"It's the South Shore Line, Jim - but not as we know it".
Assuming you live in the UK welcome to the joys of modelling North American railways in the UK....seeing lots of cool stuff at reasonable prices on US websites and then discovering that shipping, UK duty and 'admin fees' ($12 per delivery no matter how big or small) turns your bargain into something less pleasurable. Trying to find odds and ends from UK/EU sellers to avoid the above problem and realising you have 'stuff' that doesn't really fit into your final plan. And lots of other pleasures.....such as different terminology - who knew a signal box is really an interlocking tower?
Seriously - try EF Hatton's in Liverpool - they have a good selection of Peco track plus bits and pieces at reasonable prices with good postage rates. And there are some German sellers that have stuff if you can find it - and if you buy a few items then the postage is fairly reasonable (and no import duty for at least the next two weeks).
And if you enjoy MR then I'd highly recommend the online archive. Despite the search function leaving a bit to be desired there is great stuff there (every Model Railroader since 1934) - you'll happily waste hours reading through the issues. Personally I think the 60's to 90's are my favourite decades - lots of plans of buildings and advice on scratchbuild projects.
I think there are a few UK-based railway modellers in this forum, but I cannot recall the names other than the one of Jon Grant, who has not posted lately.
If you have difficulties sourcing US prototype and rolling stock in the UK, you can either order direct from US sources or sources in Germany, like RD Hobby. It pays off to compare prices, though, especially since the Euro has lost so much against the USD or the GBP.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I model USA prototypes on my home layout
https://kaleyyard.wordpress.com/
My wife is from Newcastle area in northeast england. Last time we were across the pond we visited Jon grant I sunderland. He is a very talanted but not on here #or quite a while.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Jon Grant has done some really nice modeling and diaramas. When my wife and I went over Dec 2014, by then Jon was not very active here and a couple other forums so she had to contact him via facebook so we could arrange to come visit. He had a decent sized basement (for England) in his home and from what I saw, basements aren't very common there. Here is his Sweet Home facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Sweethome-Alabama-201342969884638/info?tab=page_info
I'm involved in a Railroad historical group, and was contacted by a fellow from Wales who is interested in our group. He was attracted to modeling North American railroads because he considers our couplers so much closer to prototype appearance, more practical, and user-friendly than those used on British models.
For my part, I admire many aspects of British railways, with a particular affection for the steam locomotives designed by Sir William Stanier. However, it's not enough to overcome my affection for the things that are more familiar to me. In addition, it seems that standard practice is so different that it would be difficult to get it right from an ocean away. Of course, Pelle and others have shown that it's not impossible.
If the switch feels right to you, I say go for it. The members of the forum will be willing to help out where we can.
Tom
FWIW for years I've felt the other way - that is, that it seemed the best UK modellers were doing better work than those of us in the US. One disadvantage they turned into an advantage is having less room to work with, so UK modellers often go for super-detailing and weathering (Martyn Welch's "The Art of Weathering" is still the best book out there on weathering) a small scene, rather than trying to fit three cities and the Grand Canyon onto a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood.
A problem of modelling something across the ocean is you have to do a lot more research to get things to look and be 'right'. Things that are easy to see, remember, or verify in the US might not be easy to get right from a distance. I remember seeing a US layout built in the UK that was really well done, representing the midwest in the 1950's. The small O scale layout's main engine power was a well-detailed early 1950's GP-9...unfortunately, lettered for Burlington Northern!!
Even something like names - I've noticed British modellers tend to use British names on their US layouts. Sometimes that's correct, but not always. After the British Isles, the largest immigrant group to the US were the Germans, so there are many German names around, especially in industries like beer brewing and meat packing.
I too miss Jon Grant's postings & videos. I watched them over & over and enjoyed every minute. It would be great to see his work once again.
Pittsburgh, PA
Though he may not be a member of the Forum, for inspiration, let me direct your attention to the work of Iain Rice, one of MR's most prolific contributors. Though he lives in Devon, his track plans bring a British design philosophy to North American railroading subjects. Be sure to check out his book "Small, Smart & Practical Track Plans."
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
I'm on the opposite side of the coin. I'm in the US, and model UK, a bit. Love the pre-grouping (pre 1923) period, love that kit building is alive and pretty healthy there.
True, it is a minefield, regarding the whole scale/gauge mess, but the hobby still supports several general rail modeling magazines, and there are excellent publications from the specialized outfits, as well.
Jim F
Don't know how familiar you are with the US, but I'm a big fan of the pre-Grouping era, and when I visit the UK, I have noticed a couple of important differences that really show up in modeling:
Aridity: Britain gets the jet stream, and a lot of precipitation: the vegetation in England and Ireland always seems to be much brighter and lusher than what you see in the States, particularly West of the Mississippi. Equipment and structures weather differently, and whole regions of the US would basically be uncultivatable - and maybe uninhabitable - without artificial irrigation. It's not unusual in Western states to see nothing but golden-yellow fields to the horizon - with a long, thin green slash of trees across your field of view: that's the creek, in some cases the only running water for miles, as I learned at Ft Sill, Oklahoma, twenty years back.
Density: Even now, there are Western states where you can drive for an hour or two without seeing another person. The nation's population is still heavily concentrated on the East Coast and around the major cities. I suspect it's a big part of the reason American modelers put such a premium on scenery. I think one of the things that makes Pelle Soeberg's modeling so interesting is the way he understands this: his layouts never seem crowded. Trains have always been less frequent, and every time the technology has permitted it, train length has jumped and frequency has dropped, because of the third condition:
Cost of Living: America has traditionally had a very tight labor market, and so salaries have always been high. This had a major effect on the way railroads do business: that's why so many American steam locomotives were painted plain black, and have all the jewelry hung on the outside. I love the "Drummond Greyhounds" and the SE&CR Wainwright livery - but after the 1870s, comparable features were very rare on American locomotives, because of the cost of upkeep. Similarly, if an American railroad can replace a man with a device, it was always quick to do so - that's why the first automatic block installations in the U.S. date from the late 1870s, and why CTC came in so rapidly during WWII (I suspect it would have come in earlier, but the Depression probably limited the railroads' access to the necessary investment capital). It's why we dieselized so fast after WWII. If you love the models and the technology, it makes the two transition periods (wood to steel, 1890-1930, and steam to diesel, 1940-1960) so fascinating: there was a tremendous amount of change not just from one year to the next, but in some cases, from one day to the next!
If only it was as well photographed and documented as the British system........
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Any particular American prototype you have in mind - and timeframe? You sound like you're interested in the modern era - northern Michigan is a very busy spot - Norfolk Southern has the old NYC main, which is chockablock, but there are lots of interesting operations there, freight and passenger alike.
Well, you won't face too many limitations, in that case: the seven Class Is (the biggest freight carriers) run so much power through these days that nobody bats an eye at the sight of a UP engine in Harrisburg, PA, or an NS loco at Ogden, Utah. You can mix and match and build your fleet, and decide later what you want the backdrop to look like.
Passenger trains will be comparatively rare, too: the freight system totals some 140,000 route-miles, and Amtrak runs trains on only 21,300 miles of that, and on about 70% of that mileage, the only Amtrak train is a daily (and in some cases a triweekly) long distance passenger train in each direction. One some routes, Amtark runs more frequent service, and there are also commuter rail services in major cities, but for the most part the network is heavily freight-focused. Excursions do occur, but they're rarer these days: the NS and UP have steam programs, but the rising costs of insurance and liability have pared those trips back in recent years.
There are some oddities that relieve the monotony of double-stack container trains: every Class I owns and uses an elaborate business car fleet for various purposes, and those would be fun to model: several of them are the subject of fans' websites. The Association of Private Railroad Car Owners has an interesting site: their members run a wide range of historic equipment, mostly on Amtrak trains, but sometimes in charter "AAPRCO Specials," usually run by Amtrak, that are composed purely of private cars.
Most new power is the big six-axle stuff, but even the Class Is still have some interesting older equipment- plenty of four axle Geeps, and even some cabooses (mostly for switching jobs, where you need a couple of guys on the ground to cut and couple, or throw switches). Short line power can be almost anything: there are even a couple shortlines that still use old Alco units as power.