Your work history and your RR

[Anonymous]

My railroad is built after my town in the 50-60s. So I guess it would be preserving the history of the area. I have had model trains since I was about 7 so I can't say it had anything to do with my work, which I ended up years later working for the State Police for 25 years.

[darth9x9]

Only two of my previous employers will have representation on my eventual model railroad empire. I will have a train of military equipment consisting of equipment from a field artillery unit (I spent two years of military career at Ft Sill, OK) and I will have a UPS facility providing lots of intermodal traffic (I spent 8 years at UPS).

[Anonymous]

No relation to my work history at all!! Strickly a fantasy layout with some parts modeled after scenes in some books I've read over the years.

[fiatfan]

I have worked in a pet food factory for the last 24 years. I will have one on the layout because it is a great traffic genrator. Over the years we have shipped as many as 10 railcars a day. In addition, we used to receive some of our ingredients by tank car.

Tom

[cjcrescent]

45144;
Well there are exceptions, especially when they needed to be supplied with coal for heating and power. But except for this most hospitals on this side of the pond, even in the early days, were supplied from offsite warehouses. These warehouses could be served by the RR's directly , but generally did not provide service to the hospital itself. That's what I was trying to say.

[krump]

Shawn - never got to Edmonton's show, busy with the family, school, work, activities - makes it difficult to get away. sounds like it was a good time
At least going for Quesnel - we can pull it into a family visit

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cjcrescent

I too am modelling the era and part of the area I was raised in. My work history has had no impact on my modelling. After all, how many RR's serve a hospital?

The Milwaukee Road served a small coal fired power plant for a very large hospital complex here in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Road is gone the power plant gets it coal by dump truck now.

I am a Steamfitter and I love heavy industry, so there is a steel mill, power plant, and other large industrial facilities on my layout. I also grew up in a city that once had many large industries served by the Milwaukee or the CNW, everything I just listed is gone. So I guess I am modeling memories. But big industrial plants had allot of switching going on around them.

[shawn-118]

Krump
Did you make it over to the show in Edmonton a few weeks ago? The 'Kickin Horse Pass' club had this amazing layout. It was multi level with running water and the sound. These guys had suds that made the floor vibrate, made you feel like you were standing beside the tracks as the train passed. If only I had the tallent to make something like that...oh well...I've time on my side so who knows I might get there yet. Shawn

[dragenrider]

Being a firefighter/paramedic has resulted in a fire station being built on each stretch of road or each town on my layout. Always out front, too! I've got almost as many fire trucks as locos!

Naturally, there has to be a fire scene. Or two. And a car wreck. Two ambulances at McDonald's (don't ask). Firemen washing a truck at the station. Two or three rigs on the roads...

My other job as a flight nurse has no impact what so ever-other than to help fund the layout! [:D]

[Big_Boy_4005]

OK guys how's this? In the past I have worked in a hobby store (twice), built architectural models for a living, built train layouts for money, and owned a train display that was open to the public. Of course none of these things will be on my layout, as I will be modeling the local prototype.

Come to think of it, this really isn't a hobby for me anymore. It's a way of life.[swg]

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

I like modeling old beat up engines and ratty desert towns of questionable character.

Kind of what you do in reality in LA.....[;)]

[BRAKIE]

My layouts industries is base on the prototypes I have seen over the years.I have modeled warehouses to casket distributors from Meat processors to Tire distributors all based on actual rail served industries I have noticed and made notes of for future modeling.I also base my industries around the type of cars I like such as Boxcars,steel coil cars,covered hoppers,tank cars and reefers.I tend to shun flat cars,hopper cars and gons.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cjcrescent

I too am modelling the era and part of the area I was raised in. My work history has had no impact on my modelling. After all, how many RR's serve a hospital?

There was the 2 footer to Togus (Veterens Home) in Maine for starters and over here in the UK we had at least 4 rail served hospitals that come to mind - mainly mental asylums (Whittington, Hellingly (with overhead electrics), Leek, one near to Preston) and military - Royal Victoria in the First War. Fascinating models thay would all make too and have done.

My last layout had scenes from the East German Border which reminded me of my days in the British Army.

All the best

Kev

[krump]

Shawn-118: I'll be in Quesnel for the Train Show in the Spring, probably going up with the family, but our club will also attend with the module layout.
I'm through Quesnel several times each year (1 month ago actually) as my out-laws reside nearby (south of and in PG, Willy's Lake)
I almost took a probation job in Quesnel about 15 yrs ago. - see how the work and modelling tie in?

perhaps we'll meet one of these months.
drop me an email when you can, thanks

[Anonymous]

Lets see, I once worked for 2 years on a dinner train (part time-weekends) I worked up from carman/labor to assistant conductor to mechanical conductor. When I found out that the dinner train company was going belly up, I drove out to the yard, and walked around in a foot of fresh snow and shot off 4 or 5 rolls of film, documenting and sketching interior plans and car info. Even though much of the work was hard, and I typically put in 22-26 hours a weekend, it was the best part time job you could ever have.
Shortly after the company broke up, I started modeling the dinner train. Now the set is 90% complete. (3 more cars to go!) I can now relieve those crazy, fun, and exhausting days whenever I want, without going out in the hot sun, freezing sleet or driving rain.
Yes, I was affected.[;)]

[shawn-118]

Krump
I work at Tolko in Quesnel. It's a mid-size mill, and one of the last mills that has not been bought out or merged, over the last year in this area.

[Jetrock]

My current career is in mental health, so maybe that counts, since model railroaders do tend to be just a little cracked...

The profession I studied for (teaching history) definitely had an effect--my love of history and love of trains are very intertwined, and in fact my return to model railroading may end up precipitating a change of career--since I have discovered I like historical research as much as model railroading (I spend more time researching my pike and its setting than operating or building it) I'm planning on returning to school for a Master's degree, and am hoping to work in the museum/archivist field (ideally, at a railroad museum!)

[eastcoast]

My work history has really affected my hobby. I do collect all kinds of
police cars though. I am in the Security and Loss Prevention career field,
have been since 1991. My layout is fairly new being that military moves are
hard on layouts after time. I build freelance East Coast Railways and just
"Go WITH IT!" Right now , my scenery is concentrating on a military training
area. I love my job, I love my trains even more.[:)]

[vw-bug]

.

[vsmith]

No my layout has more to do with my interest in history than with my profession. If it had to do with my Profession my layout would be sleek monorails wisking thru an ultra-modern glass and steel city. But I dont wank to do that, I like modeling old beat up engines and ratty desert towns of questionable character.

[Anonymous]

I don't work ( except for lawn mowing[:D] ) but the industries on my layout ( I think ) somewhat accurateley portray the era and region that I am modeling.

[Anonymous]

My industry on my HO scale Eastern RR. Are name after somebody that I know who has a business. Ex. Roberson Printing Co. Paul and Son Shipping Co., where Eastern RR gets alot of our piggy back services.

[twhite]

When I was in college, I worked summers on a US Forest Service fire suppression crew at Truckee, CA (got the job because my dad was the Forest Engineer, ha-ha!). I grew up in a Forest Service family, and when I get the scenery really going on my Yuba Pass line, I'll have a Ranger Station and a fire lookout on Sierra Buttes. Maybe a crew putting out a small bru***imber fire (non-RR caused) somewhere.

[cjcrescent]

I too am modelling the era and part of the area I was raised in. My work history has had no impact on my modelling. After all, how many RR's serve a hospital?

[orsonroy]

Since I'm modeling a prototype line and the prototype industries that were served by it, I really don't have any of my job-related industries online. In my working life, I've worked on a horse ranch, in the US Army, in a lumber yard, in a corporate headquarters, and in two electronics firms. None of those really equate well to a 1950-based model railroad (well, I suppose I'll have some flatcars loaded with tanks roll through once in awhile, as well as Motorola and Magnavox radios in boxcars. And I don't have any online lumberyards...)

[n2mopac]

Not exactly my WORK history, but I grew up on a farm, and much of my modeliing revolves around agriculture industries--large grain elevators, ag products distributors, fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia, propane, etc.
Ron

[Anonymous]

I'm modeling areas that I grew up in. Some towns from the New York and Long Branch commuter route, the oil refineries around Newark airport and MP54 operations around 30th Street station in Philadelphia. (modeler's license is being used big time to get them together on one layout!). The only thing that comes to mind that I might model based on my work is that when I was stationed aboard ship at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, I was always fascinated by the carfloat operations across the bay. Trying to figure out how to incorporate that. I do plan to name some of the businesses on my layout for friends and family. For example, my last CO on ship was a big time baseball fan. Perhaps a sporting goods store could be "Enderly's Sporting Goods" etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

People have often assumed I was interested in modeling ships because of my career with the Canadian Coast Guard. While I was in shore based technical positions, I did deal with ships, buoys, and lighthouses on a regular basis. Never happened - that was work and trains were for fun. The closest that I got to doing anything related to my work was a small lighthouse I scratchbuilt many years ago from some hundred year old plans we had in the office. It is on my latest pair of modules.

One aspect of my work that did influence me in a different way was flying around the area in our helicopters for my 35 years with the CG (I retired 3 years ago). I modeled several CG choppers and accumulated around 150 or so helicopter models. But they took up so much room when built and just became dust magnets so I only built a dozen or so. I still have an interest in aviation, but not in modeling it.

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

No connection for me. Logging and mining is too hard a life.

My LPB's seem to enjoy it though.

Wayne