Eras of Different Diesels and Rolling Stock

[tcf511]

I am very new to model railroading and working on my first HO layout. I want to model in the late 1950s. My modeling style will generally be of the "close enough" school of thought but I don't want to run equipment that would not have been built until after that time period. I am modeling a geographic area where Southern, N&W or B&O could be appropriate. Are there any online databases where you can search this kind of info. I see all kinds of adds for SD24s or U30s, etc. but don't have an idea of when those would have been introduced. TIA

Tim

[orsonroy]

You're in luck: the "late 1950s" was a period of vast changes in the American railroad scene. You can model basically everything from steam to first-generation diesels, and from 36' wood trussrod boxcars to 50' all-welded PS-1's.

For engines, the best general source of information is still the printed page. As a general reference tool, buy Kalmbach's "Guide to North American steam locomotives" and "Diesel locomotives: the first 50 years". Both will give you more than enough information to make targeted purchases for your roads of interest.

For freight cars, you're in luck. Go here:

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/

It's a pay site ($5 a month...woo) but it contains THE best website anywhere on 1900-1960 freight car history (with loads of pictures) and HO scale freight car modeling. The website shows you what the real railroads owned and built, and then tells you what models are available for each car (if any). While you might not want to have every car exactly correct for your railroad, this website will educate you on what each RR owned, and which model looks closest to the real thing.

Also online are quite a few railroad-specific websites and Yahoo Group discussion forums. Each will yield a LOAD of data on the real railroads, and will contain many links to other websites of interest.

[tcf511]

Thanks very much. That is exactly what I needed.