So i'm new to model railroading and had an idea for my own railroad company. Do people do this?? i was thinking about going the extra mile too and painting locomotives and cars to my company's colors and all. Didnt know if people did this alot or they just stuck to the company names like CSX??
Oh, yes! Many layouts are named with made up names. My first layout was the Erie & Otter Creek RR. Named for Lake Erie and a creek that ran near a bunch of rail lines near my home. There are scads of famous layouts that had made up names. The most famous was John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid (Gory & Defeated) of many years ago. It is your layout, you can name it what you want.
Some folks use their own name, but link it to a major RR as a branch or subsidiary line. You can use the geographic area of your model to determine the name. Others use the made up name, but pattern it after a prototype. Another source for a model RR name is to use a Fallen Flag (a RR that no longer exists) name, and substitute your own interpitation of what the RR would be like in the time frame you choose.
Jim - Preserving the history of the NKP Cloverleaf first subdivision.
This HO scale model railroad was inspired by the Rocky Mountain railroads of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The San Juan Southern RR or "The Silver San Juan" (That nick-name is certainly not original with us but more commonly associated with the Rio Grande Southern.) is a "freelance" layout based on what little RR and prototype knowledge the builder has at any given time. The time period is the mid 1940's and the SJSRR serves regional mining and lumber industries and interchanges with the D&RGW which is the source of many of the necessities of life and commerce for the San Juan area.
Have fun,
Jim Murray The San Juan Southern RR
Goodness181 So i'm new to model railroading and had an idea for my own railroad company. Do people do this?? i was thinking about going the extra mile too and painting locomotives and cars to my company's colors and all....
So i'm new to model railroading and had an idea for my own railroad company. Do people do this?? i was thinking about going the extra mile too and painting locomotives and cars to my company's colors and all....
Back several decades ago, before there was an explosion of accurate models and paint schemes, finding enough equipment in any road name except the 5 most popular was pretty difficult. And many kits came with decals - at least some did - instead of being pre-painted, or were just readily available undecorated. So it was pretty easy and pretty common to make up your own railroad and paint schemes. Many did just that.
Nowadays, accurate prototype modeling is a lot more practical, and has a lot more adherents. But there are still plenty of free-lancers out here, including myself.
I have a standard and narrow gauge fictional prototype. The standard gauge was/is a short line with transcontinental ambitions. The line selected Coos Bay to be the next great West Coast port because of its easy bar crossing. Track was laid eastward, with the goal of linking up with one of the big railroads in Wyoming or Montana for service across the Great Plains. This line is called the Picture Gorge & Western because of the planned path up the John Day River and through the Blue Mountains of Oregon.
It turns out there was a similar real prototype - the Oregon Pacific which chose Yaquina Bay instead of Coos Bay to be the future great harbor between San Francisco and Seattle.
Meanwhile, a fictitious logging outfit (Elk River Lumber Co) got access to plentiful stands of valuable Port Orford cedar (real life). The extra value of Port Orford cedar made it worthwhile for the logging schooners to sail past Northern California to Port Orford to load up. The narrow gauge railway serving the loggers also became the gateway for supplies to come inland from Port Orford. The owners saw the extra money to be made by linking with the Picture Gorge & Western at the fictitious town of Lebanon.
The 2 lines give me an excuse to run both standard and narrow gauge, and to have 2 separate color schemes for passenger cars, reefers, locomotives, company structures, and so on.
Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon, where it's always 1900....
That's called free lancing and comes in several variations -- from anything goes to closely modeling a prototype that wasn't and everything in between. Perhaps one of the most impressive was the V&O of Allen McCelland. He created the Virginian and Ohio, but designed it so well in terms of paint scheme, operating concept, history, etc that it was as real, or perhaps almost more so, than the actual B&O or C&O.
For myself, I'm now into proto freelancing where I am modeling the Southern Rwy, sort of. In my case a branch line inspired by several locations in South Carolina, but not a model of any specific one. Locomotives will be SR or, when I get them done, painted in SR green scheme, but labeled for the Smoke River (my layout). Fortunately for me this seemed a rather common practice so it ties my free lanced railroad into the world.
Probably the most infamous is the V&O. Even has it's own Wiki chapter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginian_and_Ohio
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
Goodness181 So i'm new to model railroading and had an idea for my own railroad company. Do people do this??
So i'm new to model railroading and had an idea for my own railroad company. Do people do this??
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/140372.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/5585.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/137875.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/29867.aspx
i was thinking about going the extra mile too and painting locomotives and cars to my company's colors and all.
Here are some pictures of the club's Freelance Platte Valley & Western equipment that I designed.
There are a lot of freelancers out there or you can mix it up, like Jamis said. I model mostly CSX with some UP and BNSF interchange mixed in but my world is completely made up as I set mine in more of a high desert look of eastern Oregon/ Washington and on my layout I have a small short line that serves the local industries- Crabville Southeastern Rail. Right now CSER only has a used RS-36 (a custom painted undec. Atlas Alco RS-36) but it will soon have couple newer locos as business is booming in Crabville.
Texas Zepher Here are some pictures of the club's Freelance Platte Valley & Western equipment that I designed.
I was just cleaning "flood mud" off a similar PVW boxcar earlier tonight!
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler
My first model railroad was the Santa Fe Northern, a combination of branch lines in Illinois formerly owned by (drumroll, please) the Santa Fe and the Burlington Northern. I just imagined they were spun off as a short line - I never in my wildest dreams imagined the BNSF of today.
The spectrum of model railroad names runs from the precise (Pennsylvania Railroad Middle Division) to the, ~Say WHAT???' (Moonlight and Violins, Gorre and Daphetid,) as does the modeling represented. If you want to be hyperprecise to a specific full-scale railroad past or present it can be (and has been) done - but it requires careful research and a lot of soul searching about specific models (did this ever run there?) By modeling an imaginary route of a real railroad you can loosen up and indulge in more, `What might have been.' Or you can imagineer a railroad through real terrain to prototype standards (everybody mentioned the V&O, but much erlier there was Carl Appel's Norfolk and Ohio.)
A lot of modelers imagine both the terrain and the railroad serving it, sometimes using names from odd sources. The Tuxedo Junction was named after a Glen Miller song. And one of my friends, a Li'l Abner fan, actually built the Dogpatch and West Po'k Chop.
As for me, I have a boot planted squarely in each camp. My main emphasis (track mileage and rolling stock) is the Japan National Railway - including operating car and locomotive numbers I recorded in my field notes to the prototype's timetable. I am modeling the `feel' of a real place, the Upper Kiso Valley in Nagano-ken. But I also have a coal-hauling short line (no coal in Kiso country) that runs rolling stock of no known ancestry (or acknowledged parentage.) The Tomikawa Valley Railway exists mainly to provide a home for kitbashes that might have been, but never were,
The conclusion? Name your railroad whatever YOU think is reasonable, and equip it with whatever locos and cars YOU like, painted in whatever manner pleases you. If some visitor objects, remind them of the golden rule:
Whoever paid the gold, makes the rule.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - my way)
Welcome to the hobby! My layout is a fictional/might have been/could have been short line/bridge line/interchange line set in the era when the major real railroads were sluffing off segments of rail that did not yield the aggressive profits that maxed out as shareholder value. Seems that my resources of time, space and materials match up well with the tight fisted, miserly owners of the Cascade Valley RR. Locomotive power was generally purchased on the cheap from dispersal sales for various fallen flags (usually operated without the added expense of a fresh coat of paint) , providing service to industries in and around the modest town of Plastville.
The point of all of this is that as you develope your railroad, it is totally your choice as to whether your layout has any theme at all, whether your layout represents a slice of real life in some specific time or place, or whether it exists solely as a pleasant place in your own mind. What is most important is this: Choose ideas that are satisfying for you to work on and with. The only requisite justification is that it become an activity for yourself, your family and friends to enjoy.
Colorado_Mac My first model railroad was the Santa Fe Northern, a combination of branch lines in Illinois formerly owned by (drumroll, please) the Santa Fe and the Burlington Northern. I just imagined they were spun off as a short line - I never in my wildest dreams imagined the BNSF of today.
Now, that is pretty cool, C-Mac. Greta foresight.
Rich
Alton Junction
Freelance, like this.
Roger Hensley= ECI Railroad - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/eci/eci_new.html == Railroads of Madison County - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/ =
Goodness,
The HVT is a freelanced (fictitious) railroad, but it has its own history and even a mission statement as found at
https://sites.google.com/site/hvtrailroad/about-hvt
I have found that once I defined what this model railroad was, is and will be and put a 'history' to it I now have a great peace of mind and a direction to follow as I work on this life-long journey.
Good luck Mr Goodness,
Regards,
Dave
From Mt Pleasant, Utah, the home of the Hill Valley and Thistle Railroad where the Buffalo still roam and a Droid runs the trains
When I set up my first HO scale layout 6 years ago with steam only, I called it the "GB&S" railroad.
GB&S stood for "Grimy, Black and Sooty".
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Note the CR&T logo for the Conemaugh Road & Traction that does not exist.
CR&T Layout -- Traction Rationale:
[1] What if the Pennsy completed electrification across Western Pennsylvania?
[2] What if the local traction company was an interurban plus shortline freight?
CR&T is based upon local circa 1956 Conemaugh Valley prototypes: Johnstown Traction Company (with the largest 3rd-class city PCC fleet), Conemaugh & Blacklick (Beth-Steel's industrial railroad), and freight for the Baltimore & Ohio. Local prototype includes Pennsylvania Railroad's mainline for freight & passenger service.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
Wow thanks guys for your insite. I like what I've been reading. Thank you very much.
Goodness --
A lot of people freelance their own railroads and devise their own logos and paint schemes. Our hosts do just that, with their staff layout, the Milwaukee, Racine, & Troy (MR&T -- which I'm sure is a tongue in cheek reference to their two most popular publications: Model Railroader and Trains). I think you will find it a very enjoyable outlet for your creativity.
I've taken a slightly different approach ("protolancing") by creating an alternate history for a real railroad (the New Haven). I have, however, repainted and decaled several models to better represent the NH mid-1950's equipment.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Colorado_Mac Texas Zepher: Here are some pictures of the club's Freelance Platte Valley & Western equipment that I designed. I was just cleaning "flood mud" off a similar PVW boxcar earlier tonight!
Texas Zepher: Here are some pictures of the club's Freelance Platte Valley & Western equipment that I designed.
On my Santa Fe in Oklahoma 1989, I am stricktly a proto modeler with one exception. The Santa Fe had a branch main that ran north/south through Oklahoma which was called the Orient. It was actually part of an old rail system that ran from Texas through Oklahoma. Santa Fe took over a part of it. The line came from the south into Cherokee OK. I decided I wanted a little taste of freelancing, so I created the Oklahoma Northern which ran over the Orient row. Diesels are red with white trim, freight cars, mostly covered hoppers are the same. Makes an interesting contrast.
Bob
Freelance railroad modeling is popular with hundreds of modelers but,freelancing has some guide lines that must be followed in order to create a fully believable railroad.
My Columbus & Hocking Valley is a modern short line railroad that is named after the original C&HV of the 1800s.
There is another form of freelance railroads called joint ownership where locomotives and cars is supplied by the owning roads.
My Scioto Rail is one such railroad that is owned by NS and CSX...That's my excuse for using my CSX and NS cars and locomotives.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
BRAKIE Freelance railroad modeling is popular with hundreds of modelers but,freelancing has some guide lines that must be followed in order to create a fully believable railroad. My Columbus & Hocking Valley is a modern short line railroad that is named after the original C&HV of the 1800s. There is another form of freelance railroads called joint ownership where locomotives and cars is supplied by the owning roads. My Scioto Rail is one such railroad that is owned by NS and CSX...That's my excuse for using my CSX and NS cars and locomotives.
aaaa i like it. Thanks!!! I think mine may be a Joint Ownership rail as well. But right now I'm In my extended planning phase which includes asking a lot of questions about everything. lol that and my wife says we dont have enough room lol!!!
I curently model the cripple creek valley and western (Lakeforest branch). this fictional model railroad is my third try. all of my other layouts were freelanced such as the western michigan railroad and the lakeforest central.
the layout that i have does as i want not as history dictates which is nice so i can't really get anything wrong.
"Mess with the best, die like the rest" -U.S. Marine Corp
MINRail (Minessota Rail Transportaion Corp.) - "If they got rid of the weeds what would hold the rails down?"
And yes I am 17.
One down-side of freelancing for a new modeller is you probably will want to have some experience painting and decalling models before tackling that $150 locomotive. Custom decals can be made from several companies, you'd have to work with them to design any heralds and the layout of the lettering. An airbrush is good to have to paint models, but I have recently been painting a lot of things with Tamiya spray can paint and it works very very well.
If you know the time you're interested in, one option for a first locomotive might be one factory painted in a demonstrator or (in more recent times) a lease locomotive. The good part of that is that a demonstrator or a lease company engine could realistically turn up anywhere, and on any railroad (real or imagined)....like this HO Athearn model of a General Motors / EMD SD-60 demonstrator:
Freelancing is very popular and can take many different forms, from a truly fantasy railroad to one that is more grounded in reality. Even strict prototype modelers usually have to deviate from real thing in several ways, even from the very beginning of the planning phase when choosing how to fit their layout into the space available.
As you develop your railroad, you might want to pay attention to how real railroads evolved, or why they now do what they do. Why did they run 4 axle diesels instead of 6 axles? What products did they carry? How often did it spot cars at this industry? Why did they interchange with that railroad in this town and not the other railroad in that town? There are tons of question you could ask.
You certainly don't have to ask such questions in order to have fun. But if you put a little research into a railroad that you like (which can be fun in itself) and use it to learn about how a railroad might work in your area, you'll be in a better position to build a layout that makes a little more sense.
Plausibility is a common word model railroaders use when designing a free-lanced layout. And since you came here to ask the question you did and expressed concern about deviating from the real thing, I assume that plausibility will be a consideration for you.
Myself, I like short lines or branch lines that use maybe 2 or 3 locomotives. Keeps things less complicated, which translates into less time to build the basic layout, and more time to add details and run trains. I've already deviated from my inspirational short line that I used to study, but in a plausible way, I hope.
- Douglas
Awsome thanks guys. I love reading your thoughts about your layouts and stuff.
A little background on me, I've been building Plastic models for several years now and I do own an air brush and i think im decent at painting and building things plastic related and what nots. So i think i will be good that. I do plan on doing alot of scratch building on my layout so hopefully when the wife ok's the approval for the space i will be posting some pictures soon.
There's another way to power a freelance railroad..You can buy(say) a CSX GP38 and "paint" over the lettering with matching trim film decals from Micro Scale.
BRAKIE There's another way to power a freelance railroad..You can buy(say) a CSX GP38 and "paint" over the lettering with matching trim film decals from Micro Scale.
Absolutely! If you plan on modeling in the present time period, that may even be the most plausible scenario of all. It seems that railroads that get their locomotives second or third hand these days aren't bothering to repaint them. If you're freelancing a busy class I railroad, maybe you'll want your own scheme, but any thing less and the patch seems very likely. Any secondary railroad usually has a few patched locomotives at least.
Good excuse to keep the factory paint job on the model too. They're pretty tough to beat any more.
Russell