Boy! what i have missed

[Anonymous]

This year is the first time that i have read ho model forums. I often said ,why are some modelers, rivet counters,they name their layouts according to their locations, and just plain picky. My problem is ,being from new york, i have NEVER seen a steam locomotive,or a 100 car freight train. Here on long island
they only run BUDD cars,and all moving of produce is done by trucks.Now i relize what i have missed, and envy all you fellow railroaders,because you know what you are talking about. If i pick up a freight car ,or a passenger car,
how would i know if the details are correct.So now, when i read the forums
i will appreciate them a lot more.

[Jetrock]

People name their layouts according to their locations because they are trying to model a specific location (or set of locations) for a specific railroad. Some folks just have "generic railroads" where they'll run anything from any railroad or era, and they like it fine because it's easy. But many of us prefer to model a specific line--it offers more challenge, and can be a lot more satisfying and engrossing than just running a "generic railroad."

And how we find out about this stuff is through research. Online research is probably the easiest, but research can also mean trips to a library, trips to railroad musems to see older equipment in operation, or railfanning (taking trips to operating railroads to see how they run.)

If they don't interest you as much, you certainly don't have to model freight or steam. Plenty of people model urban commuter lines because that is what they are most familiar with.

Now, research may sound like work to you, but if it is a subject you are interested in, rather than something your teacher told you to look up, it can be really interesting and engrossing.

New York has quite a bit of railroading history--there isn't much left, but over the past 150 or so years New York has had elevated steam passenger and electric passenger trains, street trolleys, subways, heavy electric passenger lines to bring people to several huge union stations, and a multitude of dockyard freight lines to transfer goods from ships to warehouses. In addition, the upstate area of New York has always been a breadbasket and goods were shipped to market in the city by rail, and I'd venture that at least a couple are still operating.

So do some research--you might be VASTLY surprised by what you find out! I didn't even know that my town had a trolley line (actually THREE trolley lines) until I stared digging up facts and doing some research. Since then I have gotten very involved in several railroad museums and learned a lot, which has helped me build a very satisfying model railroad (as well as allowing me to jabber endlessly on online model railroad forums!)