Is there a prototype road that you wanted to model and have not due to a lack of available and appropriately decorated models? My best guess is the list would be dominated by Midwestern roads. Maybe not. My nominee is the TP&W
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
phillyreadingThere were many railroads out west and even in the eastern USA that are not being modelled or have models made because they were really small or their roadname don't sell that good. Pennsylvania is a case inpoint because there were over 20 railroads that operated at some time between 1833 and present, in that state, that are not modellled by the major companies. Examples could be; Blue Mountain & Reading(early to mid 1980's), Philadelphia & Reading that later became the Reading railroad, and absorbed or bought out many small railroads. Mt. Penn traction company, a very small RR just outside of Reading PA, operated for only a few years.
I am as nostalgic as the next guy. that being said, how many decades have gone by since the PRR, NYC or Santa Fe vanished into the ether? What kid has even a faint connection to these roads? They are now as obscure and and as overexposed in the past as a faint memory, while I keep thinking give the people what they want..What is this Las Vegas thing of pre-orders without asking us what we want? Then to compound this..shoot first ask questions later business plan..production runs fall by the wayside. Seems more than a goofy strategy..no wonder some are moving to the greener pastures of a Euro market..while they have not fully tilled the field..Is this a lack of common sense? .
Yep, numerous short lines out west including dozens of logging RR's.
Bill T.
Seayakbill Yep, numerous short lines out west including dozens of logging RR's.
Bill
One glimmer of hope I noticed is RMT aka Aristocraft that deserves some kudos for taking the road less traveled..I was just at their website and I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of road names, especially in the freight car department..I saw the Waddell hoppers off the NYO&W and was tempted. Although they seem to focus on eastern roads, I was surprised to see the M&E, and other short lines represented..I suspect RMT is the sleeper of the hour and their website is really worth a gander..maybe they can move on to doing the same for the West and Midwest..
I see they have a Great Northern Boxcab due this coming year..you might consider the electrification of that great yard..
Bruce
Hi Bruce, already have the K-Line version of the Great Northern boxcab. But would like to see RMT do a Northern Pacific or Spokane Portland & Seattle Boxcab, Beep or Bang S-4 switcher. RMT for some reason has ignored the Northern Pacific.
phillyreadingHas anybody gone to the RMT website recently and seen what they have for sale in some of the less popular railroad names? Look at their boxcars for example.
Some terrific bargains
TH&B Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo
I fell in love with this railroad when I saw a 2 issue article about an HO pike based on the TH&B in the 70's in Model Railoader. I am especially fond of the scenery of mid century Toronto and Buffalo, with the big grain elevators and the steel industry.
There is very little rolling stock out there and even very few decals (I model in S), but I've done the best I can to duplicate the scenery. I'm not about to repaint and decal my vintage Flyer.
LittleTommy
I would love to see some EJ&E stuff like engines for O gauge but now it is part of CN so not holding my breath
kev.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
I have been amused by the grandiosity of the name, "Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific", ever since I first saw that railroad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe,_Snyder_and_Pacific_Railway
Bob Nelson
The Southeast is where the roads have been ignored. Southern Railway had nearly 100 subsidiary lines operating under their own roadname during the first half othe 20th century. They ran 4-4-0s, 4-6-0s and 2-8-0s primarily, and yet none of the Importers have even issued a undecorated 0-gauge engine in those wheel arrangements that could have been decorated for so many roads.
HO brass Importers issued them all and many modelers, including me, decorated them for those short and branch lines.
Then there is the Aberdeen & Rockfish in North Carolina which is the only road that had a woman as its Chairman.
For O Gauge and O Scale the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo has not had many items, up until about 2004 to the present day with freight cars and locomotives still wating to be produced delivered from recent catalog announcements. I even got a TH&B Box car from ATLAS O. I am considering getting a new release of a TH&B gondola from Atlas O or MTH. Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Lionel and MTH have to offer classic 1940's-1960's era items from Elgin, Joliet & Eastern.
Modern EJE items can be made by buying undecorated ATLAS O locos and cars to paint them in the final, sparse paint schemes used by EJE.
Andrew
Akron, Canton & Youngstown items have been produced, but in very limited quanties over the past 20 years.
The Toledo, Peoria & Western decorated models have been spread thinly since the 1970's.
It also helps to have a decade of operation of the TP&W in mind before choosing to model it and lobby the manufacturers for the models.
The ATLAS O TP&W ACF Cylindrical Hopper was a 1960's TP&W orphan that might still be available on sale somewhere. They did not produce any supporting locos and cars from the same time period.
What is needed for roads like TP&W, TH&B, and AC&Y are great big train sets from Atlas O, Lionel, and MTH that have Locomotives, many freight cars all from the same railroad, and a caboose so that there is a complete train made available at one time.
Detroit & Toledo ShoreLine and Monon rolling stock and locomotive have been made, in very small quantities. There are still several more DT&S and MON locos and cars to be mass produced and decorated by companies like Atlas O, Lionel, and MTH. Weaver Models made a few box cars decorated in the DT&S scheme.
Andrew Falconer
Suddenly in the past 5 years there has been a surge of Chicago Great Western from Lionel, Atlas O, and MTH.The trick is to get all of them together on one track. I wonder what CGW will be made next.
L.I.R.R. "Dashing Dan" on the Long Island Railroad
traindaddy1,
Let's not forget: L.I.RR's. "Dashing Dotty!"
Ralph
How could I. She's the person who got the last seat!
About 5 or 6 years ago I was just out side of Reading, Pa and came across a private owned railroad from what I gather there was only like 16 miles of track ( If I remember correctly) The railroad was named PENN EASTERN Rail Lines I manage to get a couple of pics but that was all I got.
So this is one of your more modern short lines I guess
From what I remember I was told that the owner about 3 times a week went and got some hoppers for some where don't remember a lot of it now as it was only sketchy at best the details I was getting from a local who knew a little but not much.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
rtraincollector About 5 or 6 years ago I was just out side of Reading, Pa and came across a private owned railroad from what I gather there was only like 16 miles of track ( If I remember correctly) The railroad was named PENN EASTERN Rail Lines I manage to get a couple of pics but that was all I got. So this is one of your more modern short lines I guess From what I remember I was told that the owner about 3 times a week went and got some hoppers for some where don't remember a lot of it now as it was only sketchy at best the details I was getting from a local who knew a little but not much.
Wow this is quite a conglomeration of former Reading and PRR branches..never heard of them before..pretty interesting how far lung all these disconnected lines are..sort of a connect the dots situation.The scheme looks a bit like Conrail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Penn_Railroad
I tend to agree that midwest roads were often ingnored, but not as much as the southern routes. With big eastern concerns owning many of the midwestern lines, most toy manufacturers tended to ignore the "merged" lines and focus only on big brother.
Anyhoo. The Nickel Plate Road has always been my favorite and until recent decades Lionel was a bit light on NKP equipment. I also live within spitting distance of the site of one of the two NYC Cleveland roundhouses. While NYC equipment is heavy on the toy market, the Cleveland Union Terminal Railroad P1a boxcab electrics that ran the NYC trains in and out of the city are not. I've always wanted a model of one of those engines priced at the lower end for those of us with small layouts, tight curves and tiny budgets. I tried making one years ago using a Conrail "scout type" boxcar as the body and a lot of handmade superglued styrene pieces. It wasn't bad, but it was far too fragile.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Seaboard Coast Line or SCL rolling stock has been passed over for more SEABOARD Air Line and CSX rolling stock.
The TP&W, along with the Illinois Central, now gone, ran through my home town, so I am fond of it too. Also the GM&O, which provided service to Chicago, Springfield and St. Louis, which we boarded at Bloomington. The memories, and aroma, of the passenger station there bring to mind the high-steel wheeled baggage carts and Red Caps.
Can you guess my home town where the IC & TP&W intersected with a double wye for turning?
thankey The TP&W, along with the Illinois Central, now gone, ran through my home town, so I am fond of it too. Also the GM&O, which provided service to Chicago, Springfield and St. Louis, which we boarded at Bloomington. The memories, and aroma, of the passenger station there bring to mind the high-steel wheeled baggage carts and Red Caps. Can you guess my home town where the IC & TP&W intersected with a double wye for turning?
Was that Gilman, Illinois? I snooped around the former PP&U and IT and my memory perhaps wrongly places this interchange at Gilman. That east -west alignment of those former roads that intersected has some wonderful small towns along the right of way....I grew up In Northern Illinois at the busy Soo Line and Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee interchange, hourly interurbans and the Soo Laker.."alligators"and "pups " with their trolley tenders.bells ringing making the shove..grinding of the traction motors the smell of ozone..makes me feel a hundred years old.LOL. I saw so may "flying switches" there ..the days of brakemen riding the foot boards..great stuff much like your memories that, now as a "codger" .. I wouldn't trade for all the money in China.
Almost perfect on latitude but too far east. As a young kid, my dad used to take me down to see the Illinois Central steam engines coming through. The IC trackage was only two blocks from home. I wondered why and expected them to always be there. But he knew they were in their last days.
The Missouri Pacific and Chicago & Eastern Illinois have had more 1940's and 1950's models produced than models of cars and locos built in the 1960's and 1970's. That is slowly changing.
C&EI cabooses have not been mass produced to match the locomotives, which means scratchbuilding and kit-bashing and custom decals.
Andrew Falconer The Missouri Pacific and Chicago & Eastern Illinois have had more 1940's and 1950's models produced than models of cars and locos built in the 1960's and 1970's. That is slowly changing. C&EI cabooses have not been mass produced to match the locomotives, which means scratchbuilding and kit-bashing and custom decals. Andrew Falconer
Prior to a tinplate interest, you hit one of my frustrations, which was, outside of the PRR \ NYC \ SF selections was the maddening habit of manufacturer's ( when they did regional roads) almost always failed to make a matching caboose let alone freight cars ( at least in my experience) . I'm sure this didn't help encourage regional enthusiasts.
Chicago & Illinois Midland is a railroad that might be hard for O Scale manufacturers to make much for considering they have an unusual fleet of locomotives, coal hoppers and coal gondolas.
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