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”
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.
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....
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
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.
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??