I'm looking for an online source that gives the ATSF railway organization in terms of Grand Divisions, Divisions, Subdivisions, etc. I bought a book about the Illinois Division (where I'm from) and will buy the one about the Los Angeles Division next. The Illinois one is highly detailed and excellent.
The reason I want this info is my next layout (I recently converted from N to HO) will be about the ATSF in the 1950's, preferably in the Southern California/Barstow to LA area. I'm also considering AR, NM, and TX.
Does anyone have any ideas of stretches of the ATSF in the areas I listed above? Thank You!
Buy a timetable in the era your are interested for the area you are interested in.
Just remember that divisions, subdivisions, and districts change over time so what is one division in 1940 may not be the same division in 1970.
I worked for a railroad for 35+ years and they reorganized the subdivision boundaries at least twice and the division boundaries at least 10 times over that period.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Hope you have an awful lot of room (and money)! The Santa Fe was huge, and full of wonderful highlights and scenery, and to do any division or area of it justice would be a huge project.
I've been in HO since 1960, and have always built my layouts around the Santa Fe during the late 1950s. But its always been generic scenery, with the only "faithful to the prototype" portion being that rolling stock and locos were all built prior to 1960..........
Good luck!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
No, the layout won't be big, just in a spare bedroom. It will have the flavor of a protype, though. I live on the East Coast now and am originally from ATSF country in Illinois, so I wanted something different this time.
Growing up in Chicago and having lived 7 years in Joliet, I had a lot of train watching opportunities. What was really neat was the crossing in Joliet of my two favorite RRs, the ATSF and IC.
This might make for a nice spare room size layout........and I would incorporate the ATSF racetrack south of Joliet, which I believe Amtrack still uses.
Triple BNo, the layout won't be big, just in a spare bedroom
Your space will be the limiting factor, especially for HO. So a potentially better approach than looking over broad swaths of the ATSF would be to decide what you want to emphasize in your layout and then find a chunk of the prototype that offers those elements.
So if your prefer mainline running over industry switching (or vice-versa), or want to highlight a particular industry (citrus, grain, etc.), or a particular kind of scenery, those preferences would help narrow down your search.
For example, Barstow-to-LA includes Cajon Pass, which is very modelgenic, but not very practical in a spare bedroom in HO. But it also includes agricultural areas that are quite achievable in that amount of space.
The Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society is a very worthwhile organization that preserves a lot of information, some of which is reserved for members.
Best of luck with your layout.
Byron
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