Why did you choose the type of locomotive you run on your layout? Was it because they were the locos that were around when you were a child growing up? And why did you choose the type of scenery you did? Was it once again to recreate what you recall from childhood? Or were you instead creating your concept of a ‘perfect’ layout, a dream world?
In my own case I was born and bred in Auckland, New Zealand. We lived in a suburb about 4.5 miles from the city and travelled there by tram. At one point the road went over a railroad bridge then turned right and continued for about 200 yards parallel to the tracks. As a child I was always hopeful of seeing a train and someties I was lucky. It was during this time that my love of steam engines was born. As has been described by many steam enthusiasts, a steam engine is a living creature that snorts and belches and just radiates power and energy. The sound of a whistle is an extra bonus as is the smell of coal smoke.
Sadly the age of steam ended in 1968 in new Zealand. Diesel electrics came along but never reached (in my eyes) the glamour of the old steam engines. Less polution and more power were the driving forces but the most prevelant reason was probably economics.
In trying to recapture my youth I model steam with five locos - a Spectrum 0n 30 0-4-2 Porter, a Rivarossi 2-truck Heisler, a Spectrum 3-truck Climax, a Spectrum 0n 30 4-4-0, and a Paragon 2 NYC J1E Hudson 4-6-4. All are DCC equiped or DCC ready. I do have one diesel - a Paragon 2 GE C30-7. One thing I like about diesel is the great variety of colours.
I’m currently building a logging scene and am learning, usually the hard way, that I shouldn’t have done some of the things I did. Working out a fix keeps the little grey cells from stagnating. My next venture will be (hopefully) a passenger service as I have a range of passenger coaches along with an assortment of freight cars. Time will tell though what the next creation will end
I’m a lot like you, I grew up living very close to the Southern Pacific north bound tracks out of El Paso Texas. MY teen years were the early fifties so that hooked me to the 1950s and living in El Paso hooked me on SP Steam. The SP was running AC-9s for freight service north, Cab Forwards for freight service west and E7s and PAs for passenger service.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My wife and I visited a place we both fell in love with. Since I was already a model railroader and had already committed to a scale and prototype, that concentrated the prototype down to a single route (of a national monopoly) and a single month.
Then I changed some names. That loosened up the limits on the locomotive roster since I could now include classes I had seen in operation elsewhere.
I looked at other possibilities. The narrow(er) gauge forest railway was native to the area, but there were two other operations from out-of-the-area locations that I wanted to include. So I bit my tongue, grafted them on and pressed forward. One provided a venue for the rolling stock designer to come out and play - so I now have a simple 2-6-6-2T (something Japan NEVER had) pulling seven-axle articulated hoppers on my coal-originating private railroad (in an area that never had a workable coal seam.)
So I model some things that once were and others that never existed (but might have) because that’s what I like. No childhood influence (I grew up in New York City, definitely not steam country.) Not much nostalgia for the past (I also write science fiction.) Just a desire to reproduce in miniature what I saw and imagined full scale one happy month half a century ago.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan as it might have been in September, 1964)
I came of age near railroads and airplanes. Earlier, I was exposed to steam locomotives with all their visible motions, and to propellar-driven aircraft such as the DC-3, the DC-6, and the Super Constellation. While I still enjoy being railside and watching modern diesels go by, they don’t have any visible works that fascinate me. So, I learned mostly about steam when I joined the hobby as a mature person, and continue to enjoy running steam to this day. I like Canadian and American steam, although I have an appreciation for steam from any country.
I grew up in towns that were along the UP Kansas Division, so that heavily influenced my choices. A little later, I lived in LA for some time and developed a fascination for SP. So, no problem! I can accommodate both.
I started with whatever rolling stock as long as it was detailed and steam, built my layout and started using diesels as many ran better than some of my steam out of the box, then I went through everything and anything that didn’t run well was sold so I ended up with a bunch of steam Proto 2000 and a bunch of Spectrum in steam. The diesels I kept were a few Atlas, a bunch of Kato and an oddball or two. Used to not care about the road name but started going for Southern Pacific when I started buying diesels. Another thing that changed is I started doing a lot of logging stuff but as the layout progressed it went to freight and a late 1930’s time frame.
My collection of locomotive is rather odd. It goes from the 2-6-0 ihc southern which share a roundhouse next to a Milwaukee road Bi polar electric, next to a small emd model 40, etc to streamline super hudsons and semi streamlined pacific Most of the locomotive I have are rather one off or industrial designers being artistic. The roundhouse area of my layout I call it a museum since the area can go from streamline steam to big em1 class a or the odd q2 etc.
For me, even though I’m 32, I’ve just always liked steam engines, and the aesthetics of the world they were a part of way back when. I used to pour over a copy of Don Ball’s Pennsylvania Railroad in the '40s and '50s book as a child. I also enjoyed photo books on trains growing up. My interest in the hobby comes and goes, as does my train collections. For next year I’m planning on getting back into collecting HO-scale PRR models, especially since really nice P70 models look to be a reality next year. Living in Pennsylvania for the last 10-years also influences my modeling tastes as there’s still so much of the original PRR still in place, plus a great railroad museum and tourist railroad not far from me either.
When I was young I didn’t have one particular railroad when I was looking at magazines and track plan books. They’re layouts were also my layouts, pretending I have AT&SF, UP, and others.
In 1994 I saw Southern Pacific/Cotton Belt locomotives in the train yard, but not really interesting to me yet. I believe in 1997 I saw a Warbonnet BNSF and a lot more Union Pacific.
When I was planning a train set I chose to model the NYC in 1938 because of the 20th Century Limited steam locomotive, and their beautiful Hudsons. Unfortunately it didn’t last.
I decide to choose the modern era because I have one good working hand and holding a steam engine in a challenge half the time.
In 1965 I rode The Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver and back. I loved the look of the FP7s or 9s and I even got to ride in one. For that reason I have acquired a fleet of 7 HO FP7s and 9s and corresponding B units in Canadian Pacific’s maroon and grey. They are all Intermountain. If I win the lottery I will get a Rapido set.
I also love S and SW series switchers so I have a bunch of them in CP maroon and grey as well. I have no history with them, other than climbing on one that was on display some place in Northern Ontario. I can’t remember where.
I have a few steamers including Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express. Most of them are old Tyco kits that are in various stages of assembly (and have been for quite some time). I think I am more interested in building the old kits than operating them but I will run them occasionally.
I also have several ‘critters’ two of which I scratch built. I love the little engines, including the challenge of getting them to run reliably.
Finally, I have the almost finished McKeen Motor Car (still waiting for decals[sigh]). I had never seen nor heard of one until I saw a Funaro and Carmerlengo kit on eBay some time ago. I just had to have one even though it doesn’t even come close to my era or location. It was just too cool looking to pass up.
I never got a chance to see steam in action when I was growing up, but I did see a few “stuffed and mounted” steam locomotives and was duly impressed by the massive, exposed working parts and the apparent complexity.
Of course I also saw steam trains in the movies, and my dad used to tell me stories about his experiences with steam trains. So I grew up with a great love for, and desire to see, steam railroading.
My layout is a way to recapture, in miniature, the kind of railroading I missed out on.
Gidday, another Kiwi; that makes three of us that are currently active on the forum.
While that was true in the North Island, the “Kingston Flyer” aside, steam didn’t finish in service on the “Mainland” until late 1971 with last run of the Ja 4-8-2 hauled “South Island Limited”. I was only thirteen at the time but remember the sight, noise and smell very well.
Anyhow, to answer your question. Why am I modelling 1950s US railroads, simple cost!!! As much as I have a great fondness for my avatar, the NZR Ja class, to purchase an RTR one is eye watering, besides I’m having fun doing the research on US railroads.
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
I grew up an Air Force kid with my dad being stationed at various places so I don’t have any roots in the traditional sense; born 1959 in San Antonio TX (after steam was gone) and moved at 3 to Indiana, then short bit in Massechuesetts and on to California from age 7 to 24. Being that most of that time was northern California Southern Pacific is all I saw until I drove to or through Colorado on a number of trips in the 1980’s - which got me hooked on the Rocky Mountain scenery and the stanadard gauge D&RGW.
I’ve settled on mainly on the D&RGW of the 1970’s and 1980’s along with a good dose of Southern Pacific cause it was the RR of my teens and twenties.
I love the super steam era of the UP, NYC, and the Erie. All my engines are steam engines. I have built my layout to show case the locomotives. Nice trains running thru nice scenery.
Sit back, run my favorite locomotive for that day, have a drink and watch those big engines roll, it gets no better then that.
I have been a train fan as long as I can think of, but a special attachment came on my 10th birthday during a family vacation in Switzerland. On that very day I was invited for a cab ride when the driver found out it was my birthday. It was not a long ride, just a few miles down the track from Fiesch to Lax on the Furka-Oberalp Railway. Since then I have been longing to build a layout based on this railway line, as well as the other “main” Swiss narrow gauge lines, the Rhaetian Railway and the Zermatt Railway.
Unfortunately, the loco (see my avatar) has developed a gear box problem and I am not dure whether a set of replacement gear boxes are still available from the manufacturer, as the have changed the chassis design from the old twin-motored version to a single coreless motor design.