Well my dad loves the Santa Fe so I decided to make him a layout when he retires. (About 5 years he says) He wanted the era to be around the 1970s when he was a teenager and stills wants the caboose. Now he wants it to be in the 1950s locating in Kansas. Now my question is what city would be perfect to put it in, Kansas City, Topeka, or Wichita?
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
topeka is mthe original railroad town I. E. atchison topeka and the santa fe is from here
Paul Larson published an article around 1957, which featured the Santa Fe in the area around Holliday, KS. Chuck Hitchcock used it as the basis for his old Santa Fe basis. You might want to refer to it for inspiration, if nothing else. Also, look up everything you can find on Chuck's version of the plan.
angelob6660Now he wants it to be in the 1950s locating in Kansas. Now my question is what city would be perfect to put it in, Kansas City, Topeka, or Wichita?
Any reason the selection is limited to those three cities? My list of cool towns in Kansas to model has increased dramatically the last few years as I learn more and more here are just a few....
Kiowa Kansas: On the southern main, meets with the Mopac, unique station, the Oklahoma Enid branch connects here.
Pratt Kansas: End of the branch from Wichita, mixed train daily, interchange with the Rock Island, small County seat type station.
Windfield Kansas: Three way diamond with the Mopac & Frisco, South heading main, river crossings.
Emporia Kansas: Where the north and south mains split, huge yard
Newton Kansas: Unique station, on the north main, roundhouse, sand creek branch departs here, Wichita passenger cut off meets here.
Dodge City: on the north main, unique station, roundhouse, meets the branch running down to connect with the Rock Island, huge cattle facilities
Great Bend: Center of the 2nd division, huge coaling facility, county line station, the umm umm I want to say Bazing(but that is not right) Dighton? branch joins here, unique 3 track centered flour mill here.
Kinsley, Larned, Hutchinson, Columbus .... Almost any place you choose just oozes Santa Fe. This is their home state.
I just choose towns/cities because they were popular. The layout was going be basic switching around 2 or 4 industries/businesses and the Super Chief passes by occassionally. With all the Santa Fe research I did, it's going to be in 1954 or 1955.
Any more help would be excellent!
How much space do you have, and what is the configuration of the room? Those factors could make a big difference. As for the plan I referenced earlier, I've looked & looked & can't find it. It might have been published in Model Trains Magazine, which was published by Kalmbach as a sort of MR Jr. during the 1950's and early 1960's.
railfan magazines are awealth of info from old hands.
angelob6660I just choose towns/cities because they were popular. The layout was going be basic switching around 2 or 4 industries/businesses and the Super Chief passes by occassionally.
Is there a scenery preference? Western Kansas is much more arid, and eastern Kansas more green.
For any location at least one grain eleveator/mill will need to be one of the industires. In the 1950s stock yards were just starting to decline but still a very common industry. A freight station for less than car loads was pretty ubiquitos too. Lumber yards were common. Every small town had one. Cold storage or refrigerated warehouse to serve the local grocery stores. The larger towns would have every sort of machine shop, small equipment manufacturing, major warehouses, and the like. In the far west Kansas there was a large sugar beat industry that was just beginning to decline in the 1950s.
Any idea if he likes the brick "county seat" style stations (Athearn made a wonderful model of these a few years ago) or if he prefers the corporate standard pale yellow wooden ones?
How much space are you going to have available? Is there room for more than one town?
When it comes to structures, you can really have a field day. Campbell makes several HO kits based on AT&SF prototypes, and so does American Model Builders. Those are only two manufacturers that come to mind immediately; there are several more. If you aren't going to start constructing the layout soon, you could get a good start right now by building some structure kits and collecting the locomotives and cars you expect to need. You might also want to start collecting books on Santa Fe equipment, operations, etc. if you aren't already doing that. Lots of Santa Fe out there!
Yesterday I was reading about the Howard Branch in Kansas on the Santa Fe Historical Society. I thought it would be a good location to start with.
The layout will set in October 1955 when the trees are changing colors. Although this town isn't named its going to have a grain elevator, stock pens, bulk oil, and probably a refrigerator company. Its going to have a depot with a loading ramp by the side or next to it and a water tank.
All 6 locomotives were all going to 4 axles with 1 or 2 six axle diesels being RSD4/5.
I thought of two towns, but I don't know how much my dad is going to play with it, or he might get bored half way into a operation session with the two of us. Plus the size of the plan was possibly going to be roughly 4x8. I just don't know what's going to happen when I build it.
I'm planning on buying equipment soon before another one comes together. I'm just confused.
The Paul Larson layout article on Holliday Junction was in MR April 1955 issue on pages 50 - 52.
Another plan was in MR 1983 issue on pages 72 - 79. It is Chuck Hitchcock's plan for his
Santa Fe Argentine Division. It is a large room size layout with both Holliday and Ottawa
Junctions incorporated. Published plans are good source for information on what fits, operations,
condensing, etc.. A 4 x 8 is not a lot of space but with a staging area, a divider and a Junction
it could work for running trains, which by necessity would have to be short.
Thanks for finding it, PuttChoo. I don't know how I missed it when I looked through the old mags.
I have always thought this was a great plan that could be improved with more under-layout staging. I didn't remember how big it was: 20'x24' in an L configuration. It would certainly be too big for the O.P.'s space in HO. Even in N, it would take about 10'x12'. But maybe it would be a source for ideas --- maybe even a future expansion of whatever the O.P. decides to build first. The Campbell Kiowa tower seems to be a close or exact copy of the Holliday tower.
I'm going to cancel this forum thread. My dad isn't going to support me building this layout I been researching the past week. Thanks for the information you guys have given me maybe in the near or far off future. I wish I was more supportive building his retirement Santa Fe layout for him.