i am in the process of building double decker layout. The top bench work is complete and i have some track already in place. The track that i have is a single main line with three long sidings that can hold a 25-30 car train. i would like to design something that has both mountains and farm scenes. I also run quite a bit of coal. Does anyone know what would be a good bnsf division or subdivision i could research that would have most of what i am looking for. I started out just putting up track and running trains but am now deeper into the hobby and would like to have something real to model after. The room that i have is 20ft by 25ft with a possible 30 in radius helix on the other side of the train room wall. Any help would be great thanks.
Ask yourself whether the geography of the "more mountainous" Burlington Northern, or "plains & dessert" of the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe has greater personal appeal.
The "up to 500 sq-feet" on each layout level provides another possibility...
The upper deck could be a former (flatter) AT&SF locale with the lower deck a former (mountainous) BN destination.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
Best appraoch is to go to the BNSF.com website and have a look at the system maps which are broken down by division.
On the same site you can also pull up extensive info on their coal routes and shippers and cross reference this with their maps.
I am also currently building a large BNSF railroad based within the Chillicothe-Chicago area (similar approach to the Chillicothe Sub-division layout in MR..forget the modellers name but I think his surname is Carpenter). I chose these sub-divisions as it offered my a mix of light hilly terrain, farmlands and urban jungles. I spent months going through the BNSF website and cross referencing it with aerial shots on Google and Bing.
Hopefully this helps get you in the right direction.
I agree with ww2commander. Luckily with the internet you have access to all sorts of information like, books, google earth, train videos, and Youtube videos. If your going for modern era, check out the website of BNSF and the maps they provide. At least that will give you some idea of where they run. I have a So Cal desert theme, but always wanted a coal mine which does really does not go with the prototypical stuff in the desert. But I did it anyway. It sounds like you have enough room and maybe you can even incorporate 2 subs if you had to. Now that I have confused you even more, get out there and do your research.
Chuck Hitchcock has proto-lanced the AT&SF Argentine Division around Kansas City's Santa Fe passenger operations. Here are a few links...
[1] Realistic model railroad operations (Google Books).
Realistic model railroad operations (Kalmbach Books).
[2] Modeling realistic passenger train operations (Kalmbach PDF).
Each of the above books are in my personal library.
[3] Custom Built Structures by Chuck Hitchcock. Warning: Lots of pics!
Well, if you're looking at both farmland and mountains, don't overlooks the north-south BNSF line that runs from LA to Spokane through the Central Valley of California and on up through the Sierra/Cascade mountain range to Washington (the nicknamed "High Line"). It's single track, VERY heavily trafficked on it's lower LA to Richmond/Bay Area portion through the Central Valley, but with enough north-south traffic on the northern mountain division to warrant some interesting railroading. The line has traffic rights on UP from Stockton, CA to Keddie, midway in the Feather River Canyon, then takes off north on the former WP "High Line" in "Dark" territory to Klamath Falls, OR, where it again has traffic rights on UP to Cheumult, and then regains its own rails (former Great Northern/SP&S) to the Columbia River.
On a double-decker layout you could probably utlilize both 'farm' and 'mountain' railroading extremely well. The route from Keddie to Beiber in Northern California is absolutely spectacular as far as mountain scenery.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
How about an international route? This BNSF sub is just north of the 49th and that's the Pacific Ocean in behind. Lots of coal heading to the Roberts Bank coal/container terminal. A multitude of small mixed freights all day long, also ply these rails.
Lots of farmland along the way. This photo is about a mile north of the one above.
You can even run an excursion train if you so desire.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I'm partial to the BNNSF around Superior WI. Not so much mountains, but lots of rolling hills, farmland, and a major port. Lots of coal, iron ore, grain, and general traffic. CP, UP, and CN also run in the area, some on BNSF tracks. Run through power from as far away as NS, CSX, KCS and Ferromex.
So you have your bench work complete, you have a track plan, and you haven't yet picked the local you want to model? You aren't going to be modeling a specific subdivision, you're free lancing. At this point you'd be MUCH better suited to freelance than prototype.
What you are looking for is something like the Camas Pririe Railroad.
The CSP was built to tap the rolling, fertile hills of the Palouse region north of Lewiston, as well as the more southerly Camas Prairie and the timber of the forested hills and canyonlands of the Clearwater River.
also look at http://camasprairierails.com/index.htm and http://camasprairierails.com/
Kon
Modelling the BN 1970-1995
as for the BNSF part that is my favorite is anywhare through the northern rockies form Shelby MT to Everett WA.
The Camas Prairie is indeed an interesting railroad to model, just be prepared to build a LOT of trestles. BNRails where are you located that you know about the Camas Prairie?
Hello reklein.
I am from Austria, central Europe. Since my first steps in US trains and model railroading in 1993 i was interested in BN. In the 1998 issue of Model Railroad Planing i saw the article about the 2nd subdivision of the Camas Prairie Railroad. Because i like mountains and elevators the Camas Prairie was the perfect prototype railroad for me. On my planed CP i will change the Union Pacific for Southern Pacific.
best regards Kon.
If you would like ,sir, I can send you pictures of things you might be interested in. Maybe we should open a new p thread concerning the CP. BILL
Well Montana/Wyoming would have farmland, mountains and coal...but why limit yourself to one division or subdivision?? If you're doing a double deck layout, why not do two different divisions, one could be say Minnesota farm country, including a power plant that gets Powder River coal, and the other level could be the Rocky Mountains of Montana, or the mountains of east Washington. Amtrak Empire Builder could run thru both levels.
Oh, the joys of being a freelancer. I can model any subdivision I want . . . . . . . . . . to imagine!
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet