Step one is to solidify in your mind a specific location where your railroad operates. It's kind of difficult to come up with a logical name until you do that. Somewhere in the midwest is tough to find a name for.
For a short line, the railroad could be named for the two towns at each end, such as Springfield and Peoria. If the railroad runs along a river valley, that might make a good name, Wabash Valley for example. Another choice would be the part of the state it serves. Iowa Southern, Central Railroad of Illinois, Ohio Northern, etc.
But again, first decide where the railroad operates and go from there.
Just to expand my earlier post, since the OP is (as I understand the post) running a tourist or museum railroad, featuring historic US and European trains, rather than a regular railroad, the name should reflect that. It probably should be something with a local reference - think of Colorado's Durango & Silverton, or Cumbres & Toltec Scenic railroads. A tourist railroad a few miles long in Iowa probably isn't going to name itself the Chicago, Des Moines & Pacific or something like that. It would probably choose a name or names from local towns, counties, or lakes/rivers.
I recently named a city a few weeks ago for my New York Central layout.
It's called Ephraim, after Molly Ephraim an actress who worked on Broadway and currently on Last Man Standing. (It's not creepy, if your the same age as that person)
After looking up her last name that's Jewish I didn't have a problem with it. Now am trying to find out where to put it, New York or Michigan (which one sounds better.)
When I began building my dream layout I didn't have names for cities, businesses, or industries and that matter no real decision on what railroad I wanted. Fast forward although I named everything now in the past decade I still have one city to name. It's been difficult to change My City into a real name, to make it realistic. Out of 14 names it's an impressive record.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Have you tested your planned rollingstock/locomotives on those curves?
People name railroads after the darndest things!
Frank Ellison, a New Orleans resident, had the Delta Lines - presumably because he was living in the Mississippi delta. His division point was named after the street he lived on, and his termini bore the names of the two closest cross streets.
One quick and dirty way to name a railroad - (Starting point) (Direction) with or without an 'and' between. Prototype examples? Chicago North Western, Norfolk and Western... Might have beens? How about Siple Station Northern? (Everything is north of Siple Station - it's at the South Pole.) And then there's my frequently referenced Podunk and Northern.
Another one is to pick two or more names and glue them together. The names can be people's first names (Moby, Cedric and Nicolas) or family names (Fox and Pomerance) or drawn from any other plausable (or implausable) source. The aforementioned Delta Lines had stations with the names (and nicknames) of Frank Ellison's children.
My own? Since I'm modeling what was a national monopoly, Nihon Kokutetsu was a no-brainer. The specific route was named after Tokyo's Nichigeki Music Hall and all but one of the stations were named after members of the house dance cast. On the other hand, the Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo and all of its stations were originally given the surnames of ex-girlfriends. As a life-extending measure I changed the names to those of Imperial Navy officers with the same surnames.
Finally, two examples from Texas. Both the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific and the Quanah, Acme and Pacific are (town, town and Pacific.) However, Quanah was named by its founder, Quanah Parker. He was also the founder of the railroad.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with features named for people)
If you're operating a tourist / museum railroad, you really don't need a "railroad" name...that is, it's not exactly like a "working" railroad. I know the Minnesota Transportation Museum's railroad is called the Osceola & St.Croix, because it's located in Osceola WI, near the St.Croix river.
An efficient way to pick a fictitious railroad name is to take the initials of different railroads that are currently popular with the model manufacturers and create different names using those initials. Once you have your name, any rolling stock models lettered with only those initials can be assumed to belong to your railroad. You can also create decals to fill in your railroad's name between the printed initials. For instance, ATSF (Santa Fe) could become the Acapulco, Tijuana and San Fernando Railroad. Lots of possibilities this way!
Hornblower
Railroads follow the path of least resistance whenever possible, so lakes, rivers and other bodies of water make good names. I'm also partial to Native American names, as they add a bit of history and a sense of place.
I mostly model the Milwaukee, but my town is Moose Bay. There's a branch line which crosses Squirrel Creek on its way out to the town of Bullwinkle.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Roger Hensley= ECI Railroad - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/eci/eci_new.html == Railroads of Madison County - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/ =
Most railroads are named for cities or regions so it's a good idea to follow because it can establish the location. If you want strangers to know where your railroad is located use names that are familiar to everyone. Central Iowa sounds good to me.
i was thinking the central iowa railroad or the linn and jones based on two counties in the area
How about the 'HFRARR'. "Have Fun Running Anything Rail Road'.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
For a name there are literally hundreds of railroads that are no longer in existence. Just swipe a name. It's what I did.
http://www.abandonedrails.com/railroads.aspx
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
it is set between 1960 and 1995 running herritage and tourist trains and a mixture of locos from the us and europe and is near to a small town based in the midwest i am very open to ideas
technical information;
track used; mixture code 100 peco and hornby minimum curve 2nd radius maximum 3rd radius
layout size; 4x8 island
control; as of now dc
rolling stock; must meet minimum curve and be runnable on two rail track systems
basis; various lines like the boone scenic valley and plenty others to list