Hi, I was thinking about the above subject whilst scribbling Track-plans in my lunchbreaks (sat at my desk, eating my sandwiches - in true English tradition)
Years ago when I was on the road alot, my overnight digs when I stayed in Scotland, were at a small B&B. On the wall in my room was a Picture that stopped me in my tracks. It depicted a Highstreet (In America - by the Buildings & Cars) at Christmas time. It was, 'Stockbridge Main Street' by Norman Rockwell. This Picture impressed me very much - and to this day.
My layout is to be ficticious, but somewhere in the Michigan area and so I thought-up 'Stocksbridge' (a bit of an English variation)
But then I thought this is like, 'laying it on a bit thick' and Modellers might easily associate it with the real place?
America is such a big country, it is seems easier (than in Britain) to base a model on real place, call it by that name and then do your own thing, within reasonable limits?
So for the moment (at least) I have named my future wife, sorry dear - MRR Layout, after yours truly - 'Paull'. This is the name of a village along the Northbank of the Humber Estuary, East Yorkshire, England, just to the east of Hull (Kingston upon)
I felt that the 2 No. letter l's gave a slight transcontinental sound that would fit in with the early English-settler names on the Eastern side of America?
As you can read, there are a few ??? in this post. Regards, Paul
"It's the South Shore Line, Jim - but not as we know it".
FWIW naming our layout the way you describe is much more common in the U.K. than the U.S., probably because in Britain modellers tend to model one city or area in detail. In the U.S. we cram as many cities, stations etc. in as we can!
I guess if someone asked, I'd say my layout was "The St.Paul Route" since that's the nickname of the free-lance railroad I'm modelling, the St.Paul Duluth & Canadian Ry. People modelling real railroads would normally say, if their layout had a name, it would be the division or area...I don't know, "Chicago division of the Santa Fe", "New York Central Water Level Route"...something like that.
Call it Torchwood Railroad and be done with it.
For those that don't get it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8ln
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
If its ficticious,and its yours; call it anything you want,and can explaine if asked.
There is no prototype, who can argue ?
BigDaddy Call it Torchwood Railroad and be done with it.
I forgot about that show.
You could not name it. I'm designing a layout that fit any location within the modern era. The problem is I can't seem to name it. I named over 13 cities and towns except two.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
A couple of historical examples of model railroads, prototype railroads and my own might-have-beens:
Delta Lines (Frank Ellison) named after the Mississippi Delta. Mr. Ellison lived in New Orleans, on Colbert between Fillmore and Chapelle. The latter two were his termini, while Colbert was his division point.
Canandaigua Southern (John Armstrong) starts at a 'noplace' town south-southeast of Rochester, NY. His main station, Cattaraugus, was named after a crossroads hamlet south of Buffalo.
Phoenix and Northern Arizona was one of my earlier brainstorms. Then I got a look at a topographical map of the area - prototype train elevator, anyone?? (The contemporaneous Arizona Northern sort of overlooked a minor obsacle - the Grand Canyon...)
Quanah, Acme and Pacific - Originally financed by and named after Quanah Parker, a Native American who beat the anglo settlers at their own economic game. Acme is a few miles to the west of Quanah, Texas, (No, it's not the home of Wile E. Coyote's supplier) and the railroad ended three or four state lines short of the Pacific Ocean.
Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific - sounds like the name of a 1940's cartoon character (Roscoe Snyder was, IIRC, a supporting character to Smilin' Jack) but actually connected the Texas towns of Roscoe and Snyder, and also fell well short of the Pacific.
Atlantic and Pacific - sounds ambitious. Two disconnected segments, one built from Chicago headed Southwest, the other encompassing a route from Califirnia through Arizona and New Mexico, both absorbed by, and becoming part of, the Achison, Topeka and Santa Fe. Atchison and Topeka are in Kansas, and Santa Fe was never on the ATSF mainline and is now connected to BNSF by an independent shortline.
More generically, (Someplace - geographical direction) is always a possibility, but has to be used with care. Norfolk and Western works, as does Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Eastern? Amphibious trains, I presume.
And then there's the old reliable (Family Name) Railroad/Railway, with stations named after family members. My own Kashimoto Forest Railway meets this standard, Kashimoto being my wife's maiden name. She and my kids know what Kaminari and Sachikuni refer to - plays on middle names.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hi Guys, thanks for your replies. When I posted this topic, my concern was that MRR's might say that the real Stockbridge is in a different State (not Michigan) it has a Station and 'other' RR Companies use the route.
I have searched the Forum and found past topics commenting on authenticity of MRR's, Geograpically, Logistically and running the wrong type of Boxcars / Locos together etc.
Now that I have my MRR name sorted, my next hurdle is determining a ficticious (or 'based-on') Route & Location within Michigan and how it dictates Locos & Freight Stock and most importatnt (to me) Operation. I have been researching .gov State Railroad Maps and the advice given to me in one of my previous post. Also I have taken into account existing routes and how they extend into Michigan's neighbour States and beyond.
From what I have seen on the Tube and the info I have sourced so far - I am overwhelmed by choice (certainly when compared to England) I would like to have Amtrack, BNSF, CN, CSX, NS + at least one 'Short Lines' running on the same route, working back and forth between Yard 'A' & Yard 'B'. Is realizing this realistic?
Wiki lists @700 Common Carrier Freight RR Co's in the U.S.A. and whilst it is very comprehensive, I find the prospect of sorting thru it, daunting! Regards, Paul
If that's the name you like, use it. I have multiple rail roads on my layout. The Southern Pennsylvania ( South Penn ) was an almost rail road. It ran from Harrisburg Pa to Pittsburg Pa. The roadway and tunnels were dug and then all work was stopped. Forty years later the tunnels and parts of the roadbed became the Pa Turnpike.
The Blacklog RR is fictitious. Its named for a creek in central Pa near the East Broad Top RR.
The Tuscarora was a small rail road also in central PA. It folded in the 1930s (?). But it runs EMD diesels now.
I can park all those rail roads and become the Great Northern, Pennsylvania, or New York Central. I even have diesels for the East Broad Top - the East Broad Top stopped operations in 1956 and never had any diesels.
So use whatever name you like and if you want to, become a different rail road for a day.
Have fun!
Lazers - there is a Stockbridge in Michigan, look northeast of Jackson. It was on a branch of the Grand Trunk Western that is now a bike trail. Picturesque small town with town square, etc.
This site may/may not be useful to you. Depends on what all you are looking for. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/
Mike
Sometimes I think of modeling the Ann Arbor Railroad in Michigan. It can easily fit within your town, and add a small interchange freight yard for switching. When big Class I railroads come to drop off/pick up cars.
LazersFrom what I have seen on the Tube and the info I have sourced so far - I am overwhelmed by choice (certainly when compared to England) I would like to have Amtrack, BNSF, CN, CSX, NS + at least one 'Short Lines' running on the same route, working back and forth between Yard 'A' & Yard 'B'. Is realizing this realistic?
Technically no.
The BNSF doesn't go to Michigan. The other roads go to Lansing or Detroit. You could still get a BNSF engine on another road's train, particularly an auto parts train to or from Detroit or Lansing on a CSXT or NS train (would also be possilbe to have a UP/KCSM/FXE engine too).
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
I would avoid the temptation to get one of every railroad. As you mature in the hobby, it won't seem right to have every railroad pass through your town.
Hi, Thankyou for all your replies. They are very informative and much appreciated. Paul
Run-through arrangements are quite common. Going to and from work every day along US Hwy 61, I see Norfolk Southern diesels almost every day in Canadian Pacific's St. Paul (Minnesota) yard - about 400 miles from the nearest NS trackage.
BTW a good 'first' modern diesel would be a Kato AC4400 decorated for CEFX (blue with white stripes). As a lease unit, it can realisticially be used together with any railroad's engines...so no matter which railroad(s) you decide to model, it will always fit in.
For me naming my future railroad was very enjoyable and something I put a lot of thought into. It'll be called the Erris & Spears Railroad or E&S for short. Both had a ring to it that sounded like they could be actual towns. Erris is a location in County Mayo, Ireland where my ancestors came from. This will be one town on my layout that includes Salthill Yard, an area within/near the city of Galway, Ireland. Spears is a family name on my paternal grandmothers side, her maiden name. The expansion of the E&S (off layout towns) include Walsh to the west of Erris (Walsh being a family name on my mom's side) and the town of Howard to the east of Spears (Howard being my dad's middle name).
All of these names seemed to fit a railroad name and had meaning to me, yet sounded authentic enough. I've really enjoyed creating a backstory for the E&S with its history to this point.
wjstix, I pass the major utility plant on 52 just south of the metro. I have seen CSX, NS, and UP locomotives waiting for assignment. The diversity is a welcome site from the UP I'm used to always seeing go through Farmington. When I'm crossing over 61 on 494, I always look for what is passing through the area, too. Great rail fanning spots in that area.
Why Michigan? There's nothing really wrong with a Michigan location, but I ask the question because Michigan isn't served by all the railroads you want to feature. Of course, BNSF diesels might be used as run-through units, but BNSF itself doesn't hit Michigan. Of course Amtrak serves Michigan with some very fast trains, but the impressive long distance trains bypass the State
You might do better to think in terms of Illinois. There are StockDALEs in Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas, all of which are (or were) served by railroads.
Hopever, freelancing, by definition, means you have a certain amount of freedom to make up your own reality. Freedom of Imagination isn't specifically mentioned in the Constitution (or in your case, the Magna Carta), but it is a real freedom that you can exercise. The name is less important than the layout's capacity to be reasonably believable and a source of enjoyment. If you really like the Stockbridge name, there's no reason you can't locate it in fictitious Stockbridger County in any State you choose.
My own future plan involves a specific region of Ohio which was served by two major railroads, the B&O and PRR. I can't name it after either of the two major railroads or divisions because that would exclude the other. Since no one railroad name really fits, I think the model rasilroad will be called "Tuscarawas Valley" or "Tuscarawas County" (pronounced Tuss-kuh-RAH-wuss), since that's the geographical location.
Tom
BigDaddy I would avoid the temptation to get one of every railroad. As you mature in the hobby, it won't seem right to have every railroad pass through your town.
That is, of course, unless you're modeling the early Conrail years, before all the acquired eqipment from the "parent" railroads was repainted in CR blue, roughly 1968 through 1975. That was a sad, yet colorful time in American railroad history.
As for me, I wanted a railroad in Ohio that featured mainly two railroads: the Chessie System and the Erie Lackawanna (with some Pennsylvania/Penn Central RR thrown in). I also wanted it to reflect the first initials of my two sons and mine (TEC). So, I named it the Toledo Erie Central; Toledo being along the western shore of Lake Erie. The railroad never goes to Toledo, but connects with the aforementioned, and other railroads. The TEC has it's own livery as well, with equipment "purchased" from the EL and the PRR/PC.
Lazerx,
My model railroad is the Dayton and Mad River Railroad. I lived in Dayton (Ohio) for 10 years and trout fished the Mad River. My fictional railroad is part of the Real CCC&StL (The Big Four) which is a subsidiary of the New York Central System. The NYC really does go from Dayton roughly up the Mad River into Springfield.
The place names on my layout reflect the real place names, in the correct order. It interchanges with the B&O (changed to the C&O on my layout because my dad worked on the C&O)just east of Dayton. The former NYC tracks are still there but owned by Norfolk Southern. The CSX owns the ex B&O tracks. I model 1967, just before the NYC & Pennsy merged to form the Penn Central, finally Conrail and is now mostly part of either NS or CSX. The city of Springfield also had Erie Lakawana, Detroit Toledo and Ironton RR, and a few others throughout history.
Neither Dayton nor Springfield are large cities, so not having a large yard at either place is in keeping with the prototype. You shoulld consider selecting a year or time period you want to focus on unless you have unlimited space, time and budget. I am very happy with my choice of railroad names, and first registered it with NMRA in the 70s.
Ultimatly it is your railroad, A very wonderful and fictitious railroad was John Allen's Gorre and Daphetid railroad. He was a pioneer of model railroaders in the US, check out his work. Neither He nor his railroad exist today except in many peoples minds and his ideas exist on others model railroads.
Paul
Dayton and Mad River Railroad
The small town that I live in ( pop 2600 ) had at least 3 railroads and a trolley line running through it or to it. The railroads were active through the 1950s. The trolley stopped running in the 1930s.
If you want multiple railroads in on your layout, you can probably model the 1950s and have at least 3 or more rail roads.
For some reason I've never been terribly bothered with naming a layout - it seems more of a public eye kind of thing, which I have no allusions of going "there" or having something named getting around.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
ACYHopever, freelancing, by definition, means you have a certain amount of freedom to make up your own reality. Freedom of Imagination isn't specifically mentioned in the Constitution (or in your case, the Magna Carta), but it is a real freedom that you can exercise. The name is less important than the layout's capacity to be reasonably believable and a source of enjoyment. If you really like the Stockbridge name, there's no reason you can't locate it in fictitious Stockbridger County in any State you choose.
Here's the thing. He's not freelancing and just wants a name for his layout and there is a world of difference between the two.
Why bother naming a layout when there will be no cars or locomotives lettered for that name?
The majority of the modelers are confused enough already about what freelancing is all about and there's no need to add to that confusion by naming a layout.
Now then, there is a way out that does not involve freelancing.A paper railroad that never existed except on corporate papers and usually covers a section of track that was built as a cut off between two areas as a shorter route between (say) Stockbridger on the Detroit-Toledo Sub to (say) Homesport Yard on the Western Michigan Div.
A example would be Stockbridger Railroad of course the motive power and freight cars would be lettered for (say) CSX. There would be the normal every day run through power.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Hi, very many thanks for all of your replies (re-assurances) to this post. They have been a fascinating read and I have taken into account all of your comments.
I have been doing a lot of web-based research into these, noting and where possible, down-loading info.
My main conclusions were a) I don't really have enough experience of American R/R's to 'freelance' 100% and b) Michigan might not be exactly the right State to suit what I'm aiming for (I was kinda influenced by Thornapple River Rail Series)
In another post I mentioned liking BNSF Loco livery. On the Tube vids I noticed another orange livery (which at first I pressumed would be BNSF) However this turned out to be the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad. I discovered this after checking-out the link (in this post) to Michigan Railroads.
The CSS&SB website is quite good (I think, at least) It has a great-deal of useful info and is well presented. Whilst a Class.3 RR. I feel it a has a lot to offer in it's own right, as well as all of the Interchanges with Class.1 RR's, Amtrack, South Shore Passenger street-running and smaller, short-line Companies. I also noted the clean condition in which the Locos are maintained.
I think the Dash 38-2's are really cute and with 2No. CSX ES44DC in the Interchange Yard#1 and 2No. CN or NS at Yard#2 by way of contrast, there is good RR Modelling potential(?) Can't have a BNSF because the Liveries would clash (apparently, my wife told me this!)
Asking about naming a Station in a none-prototypical situation was like my gauging the reaction in case I ruffled any feathers. However my quandary proved totally unfounded, I am very pleased to say, thank you all.
The SSL / CSS has a station called 'Gary', so I'm adding one on the route called 'Paull' somewhere along the 'Dunes' section.
So now that's got that sorted, next, I need to search on the MRR Archive for any other Model RR's of the CSS.
Best regards, Paul
Paul,Just for fun..I would be mighty tempted to use Thornapple River Industrial Lead for a switching layout because it sounds pretty pea picking good..
And say I was using my SCL models that would be protolancing-SCL Thornapple River Industrial Lead.
Hi Brakie, Thank you for your reply to my post. I must admit that due to my naivety in all this, I had to Google 'what is meant by the term' "Industrial Lead Line - Railroads" if only not to ask another dumb question on the forum. I also find the term 'Pro-lancing', very useful. I call it 'Modeler's Licence'.
Again, there is so much choice from all the Lead Lines in the USA and (some) of their history is mind-blowing.
What was bothering me right from the start was, does choosing a name affect the Location and I suppose I should have included this in the post Title.
The Thornapple River you quote, says to me - Michigan and Grand Rapids. But thanks for this example/explanation. The town Paull I mention has a (hilltop) 'Fort Paull', which dates from Roman times and has always been Military until becoming a Tourist Attraction. So I reckon I will go for 'Fort Paull Industrial Lead-line' using C.S.S. Locos & Stock.
I have Googled 'Fort Paul, America' - and there isn't one. Best regards, Paul