exact replica of a building somewhere…for example:…i’ll take a picture of a locomotive at the coaty yard that i pass on a daily basis to and from work… i’ll take a snapshot of the locomotive there and then when i get home, i’ll examine the photo and then order all the accessory parts, paint, and road numbers needed and try to make it exactly like the unit that was in the yard…to me, this is prototype modeling…I do have some scenes prototyped also… I just completed “tower 3” and most of the track that space will allow me that is in Flatonia, Texas…if you look at the model and then drive to this area you will see the same thing, only in 1:87 scale…there are areas that I must freelance too…like tunnels, since i model West and East Texas, there are no tunnels (well, there used to be one on the old T&NO line before the new SP route went in and the tunnel is now under water when lake amisdad was built) but in order for my track plan to work there must be tunnels so naturally i’ll have to install them in a freelance fashion even though there is no such thing in the state of Texas as of today…but all in all, i try to prototype everyplace i can…chuck
New Haven in the 1950-53 time period.
If the NH didn’t have it, I don’t. And I modify my models to represent the real thing.
Way to go Dave. In over 60 years of model railroading, I built 10 freelance layouts. They mostly included NH, PRR and Reading engines and rolling stock. Not intended to slander freelancers, but I finally concluded that rather than represent a real railroad, with real engines, real consists, real places and real track diagrams – I was just playing with toy trains. Again, no offense to freelancers, but the satisfaction of designing a model railroad that is rooted in reality, is far more satisfying to me. The research is the hard part, because I am modeling the activities at the New Haven Union Station that occurred in the early fifties whn both steam and diesel were in operation. That was 60 long years and 2,000 miles away from Scottsdale, Arizona so it ain’t easy.
I model prototype NH 1950’s,I model an area from Berlin,Ct thru New Britain and Plainville returning to New Britain where most of the industry was located,ie; Stanley Works,Stanley Tool,Fafnir Bearing,Landers Frary and Clark(UNIVERSAL) and several others,kept the crew busy all day.
Prototype. Texas Midland RR, 1910-1920 era. As close as reasonable to do. I’m more concerned about a correct overall representation rather than detail for detail duplication.
The main thing I’m after is that the layout will convey the time and place and that it runs in a fairly prototypical way that’s fun to operate. Oh yeah…and that the curves are broad enough to run a pair of SD70Ms hauling a container train when the mood strikes me. Bruce
I can plead guilty to both of the above.
Prototype - Nihon Kokutetsu (Japan National Railways), September, 1964. Rolling stock is accurate (but not superdetailed), facilities are based on photos, notes and memory, and my eventual intention is to operate on a schedule taken right out of the JNR’s master timetable set for the stated month.
Freelance - Tomikawa Valley Railway, running to the schedule of a minor JNR branch, but using rolling stock that is either wildly modified from prototype (an 1897 0-8-0 modernized for operation in 1964, forty years after the prototype was scrapped), totally inappropriate (the wide-gauge version of the Uintah 2-6-6-2) or kitbashed into things with no known parentage (three-truck articulated coal hoppers, anyone?)
Overall, I’m trying to keep the ‘flavor’ of 1964 rural Japan, but I’m not a slave to it.
I guess I do as prototypical equipment, especially engines, as I can, in a fantasy world. If I hit the lottery I will do from Roanoke to the New River between Pearisburg and Glen Lynn, with the N&W on the one bamk and the VGN on the other. And the VGN high bridge for sure. And then throw in some Norfolk to Suffolk landscape too for some highballing.
I model a specific location, South Milwaukee WI on the old Chicago and North Western passenger line, in a specific time period, 1969 (although I waver on that, so long as it is pre Amtrak). I am trying to capture the placement of sidings and crossovers, culverts and bridges, although I will have curves where the prototype had none. I hope to replicate with some accuracy the daily schedule of freights, passenger trains, and local switching, together with industrial railroad activity at the Bucyrus Erie plant in So Milwaukee. Buildings will be as close as I can kitba***o the prototype, with the usual compromises. I want to have a mix of foreign road freight cars that would be at least plausible for the situation.
If that is prototype modeling I guess I am doing it. Kinda. The reason is because I am trying to remind myself of my teenage railfanning as much as possible. And the research is a good deal of fun in and of itself.
But my locomotives will not be obsessively accurate in terms of paint schemes, numbering or details, likewise the freight and passenger cars although i will try to be pretty accurate for the era. I think most people use the phrase prototype modeler to refer primarily to the equipment, not to the track plan, operations, or schedule of trains.
Dave Nelson
I have become very picky with my equipment but not to the point of a “rivit counter”. If a piece needs minor details to get closer to the prototype that’s good enough. I model the B&O and Chessie, many of my favorite locos will be the closest to the protoype as I can realistically manage. As far as modeling the prototypical operations of my RR, I’m not that concerned at this point.
Bob K.
I sure as hell don’t. I run whatever I want with whatever I want whenever I want.
I model a specific line in a specific time and place. The challenges are very different than freelancing, but I assure Jenny (8675309) that they are still there. Part of why I model a prototype is because I enjoy research as much as model railroading.
Prototype modeling is not necessarily easy–especially if one models an obscure prototype! Sure, I can walk into any hobby shop and pick up Union Pacific or Santa Fe equipment, but there aren’t many places where I can take my pick of Sacramento Northern electric steeplecabs! This means I have to kitbash or scratchbuild to get what I want. Creativity comes into play when prototype modeling–no modeler can model a prototype exactly, so many decisions must be made on how to decide what gets modeled and what gets left out. It’s not as simple as just copying what was there–in some cases you don’t know, and in nearly all cases you don’t have room!
My modeling plan covers the Reading and PRR in the late 40’s to mid-50’s in the Pottsville, PA area – specifically, Mt Carbon, Pottsville and the Reading’s St Clair yard. In mixing memories from my youth and historical documentation, I want to end up with something that visitors can look at and say “I remember that!” This allows me the best of both worlds – some reality and some perceived reality. I’m at the beginning stages of this plan and too old to try get everything exactly as it was, but a respectable representation of the era and surroundings will do nicely.
One side note – what I remember about the St Clair yard and what it actually was are two different things. To get it prototypical, I’d have to dedicate my entire basement and all my time to the yard alone. Jeez was it big! 45 miles of track within the yard, some 2000 employees and a 52-loco roundhouse. My memory is a bunch of trains on a bunch of tracks.
best i can