ive been working on stuff for my layout and i thought about using santa fe enigines and cars , but ive been thinking about doing something different. ive though about maybe making my own rail system, and just buying the blank locos and doing the name and paint job myselft. where should i begin with this? i dont even know how i would come up with a name?
I am partial to Native American names and bodies of water. My own layout is set in the town of Moose Bay, so the public transit portion is the Moose Bay Transit Authority.
Railroads have historically followed rivers and hugged the coast of lakes and bays to take advantage of the low grades, so it makes sense to associate their names with the waterways that make them possible.
Native American names are a great reminder of the early days of the country, when the railroads made the settling of "Indian lands" possible. If you look into the history of the region you're modelling, you'll find these names in abundance. They are colorful names, and there are enough of them to come up with many unique ideas for your railroad. They also tie to railroad name to a region of the country, which adds additional character and identity to your layout.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
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MisterBeasley suggestion is a good start and incorporate enough level of poesy (!?!?!) to make a pike inspiring. Also, remember that most of railway company names reprensent the places desserved by their rail system making them self explanatory. THey often combine the main city with a geographic element as said MisterBeasley. Delaware & Hudson, Denver & Rio Grande… The other thing is the presence of a cardinal point, which gives an indication about the area desserved by the rail system : Chicago & North Western, Pacific Great Eastern… Finally, you can also think about the type of service : Port Authority, Transit Authority, Electric Railway, etc.
Combinations are illimited. Just think about something that inspires you and don’t go too cheezy because a beautiful and costly engine, whatever the excellent paint job, will still looks cheap with a Peekaboo Railway on it!
Think about the area you will model, names that inspire you… and also check the letter marks that will make your corporative image. An catchy acronym can gives indications for a name too.
Matt
Proudly modelling the Quebec Railway Light & Power Co since 1997.
http://www.hedley-junction.blogspot.com
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JFETTER2ive though about maybe making my own rail system, and just buying the blank locos and doing the name and paint job myselft. where should i begin with this? i dont even know how i would come up with a name?
One could also start by browsing the internet for old and abandon railroads and look at their names for ideas. There are more interesting railroad names out there than one can shake a stick at.
Don't get in a rush and just choose something quick. It can be frustrating looking for that special name.
Lots of options. And the name doesn't really have to describe where the line goes.
Take the Chicago Central & Pacific. Didn't get to Chicago (only to Joliet), nowhere near the Pacific, and not Central to anything.
Or the Soo Line. You would have to know the common pronunciation of Sault Ste. Marie was Soo to get anything out of it. The older name (before the 1961 merger with WC and DSS&A) was Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie (MStP&SSM).
Ampersands (&) are common as well.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
The thoughts on considering era and geographic location are key. Take a pad and write down the different options as you think of them. Make it a long list and then start gleaning out the names that just don't seem to work for you. Following a good RR map of the Santa Fe will provide plenty of place names that would ring "true". If your own private name rail system connects with the Santa Fe, it may well continue to "lease" Santa Fe locomotives for at least some of the power. Your private road may also just "test" some of the Santa Fe locomotives to determine if they are appropriate power for the demands of your railroad. As suggested above, take your time as this may lead to costs of finances and time should you decide to change in the future.
Many years ago, I was in a similar situation where the locomotives I had were (both!) Union Pacific. I thought of my line as a short line connecting with the UP in Wyoming somewhere and using UP engines. I developed a name, however, that was based on where I lived at the time. If you have a good map of Stephenson County, Illinois, you may be able to find a reference to "Winneshiek", which is now just a church and a couple houses three miles south of Dakota, IL. So my HO railroad became the Winneshiek & Western RR. Although my interests changed over the years and the UP diesels were sold years ago, I have maintained that name. The Winneshiek & Western is now seen as a could-have-been short line in the mountains of Southwest Virginia (connecting with the Clinchfield) in the WWI time period - just after the completion of the Clinchfield.
There are custom decal manufacturers out there who can make private road decals for you in any scale. There was a long time where I could not afford those, so I just went with buying lettering sets and lettering things "WWRR". I had a lot of decal sheets with only the "W"s cut out of them! Pick a "common" lettering style that will not go out of production - "Railroad Roman" is fairly common but you may want to choose a lettering (font) style that is similar to that of the Santa Fe or other road to help develop that "family" image and an image that matches your time period of modeling.
About two years ago, I was able to also construct a garden railroad (1:20.3) here at North Myrtle Beach, SC. The first real railroad to build into this area was the Conway and Seashore, and the name of this county is Horry (pronounced "O-Ree"). The next community of size to the south is Georgetown, SC. I built off of that information and my garden railroad is the Seashore, Horry And Georgetown. The letters of the railroad are thus SHAG RR, and the Carolina Shag is a form of smooth swing dancing that developed here at the beach and which my wife and I enjoy.
Take your time; make that list of lots of options; study some on WHERE you want your railroad to be placed geographically. And nothing says that you can't have some fun with it.
Bill
Take your time and things will sift out. Simply list your givens.
In the case of the Conemaugh Road & Traction...
1) Purpose = local passenger & local freight
2) Prototype or freelance = freelance.
3) Geographic locale = Conemaugh Valley.
4) Motive power = interurban traction expanding to diesel.
5) CR&T Circa = 1956 (traction still viable option).
6) Class I Interchange = Pennsylvania Railroad.
7) PRR Circa = 1956 confirmed (steam still possible).
8) Scale = N Scale (more efficient use of available layout space).
9) Multi-level layout = Pennsy comes from the upper level.
10) CR&T location = Lower level only (surrounded by PRR).
This process leads to what each railroad needs to function.
Two of Tony Koester's special books have proven to be helpful: Realistic Model Railroad Operation, and; Realistic Model Railroad Design. With the latter book, the concept of "Layout Design Element" is introduced on page 68...
"Select interesting prototype sites, like towns, industries, yards, and engine terminals, from one or more railroads of the desired scope, region, and era, and design your layout by arranging them as desired to create your own new railroad."
"Look to the prototype for layout-design ideas, and follow prototype track arrangements as closely as possible, even if you are freelancing."
Again, do take your time, and the important things will soon become very clear.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
Most railroads when they started wanted to raise money by selling stock or bonds so they tended to use names that described their route, usually the towns and ciites at each end. Sometimes they included an indicator of future plans with words like western or pacific. So you get the New York, Ontario, and Western; Norfolk and Western: Baltimore and Ohio; etc. Some railroads used the name of the area they served such as Pennsylvania RR,New York Central, Western Pacific, Florida East Coast, etc.
Get out a map of the area where you plan to place your railroad and look at the names for ideas.
You probably want to avoid cutsey names. John Allen later regretted his Gorre and Daphtid name.
Enjoy
Paul