Hi All
What about http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com which cnanges SCALES for the same layout? I have been following the guys methods and how tos which are brilliant. The same basic 4 x 8 loop with two passing sidings and a return loop has been the basis for On30, HO, Sn3.5 and 1:55n3... all using the same track and base! Admittedly the scenery sizes have been changed etc...
As for time and place, I have a 2-8-4 hauling CP Rail cars in new image... Canadian stuff was really hard to get and modify for here in Australia years ago and it is my railway ... I'll endeavour to be able to run different eras ... one day!
Cheers
Trevor
Going all the way back to the basic question, there are some track patterns that are 'generic railroad' and some that are absolutely point-specific. If you model the basic 'passing siding town on a single track line,' you would be hard-put to tell from the track plan only whether you were on the Maine Central or some single track SP branch. OTOH, Higashi-Shiojiri on the JNR Chu-o Hon Sen is almost certainly unique - lopsided double-crossover with a double slip at the UP corner, three spurs, non-stop trains run straight across the angle of the crossover, anything that stops has to pull a switchback maneuver to get rolling again. Then, too, there were a couple of branches in Wisconsin that terminated with balloon loops...
As far as scenery, there are places in Northern Arizona that look like New England - but having the Grand Canyon on the backdrop pretty well fixes the location.
For many railroads, company buildings were a giveaway - standard design, paint colors, the company name or logo prominently displayed. Those would have to be changed out if the change in Official Prototype required. In earlier times, other buildings would have been obviously regional as well - salt boxes and stark churches in New England, verandas in the old Confederacy, tall false fronts on one-story shops in the desert (and not so desert) Southwest... Recently, that line has been blurred, but a Mission Spanish design meant to be built with adobe still looks out of place in wooded rural Tennessee - even in (or especially in) 1:1 scale. In Tucson, no one would notice it.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - where the Class 1 was a national monopoly)
I tried to give examples of railroads that ranged from Santa Fe thru Western Pacific that I liked to model.
At least I know that it can be done. Does anyone know what scenery and structures to use on this layout?
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
ACYSanta Fe and SCL on the same layout?
Absolutely if you model the Family Lines or Seaboard System..You could see SCL locomotives in Chicago during that time period..
Just remember all SCL/L&N/CRR locomotives wasn't repainted into FL or SS or even early CSX.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Santa Fe and SCL on the same layout? That would be a stretch if you try to do Raton Pass and eastern Virginia side-by-side. But there are areas of Florida that could look similar to some areas of southern California. Palm trees and such. To make it work, you'd probably want to replace the AT&SF's Mission architecture with more typical ACL/SCL style buildings when that's appropriate. But I can imagine it working.
I forgot Western Maryland and Western Pacific. That's A-Z railroading.
Modeling different era's on the same layout can be done:
It is all possible with some 'planning'....
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
What is the ideal scenery to use for multiple railroads?
I like almost every railroad, but I need to know if the same scenery can be used for any road. I like modeling the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe thru the Seaboard Coast Line.
But can it done going through 40 to 50 years with the same city and industries?
BRVRR You certainly can use one layout for multiple railroads. My Black River Valley layout was built with the NYC in the transition era in mind. I run a lot of steam locos and first and second generation diesels in NYC livery. I also run Pennsylvania, Union Pacific and Santa Fe trains from the same era on the layout. Since all of these roads serviced vast areas of the country almost any scenery, buildings or background can be found in their territories. When the mood strikes I also run more modern locos, ie., FP-45s, GPs and SD-40s and AMD103s, from Santa Fe, Norfolk-Southern, Conrail and AMTRAK together with modern consists of freight and passenger cars. Keep in mind that industrial buildings and even most buildings in small towns are usually several decades old or older so except for signage and vehicles there aren't many real changes evident in the small town or rural landscape. Remember, its your railroad, and you can do pretty much whatever you want to do. Good luck,
You certainly can use one layout for multiple railroads.
My Black River Valley layout was built with the NYC in the transition era in mind. I run a lot of steam locos and first and second generation diesels in NYC livery. I also run Pennsylvania, Union Pacific and Santa Fe trains from the same era on the layout. Since all of these roads serviced vast areas of the country almost any scenery, buildings or background can be found in their territories.
When the mood strikes I also run more modern locos, ie., FP-45s, GPs and SD-40s and AMD103s, from Santa Fe, Norfolk-Southern, Conrail and AMTRAK together with modern consists of freight and passenger cars.
Keep in mind that industrial buildings and even most buildings in small towns are usually several decades old or older so except for signage and vehicles there aren't many real changes evident in the small town or rural landscape.
Remember, its your railroad, and you can do pretty much whatever you want to do.
Good luck,
My RR is also a freelanced NYC transition layout. I've created reasons for running a few PRR trains during operating sessions. Recently, I acquired the Hiawatha 4-4-2 and some passenger cars from Fox Valley. There's no way I could logically include this in the operating scheme of my RR and these engines had been scrapped before the era I model, but there's nothing to stop me from running it over my layout between operating sessions. I just like the look of steam era Hiawatha. I have lots of UP equipment from a previous layout, including some Rivarossi steam, a Big Boy, two Challengers, and two Northerns. I would love to run these over the layout as well, but the pizza cutter flanges ride rough on the code 83 rail I now use.
angelob6660 Perhaps Penn Central or Pennsylvania Railroad. Has everyone done this before and made it work?
Perhaps Penn Central or Pennsylvania Railroad.
Has everyone done this before and made it work?
Yes! Dave Vollmer's N Scale Juniata Division circa PRR 1956 and Penn Central 1980 using two hollow-core doors, and portable for train shows.
The newer addition, staging at Enola Yard (in the distance), uses two subtle viewblocks with the hillside and highway overpass. See the prototype Enola Yard (YouTube 1) for circa 1967 PRR engines, and; Enola Yard (YouTube 2) for current-day NS operations including the highway overpass (at 2:50).
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
The main point was; Can one track plan could be used for multiple roads with basically the same structures.
Its not the cars that determine what RR they are on, it is the locomotives and caboose. Cars from all systems are on all other systems through interchange. The locomotives are the ones that usually stay on the home road.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
If you model the modern era then you really wouldn't have to change what railroad you are modelling as many class 1s have foreign power running on them, sometime the only locomotives you see are foreign power.
As long as you don't stray too far, I don't see why you couldn't. For example, the Appalachian region looks very simlar from the northeast down through Tennessee and Georgia. The movie Last of the Mohicans which was set in upstate New York was actually filmed in North Carolina. So just about any road that ran through the Applachian would look right. Not so if you wanted to swap in a railroad from other regions of the country.
The other thing to be concerned with is the makeup of your rolling stock. To be realistic, the lion's share should be from your home road and the next group made up of interchanging railroads. You can always add in a few from distant roads.
My own layout is a freelanced road through northern NJ and southern NY set in the mid 1950s with Appalachian foothills making up the 3-D scenery and the backdrop suggesting the mountain ranges. My towns are not actually places so they have a very generic look. There are probably dozens of railroads that would look right on my layout, but I would be more inclined to shift eras rather than locations. That would mean swapping vehicles and changing out some of the structures to update or backdate the layout. If I were to backdate it, one of my towns sprang up in the post war building boom so I would either make it completely rural or just a little crossroads. Many years ago I saw an article in one of the magazines that showed how this could be accomplished with lift out modular scenery.
How many of you made a layout track plan built for one railroad, but it can be used for multiple railroads?
I'll give you an example. I plan to model NYC in 1967 with at least 4 industries. When I get tired with NYC I'll replace the diesels and cars with Chessie System. Then it will become CS layout somewhere in the 1970s. Perhaps Penn Central or Pennsylvania Railroad.