John-NYBWthey are modeling 1959 and doing it badly.
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I have seen that for myself. Nearly everyone that models "the 1950s" includes things up to 1959, so that means they are modeling 1959, but then they run lots of steam which was all but extinct by 1959.
If that works for you, and makes you happy, then you should do it.
I can't do that. I will not have a roundhouse full of steam locomotives with a cat's-eye tail light Impala in the parking lot.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I always thought jack Burgess was pretty specific with his Yosemite Valley layout being limited to just the month of August. To the point where he's even rebuilt some structures 2 and 3 times because he finds more photos and information after the fact, and never stops his research.
Much more specific and you're really asking for the rivet counters to just try and find something. Oh, it's August 4th? Well I know for a FACT that GM didn't roll out any Chevy whatevers until August 9th that year!
Call me a bad modeler, call me lazy, but I have no plans to go redo the stecils decals on all my rolling stock so that they are all perfect for a car running in 1956. I just won;t run any PAST then - 2 of a 6 pack of Athearn hoppers got donated to the club because they had repack stecils saying 1963. A repack or NEW of 1950 is too old to be running like that in 1956, but meh.
A year or two span lets me run steam legitimately, coincidently the very steam locos I own. Technically all were retired by this time and diesels handled everything - but there was a power shortage and some of the deadlined steam locos were brought back temporarily. To do a single say, I'd have to locate documentation that may no longer even exist to see if both of those locos were assigned service on that day - for that matter, I'd need that information for every diesel. Was 607 available for service that day, or was it in for repairs or inspection? It's unlikely a given loco was laid up for a whole month, and certainly not a whole year.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I am modeling mid/late May in the 1957-59 timeframe on the UP near Ogden, UT. This allows me to plausibly run both big steam locos as well as first generation diesels AND gas turbine engines. I'm a sucker for big locos. :)
I chose mid/late May because because based upon lots of rail-fan photos of Ogden and the Oregon Short Line up through the Cache valley there seems to be a lot of green vegetation at that time of year whereas most of the rest of the year is very brown which my wife finds 'ugly'.
Modeling an HO gauge freelance version of the Union Pacific Oregon Short Line and the Utah Railway around 1957 in a world where Pirates from the Great Salt Lake founded Ogden, UT.
- Photo album of layout construction -
rrinker I always thought jack Burgess was pretty specific with his Yosemite Valley layout being limited to just the month of August. To the point where he's even rebuilt some structures 2 and 3 times because he finds more photos and information after the fact, and never stops his research. Much more specific and you're really asking for the rivet counters to just try and find something. Oh, it's August 4th? Well I know for a FACT that GM didn't roll out any Chevy whatevers until August 9th that year! Call me a bad modeler, call me lazy, but I have no plans to go redo the stecils decals on all my rolling stock so that they are all perfect for a car running in 1956. I just won;t run any PAST then - 2 of a 6 pack of Athearn hoppers got donated to the club because they had repack stecils saying 1963. A repack or NEW of 1950 is too old to be running like that in 1956, but meh. A year or two span lets me run steam legitimately, coincidently the very steam locos I own. Technically all were retired by this time and diesels handled everything - but there was a power shortage and some of the deadlined steam locos were brought back temporarily. To do a single say, I'd have to locate documentation that may no longer even exist to see if both of those locos were assigned service on that day - for that matter, I'd need that information for every diesel. Was 607 available for service that day, or was it in for repairs or inspection? It's unlikely a given loco was laid up for a whole month, and certainly not a whole year. --Randy
My philosophy is pretty similar to yours. If an anomaly doesn't jump out at me, it is acceptable. For example, my modeling year is 1956 but I have several 1959 Ford Fairlanes on the layout because the choices for 1950s vehicles are limited and the styling blends in, especially when I put these cars in a parking lot which is where most of them are. I also have several Jade Green NYC box cars. I acquired these before I learned they were not introduced until several years later but it seemed silly to relegate them to the shelf on a technicality. I model a fictional railroad running through towns that never existed. Why should it bother me to fudge a bit on a paint scheme?
1950's automobiles - to a real car buff, the 1958 model year was a watershed year, virtually all full sized cars appeared with quad headlights, never seen before. So that date would be September 1957.
That said, I agree, if it does not jump out at you, it's fine.
One of the anomalies I challenge people to find on my layout is automotive. It is September 1954, but I have Checker Motors taxi's. The Checker A8 taxi did not hit the streets for another year, in the fall of 1955. But a Checker A8 looks very much like your typical mid 50's sedan.
Sheldon
I'm enough of a car buff to not mix in 58 and 59 models if I am supposedly modeling 56-57. Plus a good portion of the area I'm modeling would not have people in 1956 driving around in shiny new 1956 cars even. Photos of the area taken in the 50's show plenty of early 50's cars, and even late 30's cars in regular use.
Probably the most challenging thing is to get the right cars and trucks - in a time period when at least the exterior appearance changed every year, it's hard to find a large selection because any manufacturer would need 9 different molds to make a 1950's set of just one brand of car. And in the 50's there were more active brands than today. That's a lot of tooling. And then there are trucks - from pickups to straight delivery trucks to semis. Oh and construction equipment, was that model Allis-Chalmers grader available in 1956? There is a whole series of various safety videos from over the years on YouTube which gives you a good look at construction equipment available at a given time.
ATLANTIC CENTRALOne of the anomalies I challenge people to find on my layout is automotive. It is September 1954, but I have Checker Motors taxi's. The Checker A8 taxi did not hit the streets for another year, in the fall of 1955.
My automotive anomoly is the load of 1955 Buicks on this auto transporter. I am not sure if August is too early for them to be on the way to the dealership, but the Oxford Models were so beautiful I had to have them.
John-NYBW I remember reading a comment by one of Kalmbach's staff writers. (Tony Koester, maybe, but I'm not positive). He said when somebody says they are modeling the 1950s, what they really mean is they are modeling 1959 and doing it badly.
I remember reading a comment by one of Kalmbach's staff writers. (Tony Koester, maybe, but I'm not positive). He said when somebody says they are modeling the 1950s, what they really mean is they are modeling 1959 and doing it badly.
I understand the technical accuracy of this, but this sort of statement annoys me because it implies the hobbyist failing at a standard of precision that someone naming a wide date range is not trying for anyway.
I much prefer to judge a railroad on how well it achieves the objectives of it's creator rather than applying someone elses goals and objectives to it.
If you state that you're modeling Dearborn station in March of 1959, the assessment, critique and comment will be much different than if you say you're modeling the Chicago area in the 50's.
Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad for Chicago Trainspotting and Budget Model Railroading.
Eilif this sort of statement annoys me because it implies the hobbyist failing at a standard of precision that someone naming a wide date range is not trying for anyway.
I do not want anyone to become annoyed by this thread.
I would never put down the way any modeler enjoys the hobby.
I started this thread because I am interested in my self-imposed date restriction, which is VERY strict, but I have a Devil-May-Care attitude about so many other aspects of building the layout.
I wanted to see how other thought about it, that is all. I hope no one thinks I am saying my way is better or their way is wrong.
SeeYou190 Eilif this sort of statement annoys me because it implies the hobbyist failing at a standard of precision that someone naming a wide date range is not trying for anyway. . I do not want anyone to become annoyed by this thread. . I would never put down the way any modeler enjoys the hobby. . I started this thread because I am interested in my self-imposed date restriction, which is VERY strict, but I have a Devil-May-Care attitude about so many other aspects of building the layout. . I wanted to see how other thought about it, that is all. I hope no one thinks I am saying my way is better or their way is wrong. . -Kevin .