There has been some interesting discussions in these forums, usually as a side note, about what areas that one is modeling, both prototype and freelanced, that don't usually fit the norm that we see in a lot of layout design. Want to hear from everyone who is modeling a line or region, where and why. Looking for those who prefer short lines or regionals versus the class 1 carriers. In my case, I'm currently bulding my first layout in almost 20 years that is freelanced based on the New York Central, Pere Marquette/C&O and Ann Arbor in Northern Michigan spanning the 1940s to 1980s. It's nostalgic for me growing up in Lower Michigan and spending a lot of vacation time in the nothern part of the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula and now living in Texas.
The railroads in and around Atlanta, Georgia do not seem to get any modeling attention.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SS Chief WawatamI'm currently bulding my first layout in almost 20 years that is freelanced based on the New York Central, Pere Marquette/C&O and Ann Arbor in Northern Michigan spanning the 1940s to 1980s
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
SS Chief WawatamIn my case, I'm currently bulding my first layout in almost 20 years that is freelanced based on the New York Central, Pere Marquette/C&O and Ann Arbor in Northern Michigan spanning the 1940s to 1980s.
That's a fascinating area for railroading, for sure! I've always had a good time visiting the railroads of Michigan. Petoskey is one of my favorite places.
I have an interesting book about the Chief Wawatam by Frances D. Burgtorf. Have you read it? Quite a story. Excellent backgrounds and interviews with the crew.
Cheers, Ed
SS Chief WawatamLooking for those who prefer short lines or regionals versus the class 1 carriers.
My Summerset Ry is a terminal switching railroad base loosely on Progressive Rail's Airlake Industrial Park operation.
My Slate Creek Industrial Park is located along the beautiful shores of Lake Erie in or near Lorain,Oh..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Doesn't it just figure that a native Michigander would move to Saginaw, Texas!
Rich
Alton Junction
That's easy, the photogenic Ruby Canyon near the border of CO and UT.
Timeless beauty that spans time; here are photo's spanning more than 100 years:
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I'm not modeling the area but am the railroad: Division Point - Bellefontaine, OH (NYC - Big Four). Huge yard - two, in fact - and a long ascending grade into town that often required helper service for trains heading north. High tower was the name given to the unusually tall interlocking tower at the peak of the hill. The intersection headed towards Cleveland or Indianopolis for trains going north and Cincinnati heading south.
Speaking of which, Terminal Tower in Cleveland and Union Station in Cincinnati would be two more locations that I have never seen modeled. And I'll also throw in the Shaker Square trolley line - east of the Cleveland.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
SS Chief Wawatam, Pere Marquette/C&O and Ann Arbor in Northern Michigan spanning the 1940s to 1980s.
There was another modeler on here some time ago that was in to modeling the Pere Marquette.
I model a short line, no particular prototype, that connects with a regional (WC) and a class 1 (CN) I know, I know, the CN took over the WC in 2001, but NOT in MY world! The location is the upper Midwest, somewhere around the Great Lakes.
I thought that Great Lakes Central would be a great name! I used that name for my railroad since mid 80's. Then, on an internet search, I discover the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay RR. reorganized under the name GLC ! I was devastated! How dare they!
But anyway, I like short lines. When we used to spend time in NC. visiting our son at Fort Bragg, I use to watch the Aberdeen & Rockfish interchange with the CSX. That's the kind of railroading I like.
The area where Jim shows looks absolutely stunning!
Mike.
My You Tube
So many Class 1 railroads ran in and out of Chicago that one might think it impossible to model Chicago railroading with anything but a Class 1 railroad.
But I model the Chicago and Western Indiana (C&WI) which was a shortline railroad that provided the trackage for six other railroads to reach Dearborn Station in dowtown Chicago. The most prominent feature of the C&WI was a 4-track mainline that ran through the south side of Chicago to Dearborn Station.
One of my favorite sites is the overlook just below the Rockville bridge in Enola, PA. Lots of action across the bridge with a beautiful view up the river.
richhotrain Doesn't it just figure that a native Michigander would move to Saginaw, Texas! Rich
I've been to Saginaw MI, never been to Saginaw TX.
I will second Kevin's comment, the southeast seems to be a neglected region for some reason.
I model the Mid Atlantic, set in 1954, totally freelanced with no attempt to model real locations. But there are scenes planned on the new layout that are inspired by specific real locations.
They include:
The B&O junction at Point of Rocks MD
The WESTERN MARYLAND RAILWAY swing bridge in Baltimore
The WESTERN MARYLAND and the B&O within sight of each other along the upper Patomac River
The Baltimore harbor district with street trackage, and car float operations (this will actually be a separate ISL)
Urban tunnels, typical of those that take the B&O and PRR under sections of Baltimore
Trackless Trolleys, 1/3 of Baltimore's transit system was trolley buses in the early 50's
A stone arch bridge like the Thomas Viaduct, actually typical of lots of bridges in this region
And a "classic" wye with the passenger station in the middle, we have one minutes from my house in Perryville, MD
Sheldon
caldreamer One of my favorite sites is the overlook just below the Rockville bridge in Enola, PA. Lots of action across the bridge with a beautiful view up the river.
Yes, that is a classic spot.
And a second vote for the B&O HArpers Ferry scene. Often photographed, I've not seen it modelled. On the other hand a few miles downstream is the famous Point of Rocks station nestled in a big wye. I recall seeing a model of that station in some unrelated scene in an issue of MR.
EnzoampsAnd a second vote for the B&O HArpers Ferry scene. Often photographed, I've not seen it modelled.
My design for an N scale CSX layout featuring Harpers Ferry was in Model Railroad Planning 2017. Lance Mindheim is building it for our mutual client. A photo of Lance's in-progress work on the bridges scene is in MRP 2020 (page 92).
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Enzoamps And a second vote for the B&O Harpers Ferry scene. Often photographed, I've not seen it modelled. On the other hand a few miles downstream is the famous Point of Rocks station nestled in a big wye. I recall seeing a model of that station in some unrelated scene in an issue of MR.
And a second vote for the B&O Harpers Ferry scene. Often photographed, I've not seen it modelled. On the other hand a few miles downstream is the famous Point of Rocks station nestled in a big wye. I recall seeing a model of that station in some unrelated scene in an issue of MR.
Many years ago, I was part of a team that built a museum diorama of Harpers Ferry depicting John Brown's raid.
Obviously we modeled the bridges and tracks as they were in 1859.
I have spend a lot of time in Harpers Ferry, yes a great scene.
Like Sheldon, my layout is freelanced, but I model southern Ontario. While all of the towns are named for real ones, there was no attempt to replicate the prototype. I do use the names of a lot of real industries, most of which were located in southern Ontario, but also include some fictional ones.My four freelanced railroads interchange with the CNR, along with the CPR, TH&B, and NYC, all roads which operated in my hometown of Hamilton, in southern Ontario.A nearby club layout does a nice job of representing parts of Hamilton and some of the surrounding towns.
Wayne
I am working on layout based on the Thurso and Nation Valley RR, a logging operation about 50KM from where I live. It had a shay, a heisler, a small Atlantic, and diesel later on. How can I not model that! But I must say that the White Pass and Yukon is a cool narrow gauge one...
Simon
I wish I had the skills to scratchbuild a carferry.
To be honest, the "Chief" is my favorite but I'm equally fascianted with the AA operations out of Elberta (Frankfort). I vacationed there as a child and have fond memories of seeing the big boats across Betsie Lake.
Yup the irony...
I moved to Texas for the work and Saginaw just had a nice home in my price range at the time. It's a suburb of Fort Worth and is the Durand of the region. Busy UP/BNSF diamond with lots of grain elevator switching in town.
Same thoughts with the GLC name. Was thinking about using it for a free-lance road that would allow the specific route to change if needed. I'm also a big fan of the Michigan Northern and might do some custom rolling stock with a "what if" scenario there were more routes and the history would have been more favorable for the line.
I mean, I have a lot of stuff from my local area to pick. Most people who model Utah seem to go straight for either Echo Canyon or Soldier Summit. Credit to Rob Spangler (WP8thSub) for being one of the few to model the west desert, even if his routing is freelance it takes a lot of influence from real locationsi on the WP and SP lines in western Utah and eastern Nevada. But there is still a lot of untapped potential just in my home state. Shortlines like the Bamberger, SLGW, Carbon County and Tooele Valley. Heavy industries like the Kennecott Mine and Smelter, Geneva Steel, US Magnesium. Rambling branchlines like those in Cache Valley or the old Marysvale line. Early 1900's-late 1800's canyon narrow gauge routes. The modern UTA TRAX system of electric light rail... all very strong and unique operations that anyone could serve as an interesting model railroad with a strong sense of theme, place and function. Echo and Soldier Summit constantly draw the main attention, but there is a lot of local stuff that just is begging to be modeled with the same attention as the more famous places do. Outside of my homestate and across the border, the Nevada Northern is just screaming to be modeled; heavy industry, steam passenger service, interchange with two class one railroads, a full service rail yard with a massive engine house and auxilliary buildings... it seems like the perfect shortline to dedicate a whole layout too. Even better, since so much of it is preserved still, its possible to get an accurate idea of how it looked back in the day off modern photos and visits to the railroad.What else, the coastal lines of California deserve a shot in the limelight. I remember watching Amtrak and commuter traffic in Torrey Pines just north of San Diego and thinking about how wonderful it would be as a model railroad. The sense of breaking surf off the coast, palm trees and California dreaming is just an intoxicating location. Also a vote for the Sumpter Valley in Oregon, it would certainly break up the dominance Rio Grande has in American narrow gauge modeling, and the Sumpter just has so many cool things. Heislers, Mikados; logging and mining action with a unique scenery that mixes dredging tailings, sharp mountains and pine trees.
xboxtravis7992Also a vote for the Sumpter Valley in Oregon, it would certainly break up the dominance Rio Grande has in American narrow gauge modeling, and the Sumpter just has so many cool things.
Yes, the Sumpter Valley has a lot going for it and should be more widely modeled.
But no one's to blame for the Rio Grande's outsize influence on NG modeling. It's simply got a lot going for it. Still does, considering that the remnants have been under steam for almost a century and a half. Hard to argue against the fact that it is still making new fans every day, just like it did that to me in 1967 when I first saw it.
That said, there are lesser known aspects of Colorado NG modeling that are worthwhile to consider. I can't really say that the Rio Grande Southern is ignored, given the many who model after it. It's also pretty easy because the RGS drew so much of its rolling stock, etc from the Rio Grande.
Definitely in the lesser modeled territory are the Three Little Lines (the Silverton RR, the Silverton, Gladstone & Northerly, and the Silverton Northern), which ran north to the mines from Silvertion. Like the RGS, they can be done by drawing on various available Rio Grande items plus a little creativity. All are relatively compact lines that many could find the space to model them in.
Speaking of under-modeled narrowgauge, there's the Bedford & Bloomfield, which was eventually absorbed by the Monon and ran between its namesake town and beyond through Switz City. It featured a tunnel, a big bridge over the White River and very local traffic, but even after being standard gauged it mostly gone by WWII. Doing the whole line converted to SG could make for an interesting shortline if you don't wnat to deal with NG.
Another great Monon spot to model that seldom is are the various stone branches in and around the Bloomington/Bedford area. Lots of switching action from moving block stone from the quarry to the mill. Some Monon stuff is available, but you're pretty much on your own in regard to building the masts and booms used to lift the stone out of the pits and load them on beat up old Monon flats. These were typically switched by an RS2 when I lived next to the Maple Hill branch southwest of Bloomington in the early 70s. It's all gone now, but a fascinating operation for me when it was just across the road fromm me those many yeaqrs ago.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I once considered modeling the Frisco since my Railroad Motor Car (speeder) was ex-Frisco. I looked at modeling the area around Vinita, Oklahoma. My first Lionel train set as a child was the Texas Special. The Texas Special took the Frisco from St. Louis to Vinita where the Katy took over to San Antonio. Additionally, my Dad spent some of his childhood in Vinita since my Grandfather's construction company built the town's water and sewer systems.
The new June MR has a great model of the Frisco from St. Louis to Springfield.
Ray
Junction City, Wisconsin, currently owned and operated by CN. A 4 way wye with a fantastic amount of West to East traffic out of Superior To St. Point, Fond du Lac, Chicago and southbound to the Louisiana and Texas. Coal traffic north off the UP through Wisconsin Rapids up to Weston. Just a small town in the middle of Wisconsin that see a lot of continental traffic.
TomO