Did you give your layout a name? If so what, & why.

[dbaker48]

More curious than anything, Was wondering how many have given names to their layout.

Mine is the "KC & D Railway"  When I was working on the design of my layout, and trying to get "buy-in" from my wife, I thought the name might help.  (Silly thought!)  The acronym is Kay, Chris, & Don Railway.  I do have to admit I liked the annunciation of KC.  Obviously, I got "buy-in", I'm sure it wouldn't have mattered what the name is, or if it even had one.

Interested in hearing others.

[Bob Keller]

The Cynosure Division of the New York Central.

Cynosure is a place in the comic book Grim Jack where all times and realities intersect - hence on my railroad the NYC is a transcon line and the Pennsy is a minor subsidiary!

[Northwoods Flyer]

The Blueboard Central Division of American Flyer Lines  was always intended to be a temporary layout to give me some place to run the trains that I have been collecting over the years.   In its early days it also served as a place to display the trains I didn't have up on the walls.  The earliest incarnation had a loop of Wide Gauge track on the outside, but it quickly became an all Narrow Gauge layout.

 

 I have always enjoyed when folks give their layout a name, history and personality.  As I got involved with posting on SPF and other places I thought it would be fun to do the same for my display layout.  So the natural name seemed to be the most obvious.  The entire layout is built on 2" blue styrofoam, hence Blueboard Central.  And of course my collecting is primarily focused on American Flyer trains.  Chicago Flyer trains, both Wide and Narrow gauge, are almost all marked with American Flyer Lines so the rest of the name was easy.  It  is connected to the Milwaukee Road at some point, just like the city where I live, Wausau Wisconsin was a stop on the Valley Line of the Milwaukee Road.  Over the years I've had fun posting stories about the growth and development of the railroad and some of the interesting charaters whose lives are influenced by it.  I suppose I could have named it the Lake Woebegone Northern.

Thanks for asking Don.

Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

[Texas Pete]

Tuxedo Junction

Here's why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBTYcqtaOjg

Pete

[KRM]

Don,

 For now it is the KMN&A Flat Line. Primarily because it has the first initials of my name and my grand-kids in the order of their birth and the layout is flat. I may have to change it when I do an addition with a raised area or more grand-kids come along. 

 

[cnw1995]

Great names! I especially like Bob Keller's. I focus less on naming the layout itself (Sodor Island Railway) than naming every possible thing on it - usually for my friends ie Fortner Yard; Baker Field; Eagles Ridge, etc. Railways named everything! Then I have to make more little signs.  My next layout will be more 'prototypical' insofar as it'll follow a track plan for the Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Company Ltd. 

[Blueberryhill RR]

Don,

Blueberryhill RR....To be honest with you, I have always liked that song. I also live on a hill with blueberries growing on it. I thought it sounded neat. I'd love to have a car with the name on it.

[dougdagrump]

No name on the indoor "O" but the "G" out in the yard is the SP & DW RR.

Sago Palm

 

Dry Wash

 

 

Unfortunately it is in need of some new ballasting and revised track work.

[mersenne6]

Ophir and Oblivion - Because it does cost money and, since it is always a carpet central, oblivion is its terminus.  The short name is Oh Oh! which is what my wife usually says when she sees something running that she didn't recall seeing before. 

[wyomingscout]

I got back into model railroading a couple of years ago with my next to youngest grandson.  Even though it isn't a large layout, we didn't have a lot of money to add on, so it is the "Day, Late, and Dollar" Short Line.

wyomingscout

[Anonymous]

Yep

SusieQ Falls Scenic Railway

It is named after my wife because she was agreeable to me having my own room just for trains!

[JamesP]

I haven't officially adopted this name for my 4' x 8' clockwork layout (yet), but I am strongly considering the Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota & Utah Pacific.  That's right, the W,I,ND & UP Railroad.  Plus, it's ironic to have such a grandiose name for a small tinplate layout.  

James

[Firesteel]

My layout represents the copper mining area of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan. I call my railroad the Copper Country Central. This name is a combination of railroad and train names that were once popular in the area, such as the Copper Range, The Milwaukee Road’s “Copper Country Limited,” and the Keweenaw Central.

Karl

[POTRZBE]

My son and I are the proprietors of the Cornfields and Coalfields Rail Road which models the midwest and northeastern Pennsylvania.

[mackb4]

 Though I've  only had a 4x9 temporary layout since 1994,I have  plans to build in the 30x11 room in my basement,a permanent layout of the "Eastern Kentucky & Ohio" model railroad.

  I live in Greenup County in the North Eastern part of Ky and during the late 1880's until after the Great Depression the Eastern Kentucky R.R. ran thru parts of Greenup and Carter  County's in Kentucky.

At one time before the depression the E.K. as locals called it,had talked with the Scioto Valley Railway Co. on a merger in which a bridge would be built across the Ohio River at Riverton,Ky  (now Greenup) to Haverhill,Ohio.This would have opened the coalfields up to ship across the Ohio onto the Great Lakes like the management of the Scioto Valley had hoped to achieve.

Eventually the depression did put and end to the EK,and the Scioto Valley was taken over by the N&W.

So my model railroad is based on that idea of what could have been.Makes for a little history,and a lot of what might have been and a lot of fun to contemplate.

I've already drawn out my plans,and even got ideas on the type of paint schemes I would like to incorporate on the locomotives and rolling stock.

I'm just waiting for one to get out of college and another to start in two years .

Ah,it will happen sooner than that

  

[Penny Trains]

"Cuyahoga Valley and Cleveland Union Terminal Railroad" is the working name I'm using for the layout I hope to build someday.  Since I live a very short distance from the site of the NYC's Linndale roundhouse where NYC trains had their hudsons switched out for CUT P1a electrics it's always been my ambition to feature it on my layout.  Not that I have room for one full roundhouse let alone 2 with a city in between!  But what I could do is fake the roundhouse in low relief accross the "river" aisleway from the main table.

Otherwise I call my temporary layouts "the Thai layout", "the prewar one", "the postwar one" and "Disneyland".

Becky

[Firelock76]

Being from Bergen County New Jersey, and interested in Northeast and Jersey roads especially, I call mine the Tenakill Valley, after a stream that starts in Tenafly NJ, my father's hometown, and flows north to a juction with the Hackensack River.  It runs through a number of towns starting with Ackerman and ending in Zabriskie, however the town of Bassetopia is represented on the layout.  Yes, Lady Firestorm and I are owned by two Basset Hounds! 

A brief history, the Tenakill Valley was chartered in 1856, and completed just in time for the Panic of 1857.  "Confound it all, gentlemen!",  Colonel Demerest  Northvale NJSM, president of the line said, "What ought we to do now?"   Well, the 'road hung on by it's fingernails until the Civil War started in 1861, then the money started rolling in.

The Tenakill Valley survives today as a bridge line carrying excess traffic from the other 'roads in the North Jersey area, so on a given day you might see ANYTHING from any 'road, so much so the locals call it "The Lost Locomotive Line!"   How's that for explaining different road names on a 4x8 layout?

[traindaddy1]

Well, that's a great question.   I have two layouts. 

One is O-27  called the "Big P" and the other is HO called the "Little P"

Why, you ask?   Because all of the structures and accessories are vintage Plasticville.

Thanks for asking.

[wmwalker]

Well my layout name came about because my Granddaughter loves my trains so she said we needed to name it J&W Railroad. It stands for Jessica and Wyatt. She did this in 2008 and the name has not changed but the layout has changed some.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc269/wmwalker_2007/Trains/Jessica001.jpg

[8ntruck]

I grew up in central Michigan, which was served by the NYC and Grand Trunk.  In 1958, I received a Texas Special freight set.  I am currently living a bout 1/2 a block from the old KATY right of way, which has been turned into a hiking/biking trail.  My wife is currently working at the KATY depot, which used to be the district superintendant's office.

I am running a temporary layout on a talbe tennis table, and just by accident most of my locomotives and rolling stock have some connection to the NYC or the MKT.

Inspired by my history, location, and equipment, I call my layout the Ping Pong Plain Division of the KATY Central Lines.

[dbaker48]

This has turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought, (Bob, possible contest for CTT ?  Many categories possible, Funny, Creative, Moving, etc..)

I like the imagination of the various names and the reasons and stories are great.

Thanks for sharing!

The KC & D Railway

[fifedog]

Connellsville Subvision.  Modeling the area from Meyersdale,PA to Cumberland, MD during the Chessie Era ('76-'77).

[Gray Cat]

My railroad is a joint venture between two pre World War II Rail magnates Messrs Chester Longfellow Tayle and Thadeus Carver Chase, Seeing as how the railroad is made up of three loops. One is an inside loop with provisions for loading scrap, a freight station and a mail drop off/ pickup station. There is also a passing to travel through a mountain or around it. The outer loop consist of a Large UP freight and a long passing siding that 's usually holding a long passenger line from the Pennsy..traveling in the opposite direction. The higher elevation loop is a small local freight line that circles around town. The partners aptly named their railroad

The "Tayle-Chase" Railroad

[lionelsoni]

My layout didn't have a name until now.  Inspired by this topic, I have decided to name it the "CDX", in recognition of its dominant scenic element.  http://www.ezwoodshop.com/plywood/cdx-plywood.html

[Captaincog]

My permanent layout is named the Jefferson Railroad after.....me. My first full name is Jefferson and since this name is no longer politically correct these days this was about the only thing I could use it on.

[Dannyboy6]

Since the area around South Bend, Indiana [borders Michigan] is called "Michiana" by the locals, and I model the NS and it's heritage roads, my 15x19 all Lionel railroad has been dubbed the Michiana Southern.

[arkady]

Cnw1995, where did you get that neat Zeppelin hovering over your railroad?

[cnw1995]

It was originally Revell's model of LZ 129 Hindenburg. About 14 inches long and above the back of the layout so it looks farther away... 

[Northwoods Flyer]

I ran across this thread while I was looking for something else.  I thought it was worth a bump to the top. (The last post was only 6 years ago.) It brought back some very good memories and I found it very entertaining.  I am involved with my trains all year long, but I always consider the 1st of September as the begining of train season; and it seems that many other folks begin thinking about indoor hobbies once there is a chill in the air in the mornings. I thought it would be fun to hear updates and new contributions about the names of our railroads.

This is an update of photos for The Blueboard Central Division of American Flyer Lines.

2007

 

2018

Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby

Northwoods Flyer

[anjdevil2]

When I was in Florida, it was the Central Jersey and Southern Railway, once the new layout is up and running, it will be renmaed the Jersey Central Railroad, since I now live in Central Jersey....I'm redoing the Lady Liberty silhouette to reflect that change.