Deciding on a road.

[wairoa]

So I am curious as to what criteria people use to model a particular road, theme or era. I am having some pretty big issues here. I have trains from New Zealand to Europe. I have a variety of road names from the east coast to Alaska. Each time I think okay this is the railroad/ railway I want to model I usually move and find myself in awe of the local offerings. I have approximately 60 engines and I think about 11or 12 different road names from half a dozen different countries. Don't get me wrong I like them all I just think it would be nice to find a particular line and stick with it at least 90% of the time. Sure I will still be running that ICE 2 alongside my New Zealand railways DX pulling a string of BNSF gondolas with a LMS brakevan at the end as here are somethings that are unavoidable. I just sometimes think it would be nice to find a particular theme and stick it with it most of the time. I am even considering a fictional road name and having all my equimpment painted in a particular livery, that way they will at least match colorwise. My only issue here is seeing my rather expensive (in my opinion) Big Boy and Fleischmann locos going under the paint gun. Oh well hope you are all doing well- Craig.[:)]

[challenger3802]

How about a preserved line run by a preservation group, at least one here in Britain has stock from all over the world, modelling that would be challenge aplenty!

Ian

[CBQ_Guy]

Many (most?) people in the hobby, it has been found, tend to model what they remember seeing as a kid growing up. This may be helpful to you.

One suggestion I've read recently suggests you relax in your favorite easy chair with a glass of your favorite beverage, close your eyes, and just let your mind wander about trains. What images come to mind? What do you like to see them do, etc., etc.? This exercise may help to narrow down what it is that you really like about railroading. If nothing else, it should be relaxing as hell!

Another way to be able to run engines of various roads is to have a lot of live interchange. Some railroads also had run-through agreements with other roads, as well as combined pool power with other rr's on specific trains or routes.

Good luck . . .

[twhite]

Gee, and I thought I was the ONLY one around here that occasionally runs a string of ART reefers behind my Swiss Crocodile! Hey, I model the California Sierras with a fictional Rio Grande Pacific extension running through them, and I've got WP, C&S, GN, Espee and even Pennsy and C&O lugging trains through them. Occasionally, since I have some European equipment, I just run it and turn the whole garage into the Swiss/Austrian Alps. I think a lot of us have 'foreign' road equipment because we fell in love with a particular locomotive or passenger car, and since we're model railroaders--and that's an IMAGINITIVE hobby--we all formulate excuses to run what we want when we want. In my case, it's WWII, and I'm 'borrowing' a lot of power to take care of the sudden increase in traffic. I know, that explains my J-1 and my H-8, but doesn't explain the Swiss Crocodile, does it? Oh, well--
Tom

[SpaceMouse]

This might seem a little presumptuous for a person that has only a Hogwart's special with a EZ track loop, but My first 4x8 layout will be a Hogwart's layout. But I will expand it into 1880's frontier era Northern California.

My kid can still run his Hogwart's Special through the CA mountains, and I will run my frontier loco into fantasy land. It's mainly for the kid, right?

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CBQ_Guy

Many (most?) people in the hobby, it has been found, tend to model what they remember seeing as a kid growing up. This may be helpful to you.

I grew up seeing Southern Pacific trains, that is what I model. I also generally model the locomotives I saw growing up. However, I also like WP. I never lived by and was born just a few years before UP swallowed it up, so I am not sure why I like it.

[Jetrock]

WP had a certain style to it. I am certain I saw WP and SN locomotives growing up in Sacramento but they didn't register as strongly as SP in my mind--I like grime, and the 70's/80's were a time of prime grime on SP bloody-nose equipment!

Experiment. A lot depends on what kind of railroading you want to model--when I originally got back into the hobby I wanted to model narrow-gauge logging set on California's northcoast, but then I discovered the SN (which was purchased by the WP when it was still an electric interurban) and it coupled with my love of the city where I live (Sacramento.) I was suddenly exposed to the world of trolley/electric railroading, which I had no previous interest in.

So play around. Run your Caltrain bi-level cars behind an 0-4-0 if you like. There's a good chance that eventually you will strike upon a combination that will seem natural. And remember, there's always freelancing!

[jimrice4449]

I grew up in Chicago during WWII watching NYC Hudsons and PRR T1s as they got a pretty good roll on their trains out of Englewood. In 1950 my family moved to LA and I got to watch Daylight 4-8-4s with 20 cars at 79MPH and frieghts with 3 cab forwards scattered through the train. I wish I could have seen Pennsy GG1s and N&W Y-6s and Js.
As I write this my 8 track passenger depot is a host to a 13 car Golden State, a 12 car Milw 1942 Afternoon Hiawatha and a 7 car heavywieght Southern train headed by a green and gol
d USRA lt. mountain. My engine terminal has a GG-1, a CB&Q AB "shovel Nose Zephyr" set and a four unit Santa Fe F-7 set in the classic red Warbonnet. I bow to convention to the extent that I run frieght trains with matching cabooses and engines, but it isn't at all unusual to fine a NYC, Milw. and UP frieght on adjacent tracks in my departure yard. I built my railroad for MY amusement. Should anybody quible I'll point out that one of the favorite spots for train watchers as steam was being phased out was the Pennsy's Sandusky line where you could see solid trains of either N&W or L&N hoppers trailed by Pennsy cabooses (OK cabin cars) pulled by Pennsy J1 or SANTA FE 2-10-4s or sometimes ONE OF EACH!.
It's your RR...do whatever turns you on.

[Anonymous]

I model Santa Fe even though I grew up on the East Coast and never even saw an actual SF engine until I was well into my 30s. I just love the look of their transition era F-units, both passenger and freight. And I've gotten fond of the transition era zebra striped locos as well.

That said, you never know what motive power will show up where. There's a small Norfolk Southern yard at the other end of town, and when I drove by it one day a week or two ago I spotted two BNSF engines lashed up with a NS engine on one of the yard tracks. Alexandria, VA is pretty far from BNSF home territory, but as the old saying goes, there's a prototype for everything. [:)]

[AggroJones]

I grew up with filthy bloodynose Espee diesels. They were attractive to me for the first few years of being a model railroader, but then my intrest shifted back into the past.
I got nostalgic for the period I never experienced. And I realized 1st gen diesels are much tighter than 3rd and 4th. Plus I developed a love for steam engines. So I model the era when they ran side by side. Transition era Southern Pacific and Santa Fe. (I wish I could stick to this theme, but I keep buying crap I don't need. )
For most of us raised in California, I'd think SP would be the road choice.
With Cab-forwards, strings of PFE reefers, and beautiful mountain scenery, how can anyone dislike Southern Pacific?

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wairoa

So I am curious as to what criteria people use to model a particular road, theme or era. ...I just think it would be nice to find a particular line and stick with it at least 90% of the time.

It is easy to say "It's your railroad just do what you want", but then, as you have noticed that causes other issues. One of them is being able to create a prototype "feeling" to the railroad. I've had much more fun and satisfaction attempting to re-create one small scene of reality than I ever had with an entire "free-lance" empire.

About two years ago I did an excercise of "If I was to start on a layout all over again". I decided I would choose a prototypical situation and stick to it religiously. Then to your question, how to choose. Here is what I came up with.
1. Make a priority list of the top ten things I like most and least about model railroading.
2. Weight the things on the lists. That is, do I like the number 1 thing just a little more or a lot more than the number 2 thing?
3. Make a second list of prototypes railroads, eras, or themes that are being considered.
4. Give a 1-10 score to each of the items on the second list for how well they enable each of the things on the first list.
5. Now the quantitative part. Multiply each of the original scores by the weight, giving a weighted score. Add the weighted score for the top ten and subtract the weighted score for the bottom ten. This should leave one number for each item on the second list. If you have been honest in the assesment of the enjoyment factors, the highest score should be the scenario that provide most of what is liked and least of what is not liked in the hobby.

This does not mean I would deprive myself of interests that just couldn't fit into this layout. I would satisfy my other interest by operating at friends or club layouts, or having a modular.

QUOTE:
I am even considering a fictional road name and having all my equimpment painted in a particular livery, that way they will at least match colorwise. My only issue here is seeing my rather expensive (in my opinion) Big Boy and Fleischmann locos going under the paint gun.

Even as liberal as I have been with my free lance railroad, this would have just crossed the line that I set for myself. Since the Union Pacific is the only railroad that ever had big boy locomotives, if my railroad had one it could never be believable to anyone who knows anything about trains.

I would really like to own a Big Boy. If it was high enough on my "want" list that I purchased one, I know of two people with big UP layouts that I could go visit and run it there, or at a club. That would allow me to operate it three times a month. I could admire it in a display case the rest of the time, but would not have to contaminate my layout's "look and feel" to satisfy my desire for a big boy.

[Jetrock]

AggroJones: Indeed, I still have a soft spot for SP--that's why I've got three feet of SP double-track on my layout (which may not sound like much, but my mainline is only twelve feet!) That way, I can provide a "guest appearance" by my SP equipment on the line running above my mainline. I don't think I'll buy an AC-12 or anything (it's a little pricey for what would essentially be a static model) but it's nice being able to advertise, and it makes for a nice backdrop...trains running just above other trains always looks good.

[twhite]

Aggrojones--I grew up on Espee's Donner Pass line (the "Hill") when the AC's were running three to a train, about forty trains a day. That's why SP has trackage rights over my Rio Grande California Extension--I couldn't possibly call myself a serious California steam model railroader without at least ONE AC, preferably an AC-6. I think we all fall in love with different locomotives during our lifetimes, that certainly must explain the hodge-podge I've got on my roster. When I shut down operations tonight, I had just parked an SP 'Deck' by the oiling facility right next to the coaling tower where one of my ex-Missabe Rio Grande L-142 2-8-8-4's was getting fueled. Dang, it's fun, isn't it?
Tom

[camarokid]

I grew up two blocks from a CB&Q secondary line. However, when I saw my first SP Daylight I was hooked. Now I model SP, UP and ATSF, in the 40's to 50's. That way I can run my Big Boy and all those War Bonnet F's whenever I want. My layout does not reflect southern California or the American Southwest. It is simply what I want it to be. That doesn't mean I won't at some time change it to something more realistic to the railroads I model. Nothing is etched in stone in this hobby. Ain't it great!! Deciding on a road to model is mostly about the most engines you have in one road name, isn't it? Have fun in deciding your layout's future.
Archie

[Anonymous]

By far the easiest and probably most fun is to put anything and everything on your layout. I have a lot of Santa Fe (don't know why, it just kinda happened) but right now I have a BNSF, SF, UP, Rock Island, NYC, Great Northern, and Pennsylvania locomotives, and BN, RI, UP, SP, DRGW, and many other cars. No era either: I have a Hudson 4-6-4 and a Dash-8 on the same track.

If you don't want to do that though, you can pick a local line, they are easier to model, because you can get a close up view of how they work and what they do and look like.

Good Luck,
Greg

[CFournier]

When I was a kid growing in Montreal, I lived near a CP yard and main line that had a lot of action. I remember going in the yard to watch trains being made up. I saw a lot of CN freights and passenger trains in Montreal too. But I model the Western Pacific in California. Been there only twice, for a total of maybe 20 days only. Never saw a single WP engine in person altough I plan to visit the Portola museum one day. I just fell in love with the WP silver and orange paint scheme. Then I liked the fact that it was kind of a regional RR pulling long strings of reefers and boxcars on a main line across beautifull Californian scenery and dry desert flats. I was attracted to San Francisco and Monterey in the first place mainly because of my reading of Steinbeck, Kerouack and Jack London. I bought also some 4 or 5 SP diesel engines at swap meetings. I confess I bought them to use their motors and frames to power some WP and CBQ (chinese red) Geep's shells I had bought earlier. But recently I found out that the SP had a line in Monterey, and decided to run my SP locos on the western part of my layout! I also have some nice ATSF F-3 Warbonnets that will pull a Super Chief occasionaly.[;)]
That's how I got to model that road.
Chris

[Anonymous]

I grew up along the pennsy,and one of my most vivid memories is seeing a B&O F7aba pulling the capitol limited on those rails.Must of been an excursion because that was in the early sixties.I model the C&O mostly because I like their Steam power. Also for the relief the railroad provided for all the families along it's path to better their lives.I don't personelly think that absolute prototype would be the best thing for me.I like to many other roads and engines not found on C&O rails.I run big UP steam and my newely accuried Alco Ge turbine,CP Fairbanks Morse Trainmasters,SP bloody nose alco hoods,Pennsylvania steam ,NYC steam.C&O, B&O, WM , hoods and f's.I tried the suggestion about closing your eyes and see what images comes to mind,I got a headache from all the pictures of trains trying to cram there way into that limited amount of space,had to get a shot of eggnog and set down for awhile.What ever road you decide to model with the size ,and variety of your collection,it no dought will allways be interesting. Terry.

[Virginian]

I was priviledged to see the finest reciprocating steam locomotives in the world in action, and that's what I love to model; N&W and VGN steam.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Virginian

I was priviledged to see the finest reciprocating steam locomotives in the world in action, and that's what I love to model; N&W and VGN steam.

I truley envy you sir,I wish NS would bring 1218 back out of retirement ,and into excursion service I would have one of the first tickets sold.