I am not very time accurate, The moose and buffalo were gone from my area by 1850, but I claimed to model 1950, until a friend asked to leave his "Mother Hubbard" on the layout to pull a thru freight. Doesn't really match any diesel.
I and the guys who come over have fun.
Dave
I model the B&O during a 5-year time span between 1969 and 1973 (inclusive). This allows me to run an occasional passenger train for the earliest years, or a few Chessie diesels for 1973. Obviously I won't have both Chessies and E8's running at the same time. I have 45 1:87 Ford Mavericks to use as loads for my open auto racks, and their body style didn't change much between 1969 and 1973 so I have some flexibility there as well.
I prefer to keep my locos and cabeese as era-accurate as possible, since those are what visitors usually focus on. I'm not quite as strict about freight cars, I just need to avoid having anything too modern [such as Conrail]. I don't worry about build dates - at my age I need a magnifying glass to see those. As for the vehicles - I position all my post-1973 model-year cars toward the back of the layout and those of 1962-73 in the foreground.
For photographs, I want to be able to shoot scenes on the layout that look "real", i.e. no obvious anachronisms.
However, there is one Rule #1 car I want to run: An Exactrail 63ft center-beam flat car. These didn't appear until 1977, but 90% of my guest operators won't know or care.
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
My timeline is a little vague, the 1950's. I like steam engines, and they didn't last into the 1960's. So call it the 1950's. And in the 1950's boxcars were only 40 foot long, so I can have more cars in a train than I could in a later era of 50 and 60 footers. I was alive back in the '50s and still remember some stuff from that era. Like passenger service, which is pretty much dead now a days.
Except, for rolling stock that I really really like, such as a tri level auto rack (with a vehicle load) , some blue bird GP40's. And other stuff. like an ABBA set of ALCO FA2's painted for Mopac, that has no real excuse to run on a B&M layout. But I like them. It's a hobby.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
My layout will be accurate within my Conrail era 1987-89 and BNSF with Union Pacific in 1998-2007.
When companies makes a freight car I look for it in pictures to see if it was photographed in the numbers they are making. I also see if their in a era or year when it taken.
If so I buy it or not. The same thing like getting locomotives. Serial numbers and paint schemes got to match the year I'm modeling.
I'm not a rivet counter that's way to hard.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Modeling the early to mid 50's gives me a lot of leaway. Steam was still around, diesels were coming fast. Passenger trains were still carrying many folks. The limitation I try to put on myself '59, but I keep the post '55 to a minimum. I do have an Amtrak loco and cars, because I like the looks of them and am concidering a branchline that didn't exist in the 50's, but did use first generation diesel power, so it "looks right".
Have fun (that's what counts),
Richard
Your question assumes that one has only one layout, or one set of equipment. I have equipment from all eras. I keep them in sets that are era appropriate with each other. I would not think of running the 1930s freight cars behind an SD40-2 loco or vice versa. They are in different sets and would look ludicrous with one another.
The era is not depicted by just rolling stock. So I take your question as to the era of the layout in general such as streets,buildings, people's clothes, automobiles, etc compared to the trains. In this case, within 10 years.
Ive actually enjoyed finding a certain date in time to model, for me its the summer of 1989 on the MKT in Missouri. There was a merger with several railroads (UP, MoPac, MKT) so it gives me a ton of Loco and rolling stock options. I'm also a history buff, so its been a lot of fun doing the research as well. At the end of the day everything wont be perfect, but its a good time trying to get it that way.
Really, it depends on your definition of "accurate". But always keep in mind that my layout's purpose is for ME to have fun. If you don't like what I'm doing with it, go build your own layout.
So, the Connecticut Valley Railroad is loosely based on a New Haven branch line in the late 1950's. Structures, figures and vehicles are accurate to that period. Steam was several years gone from the real New Haven by then, but I still run some, and McGinnis paint (orange, white and black) was the order of the day, but I still have most of my stuff in pre-war green or post war orange.
So, nothing too far out of whack, but the locos span a good 15 years of history, rather than the late '50's.
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
Modeling in a specific era can be challenging sometimes. I'm modeling the '70's up through about 1977. With many rebuilds on freight cars during that era and the advent of Conrail, as well as many mergers during that time, many cars that look plausable on a layout from this era may well have build dates that are into the 80's. I have some of these cars but I don't feel that they need to be left off the layout as they sort of capture the feel of the era anyway. I also probably have way too many 40' boxcars for that era but again, they capture the feel, as I see it. Also I've seen many layouts, especially at clubs, where the time period, as well as the specific railroad, is quite eclectic. I try to keep specific era in mind when looking to add to my fleet, so I try to stay away from the obvious, such as the old AAR or wood sheath boxcars, for example; no steam, of course. Nothing against steam (not to offend all you steam fanatics!), it just doesn't fit the era I'm modeling.
Big Boy Forever How many here have exact time period accurate rolling stock, according to your layout time period?
isn't this simply picking a date (year) and not having any equipment built or re-built after that date, and probably not having anything older that 30 years.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
I try to keep my modeling to the PRR, 1964 - 1968, which corresponds to my railroad hiring date of 1-30-1967. However, I atend to freelance, so I allow myself a lot of leeway with historical fact.
You can always get a few passenger cars, or scratch build freight cars converted to tourist RR cars (example:flat cars with roofs and benches). Then you can run old locomotives and cabooses.
gregcisn't this simply picking a date (year) and not having any equipment built or re-built after that date, and probably not having anything older that 30 years.
That's part of it (and depending on your era you may be dealing with a 40-year or 50-year rule for interchange cars).
Another concern is representing cars with the appropriate changes to stenciling and safety appliances. The car above represents a prototype with the running board removed, the A end ladders shortened to four rungs, a separate grab added to the roof at the B end where the full-height ladders remained. It also received an ACI label to the left of the door, and a consolidated stencil at right between the dimensional data and the ladder. The safety applicance revisions date to circa 1966 or after. The style of consolidated stencil dates the car to about 1974 or later. Figuring all this stuff out is part of the challenge (and fun) of era-specific modeling.
Rob Spangler
Dual era, both modern, covering 1990 to about 2010. U.S Pre-ditch light ...early 90s, and post ditch light....late 90's early 2000s. Freelance short line.
It covers my desire to run old Alcos and new Gensets.
- Douglas
I model "today", mostly accurately, but if CSX were to repaint all their logos white tomorrow, I wouldn't go crazy trying to catch up in a week.
edited cuz I can't type on an iPad...
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler
Most of my rolling stock fits the 2000's, however, I do have a few that are just a little bit (some a lot...) out of that time frame... Either gifts, inherited, or just because I like them.... Whole part of the "it's my railroad" bit. Some of it I explain as belonging to a local historical society, and they "allow" their use on my railroad as a consession of my railroad funding their restoration, such as my 2 steamers, and then of course I need some kind of steam appropriate cars for the photo-freight. Others are also from the historical society, as my RR president and CEO (me) also is a board member of the historical society. (Exsists only in HO scale, and only in my train room.) Great thing about the proto-freelancing. I get to write the rules, to an extent. If any of my cars or loco's didn't fit the time, now they do. So all my cars and loco's fit my layouts era, within reason.
EDIT: Also how I get away with a shortline having runthrough power, trains, and unit trains from a class 1 RR when most shortline do not. Yes, there were, and are, some exceptions to this rule, but those are exceptions. Not the standard rule.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
I am modeling the late 1940s' -1950's end of steam era - and I have been as time specific as I can possibly be.
I have passed on and Chessie Cat logos and the Rock Island blue Rock cars.
Its steam era, 1920s to 1940s for me. I try to keep people, buildings, and vehicles somewhere appropriate in that era. Although, most figures available are usually more modern. My layout is so small, I need to run equipment that is short. So I'm collecting rolling stock from earlier eras. I'm developing a sort of old timey but pinnacle of steam mash of eras with some people that travelled back in time!
I'm modeling fall, mid October, 1958. Well sort of. Maybe it's a year or two earlier, or is it later? What I'm really doing is trying to capture the culture and lifestyle of the South Carolina piedmont cotton mill towns. They were pretty much frozen in time. Other than automobiles, some of those towns looks like they did 50 years ago, there perhaps they were move alive then. To me the goal is to create an impression of deja vu in someone. If they think "I've been to that town, I just can't place it" then I've succeeded.
Unfortunately for me, I bought cars and locos as I found them for sale at a good price, not considering time era. So now I have an issue of mixture of time eras with my rolling stock freight cars some of which I'm not sure of the time periods and that is the reason I've been asking trying to get some feedback.
I model a fairly broad timeline---from about 1939 to 1954, which makes it quite easy for my locomotives and rolling stock to be time-accurate. I have gone 'outside' the timeline a few times, with freight cars that I liked and had builders dates in the 1960's, but a 50' plug-door reefer is probably about as radically 'outside' my time frame as I've gotten, lol. My diesels are 1st generation F's, and even my two streamlined passenger trains are made up of immediate post-war equipment. But for the most part, a train on my layout will consist of vintage 1930's and '40's rolling stock and pulled by steam locomotives.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Big Boy ForeverUnfortunately for me, I bought cars and locos as I found them for sale at a good price, not considering time era.
This is probably cold comfort, but I would suggest that it is a reasonably common problem.
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Indeed..I started my 78-80 modeling by staying on target,then WOW! would ya look at that beautiful Walthers's Ohio Central GP7..I had to buy some 90 era cars to go with it.Then added some CR,NS and CSX units..
Still to fulfill a long time desire I found myself buying 4 Seaboard System GP38-2s then I entered the 80s and had to buy matching cars like Seaboard System,CSX,NS and other cars correct for the 80s.
The good news is a lot of the cars I already owned could be used between modeling eras so,cost was held at a minimum.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Big Boy Forever Unfortunately for me, I bought cars and locos as I found them for sale at a good price, not considering time era. So now I have an issue of mixture of time eras with my rolling stock freight cars some of which I'm not sure of the time periods and that is the reason I've been asking trying to get some feedback.
Not really a problem. As you can see, many modelers have more than one era. I like trains of all eras. This is a hobby...not a history class......so I find that excluding trains that I like simply because they are not historically accurate kind of limits the fun.
You probably have one era that is your favorite. Model that and try not to worry about how much stuff from other eras you have collected.
Don't build your layout to justify equipment you bought...that's not the way to do it, IMO. Model the one era you like...then find something to do with the other stuff later. You can either sell the stuff that no longer fits the era, or simply break it out once in a while and run it simply because you like to watch them run.
My modern short line runs Gensets......but I've got a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 simply because I like it.
That's why a dual era layout works well...it allows you to run different equipment. The surrounding structures like the kits offered by Pikestuff and DPM really span many decades so the scenery and supporting stage wouldn't necessarily conflict with either era. However, you may have to swap out vehicles and other details if you're going to be a serious photographer. I am not, so I wouldn't bother.
DoughlessDon't build your layout to justify equipment you bought...that's not the way to do it, IMO.
Excellent advance..A generic layout can be used for several era simply by switching out vehicles-wee folk doesn't stand out as much as (say) 50 era cars and trucks on a 90-95 era layout..Older billboards should be replaced as well but,IMHO and judging by my experience our eyes seem to focus more on locomotives,cars and vehicles..
What I have found is that the more I research about any particular time, the more changes I see over time. A lot of it is how detailed do you want to be. If you take pretty much any 10 year period the differences between the first year and the last year will be "significant" in the details. Any 20 year period the differences in equipment, scenery and operations could be huge.
Case in point. A billboard with a phone number in 1956 might just be a number with no exchange. In 1966 the exchange will be alphanumeric (Kingswood 6 or KI6-xxxx) and in 1976 the number might be pure numbers with an area code (215-546-xxxx). In 1895 most cars will have link and pin couplers and no air brakes, ladders or grab irons on the sides or ends but typically not both. In 1905 cars will have mostly knuckle couplers and air brakes. In 1915 all cars will have knuckle couplers, air brakes and more modern safety appliances and lettering.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Hi Big Boy Forever
Quite a lot of people are and some are not.
But all of us strive for a believable model railroad.
There are that many different areas of interest and levels of railroad development tied to the particular modellers interest.
the whole qustion needs to be tailerd to type of model railroad being built.
regards John
Like I said before, I am trying to be as realistic as possible. For me, that makes it satisfying, maybe for others it doesn't matter that much. Everyone has their own idea of fun or what a hobby is, for me it's this. This idea of "realism" for me flys out the window when I see a good deal on equipment at an estate sale or 2nd hand sale. Example is I found nine cabeese of all styles, RTR Athearns with metal wheels, for about $20, and I know the caboose was retired in the 80s. They sure roll nice however. Now I'm researching how to fit them into my freelance RR. I think my shortline still uses a caboose on their trains, since they are not a class 1.
The biggest problem in this area of this hobby I'm having now, is determining what era, within the 50 year rule, that each piece of rolling stock fits, so I can justify an interchange scenario on my freelance shortline, with a class one RR. Luckly I have several SD-40-2 diesels, so I know they cover a wide swath of years, some being used today in many train comanies, including class ones. This is why I created the thread on photos "with dates" of rolling stock, so I could hopefully get some photo feedback from some experts here to match my cars to pictures and identify them. Maybe others here could use those photos also.
Too bad there isn't one big encyclopedia of rolling stock that we can access to find this info. As I dig deeper into the information on train companies, operations and equipment, it gets overwhelming how much there is to learn, if you want to stay within the boundries of realism plus all the construction and engineering factors and artistic skills that goes into model railroading per se' by itself. It can get pretty deep.