NP2626 It would seem most of us are attracted to hometown rails and this certainly makes some sense!
It would seem most of us are attracted to hometown rails and this certainly makes some sense!
Kind of. I grew up in State College Pennsylvania, which is Pennsy territory (then Penn Central, then Contrail).
Now I model the New Haven, which is the home road of my adopted home town. Although I'm a big fan of byth NYC and Pennsy, I wanted to model the tourist line across the river from my home in the days before it was a tourist line.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
jacon12 On the favorite prototype question, that would be Southern/Norfolk Southern... which shows how conflicted I am about the era I want to model. Jarrell
On the favorite prototype question, that would be Southern/Norfolk Southern... which shows how conflicted I am about the era I want to model.
Jarrell
Oh I shoulda mentioned them. To bad I forgot.
"Mess with the best, die like the rest" -U.S. Marine Corp
MINRail (Minessota Rail Transportaion Corp.) - "If they got rid of the weeds what would hold the rails down?"
And yes I am 17.
Great Northern. Everything about it. Don't know why it was the one that stuck, Maybe because it was in my backyard while growing up and Grandpa would take me down to watch their trains
I've got two...Burlington Northern and CN.
Burlington Northern because of the type of traffic it had..and CN, well, because of the way that the CN mainline cuts through the Beachville Limestone quarry complex....
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
UP, cause SP doesn't exist anymore. I still have road numbers to change.
Grew up near Pot Yard with Penn Central, RF&P, B&O, SCL and Southern and played on the Washington and Old Dominion ROW, but I honor my Grandpa and model the Grand Trunk Western in 1953. I also honor my wife’s Grandpa and have a some Frisco sitting around the house.
Steve
#1
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Why?
"Through the Rockies"
Narrowgauge
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Very easy. ATSF, Santa Fe, on and on. Why? They provided my dad a job as a locomotive engineer for almost 50 years, they provided me summer work in the yards in Oklahoma while I went to college and seminary, they provided me a job at the Topeka HQ in the new data processing section, sent me to IBM school, and gave me a second career to finance my first career as a minister.
So I owe the major part of my life to Santa Fe and I model them in the basement still at age 75.
Bob
I've always had an affinity for New England roads, particularly the Boston and Maine. What little modeling I do seems to lean that way. I grew up in a house overlooking the NYNH&HRR main line and witnessed its final days before briefly becoming Penn Central and then Conrail. I wish I had my digital camera back then! I remember seemingly endless lines of rumbling freight cars roll by as I dried the evening dishes for my mother.
New Haven had such an eclectic array of motive power, as Linemanram would say, "suck neatly panted diesals!" Indeed...wouldn't that look great on aT-shirt?
I grew up in Jersey City close to the ERIE terminal and for some reason the ERIE captured my imagination. My grandfather worked for the NYS&W aka Suquehanna so I also have an interest in that RR as well. My current, no where near finished, layout is ERIE with an NYS&W interchange that includes some extensive trackage rights.
Mark
Santa Fe in Chicago, from Alton Junction at 21st Street to Dearborn Station at 8th Street.
That 13 block stretch remains my Dream Layout.
It has everything, a downtown passenger station, four track main line, a coach yard, turntable and round house, engine servicing facility, a freight yard, two bascule bridges, a lift bridge, and a 22 diamond crossing.
Rich
Alton Junction
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
I would have to say CSX,for over 20 years I worked right next to the CSX main going east out of my hometown,but because of that I am a fan of Canadian Pacific because for a lot of those years CP had trackage rights,
I also like NS as once Conrail was gone NS was here,even though there yard seemed to have more cars stored for a local shortline.Not much of a Conrail fan even though they were here for many years.
Rdrr New Haven had such an eclectic array of motive power, as Linemanram would say, "suck neatly panted diesals!" Indeed...wouldn't that look great on aT-shirt?
Poor guy has one small episode of fat fingers and not reading what he typed, and he's forever immortalized in forum folklore!
Dirty keyboards will do that....
Well, I started off modeling the Canadian Pacific. Grew up a kilometer from the Agincourt Yard.
Started building a proto-lance layout in my previous house then found read an article that CP owned the D&H. Started reading up on the D&H, came across an article on the PA's then fell in love with the D&H. Because of this, I'm proto-lancing my current layout around the CPR owned D&H through New York State.
Trees, lake running along cliffs & more trees.
Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H!
K1a - all the way
Mmm - favorite (US) railroad. Hard to say - there are so many interesting railroads.
My main interest is in urban or waterfront switching in cramped conditions in the late 1950s - that is the era and type of railroading I find most exotic, most interesting, most practical to model in small rooms. Short cars, short trains, colorful diesels from a variety of makers, lots of rail served industries, single car switching. Within that era and type of railroading, there are two places that really appeal to me - the Twin Cities and New York City.
The Twin Cities because of family connections - my wife is from the Cities, and because I have read quite a bit about the place. New York City because it's rail-marine environment look interesting.
Some railroads I like in the Twin Cities in the transition era: Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Milwaukee Road, Omaha Road, Minneapolis and St. Louis, Minnesota Transfer For New York: Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, Harlem Transfer, Bush Terminal, Jay Street Connecting, New York Cross Harbor, South Brooklyn Railway (A list of some railroads here: http://trainweb.org/bedt/).
Smile, Stein
AggroJones Southern Pacific in the classic era 1920-1960. Its a big window.....
Southern Pacific in the classic era 1920-1960. Its a big window.....
I'm also a Southern Pacific fan having moved as a 7 year old to California (father was USAF) and lived there until I was about 24 - very much formative years to any train fan. In the 80's I took some trips to Colorado, partly to take my sisters to Aspen Music Camp and got interested in the D&RGW and Rocky Mountain scenery.
Due to the above, I mainly collect Rio Grande rolling stock between 1965 and 1990, but also collect a significant amount of Southern Pacific rolling stock. SP diesels, primarily SD40T-2, SD45T-2, SD45 and SD40 model diesels mixed with Rio Grande in the 80's and freight trains came out of the Pacific Northwest, lots of lumber traffic.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I have several so I am actually planning a free lanced line in and around my original hometown of Wheeling, WV. C&O, N&W, Pennsy, W&LE, P&WV, and Virginian are my favorite prototypes. The B&O ran through town as did Pennsy and the W&LE terminated there. I will be modeling the late 50s and possibly a second time frame in the late 60s with an eye toward building what might have been instead of what has been. It will be my chance to keep everything prosperous and growing instead of dying a slow death as it is now.
My favourite U.S road? Heck, whats not to like about any of the north eastern roads? However if someone was to twist my arm up my back, ( not that I'm condoning the use of violence), I have to go for the Clinchfield.
Cheers, The Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Uncle Pete and Big New Santa Fe
I also have a soft spot for 70-80s Southern Pacific, flared radiators, tunnel motors... mmm... Nearly makes me want to back date!
James, Brisbane Australia
Modelling AT&SF in the 90s
I spent my early childhood in Livonia, MI - C&O country, lots of Enchantment Blue and yellow geeps with a few F-units thrown in. Then my family moved to Maryland and our first place was in Rockville, MD, near the busy B&O Metro branch. More blue & yellow diesels. So I wound up modeling both those roads, but never Chessie.
In a misguided effort to get my son interested in trains, I started modeling CSX since it runs less than a mile from my house. Didn't work, now I want to go back to modeling B&O but can't afford it yet because I'm paying college tuition for my kids
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
As you can see from my avatar its the DT&I, but I model the Toledo Terminal as it is the perfect prototype.
The actual track around Toledo is an oval and it interchanged with the DT&I, D&TSL, WAB, NKP, B&O, C&O, PRR, NYC, OPS, and TAW. I can then run all my favorite motive power from these railroads.
Rick J
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
My favorite railroad is the B&O for a few reasons. It ran through my hometown and it also put food on the table for us as my father worked in the diesel repair shop at Glenwood Yard in Pittsburgh, PA. I also thought that they had some gorgeous steam locomotives with some of my favorites being the EM-1 2-8-8-4 (thank you Bachmann), the T3a 4-8-2, and the S-1 2-10-2 and of course those early diesels with the Blue and Gray paint scheme and the passenger equipment to match.
I like that they took pride in their equipment and kept their locos looking good with even the steam engines be well kept until the end of steam. I love the country side that they traversed and the mountains they had to climb. I also love that they were the first US common carrier railroad.
Of course all of this influenced the railroad I am modeling and the area that I am modeling. I am modeling the B&O from Glenwood to New Castle with me choosing Glenwood as the starting point as my Dad worked there.
TOm
Modeling the Pittsburgh Division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from Glenwood Yard to New Castle Yard following the old P&W Mainline.
Visit my website at: http://www.baltimoreandohiorr.com
The Clinchfield is my favorite. It runs right through the heart of the Appalachian Mountains with heavy coal drags powered by multiple steam and later diesel engines. Beautiful scenery with massive power makes a great combination.
Southern Pacific.
I grew up about a hours drive from the Tehachapi Loop. Nowadays, I live near Sacramento and it's only a 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive to the top of Donner Pass. Besides these great areas to watch and photograph trains, there are the one of a kind engines such as the cab-forward that the Espee operated.
I've been back in model railroading (I'm in N scale) about 5 years now (after a 25 year period) , and I'd say about 80 percent of my trains are Espee. Yes, I even purchased a cab-forward-N scale.
If I was to choose another railroad it would either have to be the Great Northern (I would model the Cascade Pass and the Wenatchee area1945-1970) or the Sante Fe (Southern California between 1950-160)
Canadian Pacific. Which is odd I guess as it was the Canadian National mainline that ran through my home town. I used to love watching the F-7' passenger units screaming through town and the rows of box cars lined up on the siding at the four grain elevators we had. Sadly my hometown is slowly fading away. Just like the passenger trains the siding and all four elevators are gone. They are still alive on my layout though. only now it is maroon and gray CP units that go past.
The New York Central (NYC)
Why? For me - it has some of the most unique, handsome, and classic steam locomotives that existed. I'm also fortunate to live within a few miles of Collinwood; the eastern terminus yard for locomotives picking up or dropping off passenger cars coming from or heading to Cleveland Union Terminal.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
SP, now the UP. If you chose the right time period, you can run lots of different road power.