A recent thread got me to come up with this little "history" for the system.
Simply put the NWP-SWP was kinda a USRA/Conrail type deal, WWI had just ended and the countries economy was in full swing, the railroads heavily worn from wartime traffic were struggling to keep up with the new non war traffic flowing over their worn out trackage.
Not so simply...
The NWP-SWP was signed into existence in the summer of 1920, it gave priority train movement and power/equipment sharing across its entire system.
In 1926 the system was privatized having made strong profits since 1922, in 1933 as part of the "New Deal" the system went back into government control due to falling profits due to the depression, it remained under government control through WWII, in 1946 the Allies being victorious on all fronts and the world at peace for the time being the system was once again returned to private ownership, the war once again took its toll on the system but with the economy booming again and temporarily trimming services to low profit markets the system was back to it's full potential.
My "history" for the line wraps up around 1990 which is the soft limit for the era I model, which currently is 1960-1980.
Motive power on the system varies from steam to diesel to electric to turbines, all the major mountain passes in the system were electrified in the roaring 20s, diesel was brought onto the roster at the close of WWII, steam lasted till the early 60s with many "modernized" locomotives still being economically feasible to operate, diesels became the dominant motive power in the 50s and stayed chief until the fuel crunch in the 70s, the electrified territories were expanded to cope with rising fuel prices. Diesel and electrics dominate the roster as of the late 80s. Turbines were tested and used throughout the last half of the century, they found a resurgence in testing in the late 80s but no conclusive results were found.
The system also has a major "superpower" program resulting in 5000hp+ units being used systemwide.
I suppose if I were to plan into the modern era as in the past 15 years the NWP-SWP would be going mostly electric and any diesels would be Tier 4 compliant with many rebuilds of older units converting them to electric or T4 compliance.
That's about it for the general whirlwind tour of the NWP-SWP history.
Whaddya think?
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Steven,
.
Reading your posts inspired me to dig out all the stuff I saved about the evolution of the STRATTON & GILLETTE railroad system. I have saved histories, track plans, lettering schemes, original decal artwork, timetables, etc, that date back to 1983 when I was in high school and created my ficticious pike.
Wow. I had no idea what the final version of the SGRR would look like, not by any means. Here is what I got wrong: Era, Paint Scheme, Location, Size, Major Customers, Layout Size, and so on.
Do not stop dreaming and planning. Expecially, do not throw away your plans and dreams. They will be treasured when you are older.
You do not need to share with us every goof-ball idea that pops into your head. If I had shared all my stuff on the internet (if there had been an internet), people would have thought me to be a lunatic. My crazy ideas eclipse yours in a tremendous way.
Among the things I found were plans for a 4-8-8-4-8-4 triplex locomotive kitbashed from three Bachmann N scale Northerns! What was I thinking?
Oh yeah, I was 16 and stupid!
You will get there. I look forward to seeing some of your visions get built.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
OK sorry.
Steven:
I have said this to you before:
You can model whatever you want! Heck, if you model your own country you can appoint yourself to be the President, or the King, or whom ever you choose!
However, I have to be honest (again). You continue to distract yourself from doing any actual modelling. If the train shed has to come first according to your parents' rules, then focus on getting the shed built. At least order some pressure treated 4 x 4s to build the foundation!
Sorry, but your constant imaginative speculations are getting tedious. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.
Pardon my honesty.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Just throwing this out there, I model a freelance railroad, a fictional nonexistent railroad, so why not do a fictional country?
I could do a country that is the western US, Canada, Mexico, and eastern Australia, the Republica Pacifica?
Again just thinking out loud.
I had an idea earlier today, scratch all the history I came up with and try this, in 1920 (or so) the NP, WP, SP, GN, MILW, ATSF, D&RGW, and UP each put 12.5% into a new railroad company the NWP-SWP it is co-owned by all 8 roads and operates over all their trackage, of course it's really simplified and needs a few details but what do you guys think?
That is a great looking boxcar. I have never seen this paint scheme before.
I am going to save that one in my idea file for inspiration.
NWP SWP I just wouldn't be happy with my railroad just existing! That's how my mind works...
I just wouldn't be happy with my railroad just existing! That's how my mind works...
I had a mind at one point to model the California Western just about the time it met up with the NWP in 1911. Anyway, the point is, I was constantly on the lookout for engines and rolling stock that would work, and for the these roads the pickings are slim.
Anyway, I came across this as I was going through my stuff.
If you want it, PM me with your address and I'll send it to you.
BTW. I'm still modeling the area. Rock Ridge is kinda a compose of Willits and Ukiah with the Union Lumber Yard thrown in--in the late 1890's I just got tired of trying to find prototype equipment that didn't exist, so I decided to make due with the stuff I'd accumelulated.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
SeeYou190My latest history of the STRATTON & GILLETTE railroad:
SeeYou190I was not there, then it was built, now it exists, and that's the way it is, August 3rd, 1954.
LittleTimmy "like's this "
Rust...... It's a good thing !
Here is a map of the operations depicted on my next layout:
Only Willoughby and Port Mary will be depicted on the layout. Mainline Trains to the North and South, as well as the local trains to West Manchester and Great Divide will all be represented with staging.
I don't represent even a tiny fraction of the STRATTON & GILLETTE system on the layout. It is just a fun layout to play with.
You don't need a history for anything not on the layout. If the layout is convincing, the blanks will fill in themselves. There is a movie making term for this. Make the movie believable, but brief, and the audience will fill in all the missing pieces themselves.
I think of my small layout as a stage, similar to a movie. It is all props, smoke, and mirrors. However, if I execute it right it will be believable without a complicated backstory.
NWP SWPTrouble is I wouldn't be satisfied with just my railroad exists because it just does!
My latest history of the STRATTON & GILLETTE railroad:
I was not there, then it was built, now it exists, and that's the way it is, August 3rd, 1954.
Why does your railroad's history need to be more complicated than that?
I think you won't have to go much further than the fate of Pennroad to see where that would have gone.
Remember that there are two halves to the 'main plot' of alternative history: what changes to let you do what you want, and what all the other guys do when it changes. All the antitrust, all the politics, everything going on with the van Sweringens and the post-Mellen Morgan ... and meanwhile, all the things already changing when the government doesn't prematurely staple railroad express containerization into an early grave.
I still think you might be better off seeing about resurrecting a fast intermodal express service, akin to an expanded version of the old fast-freight lines, which could contract for unit trains that would not be subject to common-carrier requirements and of course could own truck and air companies with little difficulty (perhaps even after 1935). Still a difficulty establishing any particular 'railroad' ownership, even at the relative arm's-length of shared directors -- this is why we have historians familiar with the '20s and '30s watching this.
I though I'd post an update, still working on the story, I mentioned the idea of maybe a half merger where the railroads retain half of their assets thereby retaining half control... what do you guys think?
Trouble is I wouldn't be satisfied with just my railroad exists because it just does! That's just how I am...
You are running into a problem all creators of alternate histories have. If there was a good reason for it to happen, it probably would have happened.
When I ditched the STRATTON & GILLETTE backstory, I became so much happier.
Another idea is how bout a half merger? The railroads retain 50% control/assets and the NWP-SWP has the other 50%, would that work?
NWP SWPAnd because Mr. X is one of the "brothers" the unions felt they could trust him... far as the shippers go Mr. Xs business history won them over! There problem solved... Seriously though, that is a usable answer to the questions posed, right?
Nope..The rank and file would have their say and vote and later would more then likely vote Mr.X out of office because they would see him as a "yes man" to the railroad.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Canada invaded us with respect to transcontinentals long ago; a true transcontinental (albeit north-south) was taken over just a couple of decades ago, and expansion in New England all the way to the Sound was only stopped when its proponent went down on the Titanic, and if there is an effective 'grande ceinture' around Chicago that isn't an 18-track impossibility it will probably involve Canadian administration. (Meanwhile the CASO, one of the finest-engineered lines ever built, was systematically destroyed in recent years, but I digress...)
Then there is the reverse-merger thing, where a Canadian donut shop 'takes over' Burger King so that taxation can be avoided. Why not with a company like TTX, or REA, particularly in a historical epoch that wants to establish the 'defense' necessity of highways and deprecate the strategic importance of domestic ownership of key parts of our general system of transportation...
I noticed Canada has no problem with mega systems because they only have the CN and CP I could just say Canada invaded us in WW1
Just kidding, but while I'm at it I "could" make Canada the new US frontier and it's Provinces/Territories states!? Just sayin' there are actually provisions in the US Constitution for Canada joining the Union just by saying yes! A leftover from the Revolutionary War Era... it's really late so I better stop babbling...
So instead NWP-SWP is an equipment pooling shipper, a co-op/alliance is made between the company and railroads to use track/equipment on their own lines aso well as the lines of other affliate, ally, co-op lines... the trouble is I want a valid excuse for one possibly seeing a MILW or GN unit running over Tehachapi or a SP or ATSF unit running over lookout pass or such is that possible with the indirect approach of just being a co-op company not owning any rail?
Could I alternatively split the history into two (or more) parts I.E. 1920 to 1940 it was merely a pooling company 1940 to 1960 an early super merger where the railroads retained their identities but are owned by and operate with NWP-SWP equipment then 1960 to 1980 full merger time... that timeline can shift easily to 1900 to 1920 and 1920 to 1940 and 1940 to 1960 or 1920 to 1940 and 1940 to 1960 and 1960 to 1980 I would be open to extending modeled equipment all the way to the late 70s Era just so I could run GP30s, SD40-2s, and of course UP super diesels... but really 1940 to 1960 would be the main modeled focus a few things being older and few newer...
I think this is a much better idea. It also gets neatly around much of the antitrust, on the one hand, and resistance to full 'iron ocean' shared track and infrastructure on the other. Certainly a good way to ensure advantages of TOFC, and by extension CZ-style cruise trains with extended routes well greater than any direct set of destination pairs... this explains the 'parallel' operation of legacy-railroad trains while being able to get priority in dispatching and also skimming the 'cream' of premium service ... advertise the **** out of it and be prepared to outsource 'charters' to other successful 'passenger' operators like established cruise-ship companies with extensive lists of dedicated patrons...
I came up with and alternative idea which is that I constrict the NWP-SWP as an early type of TTX except that instead of just cars locomotives are interchanged...
See that's where factor X comes in or specifically Mr. X
Who is Mr. X well he's a young railroad union bred self made millionaire that is the brains of the whole thing! Ripley merely got the idea from X! And because Mr. X is one of the "brothers" the unions felt they could trust him... far as the shippers go Mr. Xs business history won them over!
There problem solved...
Seriously though, that is a usable answer to the questions posed, right?
NWP SWPthe eastern roads were merged in the same fashion into the "Northeastern Atlantic" and "Southeastern Atlantic" systems.
This is all starting to sound a lot like railroading in the UK to me.
This is more on why the STRATTON & GILLETTE has no backstory. It is way to hard to interject believable fiction into the real world's history. Unless you know a specific business decision that could have gone either way, there are very few points in history where one thing could be different, and not cause 10,000 other things to be different as well.
Too much to write.
NWP SWP The unions and shippers were part of the early planning that started long before the end of USRA control and we're on board many months/years before the proposal to the government...
The unions and shippers were part of the early planning that started long before the end of USRA control and we're on board many months/years before the proposal to the government...
Getting any of the railroad brotherhoods or shippers to agree on a merger private or no would be a mircle of the first order.
You see in 1920 the Brotherhoods was still young and distrusted the railroad and the railroad had no great love for the brotherhoods.
Shippers seldom agree to any merger and are the first to scream "Foul!" if the merger stumbles in its transistion days.
Glad things went smoothly in your HO world.
I believe someone mentioned "how did the Eastern roads react to this" well one answer could be that the eastern roads were merged in the same fashion into the "Northeastern Atlantic" and "Southeastern Atlantic" systems... just a bit of out loud thinking...
I found this discussion that is a detailed description of the Esch-Cummins plan...
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4188817