information on nc+stl, louisville nashville, monon lettering also c+el

[peepsight38570]

interested in colors lettering information on louisville nashville, nashville chattanooga and st. louis, monon, and chicago eastern illinois. also rolling stock operations etc. any information appreciated

[orsonroy]

Nothing beats research, considering the vast scope of your information request (ONLY four roads? What time period? What division(s)? Steam or diesel? Freight or passenger operations? This list is endless!).

Each one of the four roads mentioned above has it's own historical society. A railroad-specific HS is the best nexus for information on that road. Even if they don't have the information you're looking for, they'll know who does. Expect to become a member of those HS before they start passing along anything but the most basic information to you.

The internet can be a great place to dig up information on specific railroads, but most of the really important information that you'll likely need still isn't online yet (nor will it likely ever get put online; there's just too much data!).Each HS will probably have their own website, and there's probably a Yahoo Group or two dedicated to each road. In addition, there are many good RR photo site online, especially the Fallen Flags site (which deals mostly with the post-1960 RR scene). The Renssealear Polytech RR history and modeling website is vast (and costs $5 a month to join), but is the single best database online for real freight car history, HO scale freight car modeling, and general scenery modeling. Otherwise, do what everyone else does if they're seriously looking for information: spend hours digging through a Google search, and months with various discussion groups asking specific questions (a targeted question will yield answers, while a question like "tell me everything" will lead nowhere).

After mining the internet, start "hitting the books". Literally. After about 1965 or so, the RR history publishing world really took off, with thousands of books on all sorts of topics being published. These days, most books are focused around "picture" books, which are invaluable for seeing how equipment and the railroad looked. In the past, most RR histories were corporate histories or engine roster histories. After digging through these books, start attending railroadania swapmeets for EMPLOYEE timetables (passenger or public timetables are really of very little use), rulebooks, train sheets, train orders, track charts (and track diagrams; they're two different things) and railroad-published booklets that describe the railroad's infrastructure.

You've asked for a LOT, and you'll have to do a fair amount of work collecting everything to reach a comfortable knowledge base. But the payoff is well worth it: I'm a historian first and a modeler second, and I've found my quest for information on the road I'm modeling to be just as much fun as actually modeling. I've met a lot of people along the way, made a few good friends, and gone places I wouldn't have otherwise. All in all, it's a great hobby in it's own right!

[Wdlgln005]

You may be asking for some post-merger information that may be included in many of the color railroad guides. Green Frog has been a good producer of fallen flag video. Look thru the pages of MR, MRC, Trains, R&R, etc. Hope you have a good LHS nearby or a good local bookseller that would help you get copies of these books.