The interchange and operating schemes of multiple railroads are fundamental to my layout's concept. It all has a regional connection based on prototype circumstances that either existed or could have existed.
The D&RGW is the primary road and the narrowgauge my main interest, but I had to have interchange with standard gauge and its connection to other places. In a sense, even though it was all one railroad, there are effectively two at once on my Rio Grande layout. Dual gauge track makes things even more interesting in terms of the complications it introduces.
EDIT: Forgot to note that I have staging for the Rio Grande Southern, too, so I also have RGS-lettered equipment. Really, on all these roads, the fact that leased Rio Grande power was used at times helps justify it appearing everywhere on the layout.
My main focus is on the Silverton branch and Silverton itself. There the Three Little Lines, the Silverton RR, Silverton, Gladstone, & Northerly, and the Silverton Northern RR, were merged into the Silverton Union RR. This lets me run equipment for each of the little lines as I build it, along with models for the more modern SURR's needs.
Finally, I have a logging branch that will be a private outfit, the Mears Logging RR, but it's just a deadend spur into my staging area right now, but where it will eventually fill an 8x11 room.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I forgot to mention that my N.P. Railway does interchange with the Great Northern and the Butte Anaconda & Pacific. However, I have no motive power from either of those two lines.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
I've only been about 16 months into this round of model railroading but have been UP specific so far. Lots of family history related to the UP, plus now retired in central TX the UP is here and my grandson and I have chased the Heritage #844 a couple of times. That said, I intend to add "needed" (desired engines), likely decaled to a yet to be named family RR (my grandkids and I need to decide on a name).
As time goes on, there will be locos added that are perhaps neither. I've an idea that may help; i.e. they are transiting my family / UP rails on the way from the factory to the buyer. Seems likely they would pull a train (or help) along the way, so that can justify most oddities (maybe a GG-1 would not work) showing up. Baldwin locos were from PA, so any buyer west of there could work. Don't know how I'll justify EMDs and Alco's (I'll have to look up there factory sites) from eastern lines showing up towards my west of the Mississippi line, but I could always claim they got lost on the way to the buyer, maybe even a GG-1 idling along.
I need to check the thread on how to pick a name for your RR....have not gotten to that. Maybe need to order the undecorated Climax to force the issue!
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Own a survivor like UP and you get to run all the fallen flags!
As of late, when driveing along side the old Northern Pacific main between Verndale and St. Cloud MN, I've seen BNSF lashed up with both NS and UP power, Besides all the different BNSF color schemes and rental units we normally see. It's interesting and BNSF must be doing very well, if they're renting power from other roads; or, maybe they're wanting to test out different stuff. I'm not up on the new stuff (it all looks the same to me).
Besides my home road locos, decorated for my fictional GLC (Great Lakes Central), which I haven't totally completed yet, (still finishing some detail work, and installing decoders), I also run WC ( in my world, the WC is alive and well), CN, CP, WSOR, Amtrak, a fictional commuter line, not yet named, BNSF, and I also run a leased unit, LMS. I also have a couple of BN and UP locos that will soon be "patched-out" for the GLC, and when completed, a couple of GP 15's painted for the WN (Wisconsin Northern, a short line owned by Progressive Rail).
Mike.
My You Tube
NP2626As of late, when driveing along side the old Northern Pacific main between Verndale and St. Cloud MN, I've seen BNSF lashed up with both NS and UP power,
Mark, I wonder if those units are simply running on BNSF for the purpose of mileage equalisation. Whenever I'm in Pennsylvania or Ohio, I often see BNSF or UP locos on Norfolk Southern trains.
As for my layout, I originally modelled the free-lanced Elora Gorge & Eastern, but on the current layout it's represented by only one locomotive, although almost all of the "home road" rolling stock is also lettered for the EG&E. Most trains run behind Grand Valley locos (a subsidiary of the EG&E) or those of the Erie Northshore (a road jointly-owned by the Grand Valley and EG&E), and the track represents that of these latter two roads. I also run several CNR locomotives, as I have a CNR interchange, and a couple of TH&B locos, also via interchange. Since the TH&B was, in my modelled era, owned jointly by the CPR and NYC, I could conceiveably run locos from those roads, too.
Freight cars represent a cross-section of roads from all over North America, much as I saw in my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario in the '50s.
Wayne
NP2626 How many of you model multiple lines on your layout?
When I started my layout, my thoughts where to go totally freelanced. This would allow me to use what ever power I wanted and run trains completely unencumbered by reality. At the time, I was most influenced by John Allen and another modeller who's name I can't recall; but, his layout was called the Coal Belt and he ran mostly camel-back locos. I was fascinated by camel-backs (and still am); however, just after starting construction of my layout, I came across a copy of the Mainstreeter, the magazine published by the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association. I became interested in the N.P. and joined the NPRHA and that's when I decided to model the Northern Pacific.
Heartland Division CB&Q My layout is a fictional division of the CB&Q. NP and GN have running rights and I run all 3 roads regularly.
My layout is a fictional division of the CB&Q. NP and GN have running rights and I run all 3 roads regularly.
NP, GN and CB&Q did all meet in Bilings MT and St.Paul MN. Plus of course, NP and GN passenger trains used the Burlington between St.Paul and Chicago. Nice thing about that is you can get a couple of Burlington passenger diesels and use them to haul passenger trains from all three railroads.
On my now-dismantled East Texas layout, I modeled mostly Santa Fe, with one fictitious town based loosely on elements of the Navasota- Conroe- Cleveland- Silsbee area. The Kirby Lumber Co. ran logging trams over Santa Fe tracks from pickup/ transload sites to its mill outside Silsbee. I replicated this with Big Piney Lumber Co. trams which ran a short distance across my mainline tracks to Neola reload.
The model Big Piney ALSO owned its own tracks from a junction with the Santa Fe to its mill and operated it as a common carrier- much like the prototype W. T. Carter & Brother Lumber Co. owned its tracks from its mill at Camden to a junction with the Southern Pacific at Moscow, Texas. That was a common carrier, the Moscow, Camden and San Augustine. But W. T. Carter also ran logging trams in the wood with W. t. Carter locomotives.
Similarly my model mill's common carrier tracks were the Johnston and East Texas- abbreviated "JET". The layout operated with Santa Fe trains, lumber company common carrier shortline trains interchanging with the Santa Fe at the junction, and logging trams that ran over both lumber company AND Santa Fe tracks.
My layout under construction is based on Galveston, which had multiple railroads... Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Burlington, Rock Island, a combined Missouri Pacific/ Missouri-Kansas-Texas operation and a Port-operated dockside switching railroad.
I just don't have yard and staging room for all those railroads, so my layout concentrates on Santa Fe and a "names-changed-to-protect-the-innocent" port switching railroad, ignoring the rest. I haven't acquired locomotives for the Port yet. But I have a possible prototype answer borrowed from Corpus Christi. For about 40 years, port tracks were operated by a Terminal Association of the 3 trunklines in town, each railroad providing crews, operation and maintenance of the port tracks for one year at a time in rotation. This gives me a chance to run some non-Santa Fe prototype switchers in the port, without having to model fully the other prototype road.
My layout locale is Orange County, California set in the 1950's. During this time period, there was a large presence by the Santa Fe, the Southern Pacific and the remaining routes of the Pacific Electric. The Union Pacific was also present in the northern areas of the County but those areas are "off-layout" at this time. My layout is based on a fictitious survival of the Santa Ana & Newport built in the 1890's and bought up by the Southern Pacific around 1900. Had the SA&N remained independent into the 1950's, it probably would have continued to interchange with the Santa Fe and would have added interchanges with the Southern Pacific and Pacific Electric. This is what my layout assumes so I get to model four different railroads.
Hornblower
mobilman44 Personally, I run ATSF pre 1959 locos in a "generic midwest setting". BUT, I have run-throughs by the Illinois Central, the railroad that takes me back to my childhood. Of course the two RRs came very close to one another in north central Illinois, but never to my knowledge shared trackage.
Personally, I run ATSF pre 1959 locos in a "generic midwest setting". BUT, I have run-throughs by the Illinois Central, the railroad that takes me back to my childhood. Of course the two RRs came very close to one another in north central Illinois, but never to my knowledge shared trackage.
Ahh, but they did, mobilman44.
Running on parallel tracks along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal from Kedzie to Canal Street, the Santa Fe fed into the IC west of the Alton Junction and crossed the C&WI and Pennsy rails using the IC tracks. East of the junction, Santa Fe passenger trains crossed over to the C&WI tracks, and continued to Dearborn Station, while the IC continued east to the lakefront, where Iowa passenger trains tied up at IC's Central Station.
Rich
Alton Junction
Are you a from Butte? I model the GN for now. Might get some NP loco's and a caboose to run occasionally. Joe
My Philipsburg and Milestown Branch of the East Penn is likely to see first and second generation diesel locomotives in service from the PRR, Reading, LV, and C & O. Freight cars hail from the entire northeast with perhaps an overemphasis on the three New England states-- Mass, Vt., and Maine-- where I have lived most of my adult life.
My layout simulates Dearborn Station in downtown Chicago. The C&WI owned the station and ran a 4-track main line into the station. There were six tenants including ATSF, Wabash, Monon, C&EI, GTW, and Erie. So, I run all six of those roadnames. So far, so good.
But, then, I cheat and also run C&NW and U.P. into and out of the station as well as NYC and PRR, none of which actually used the station, although all four roads came into Chicago including the U.P. which used the C&NW tracks.
Mine is supposed to be modern-day UP. But I argue that I can run SP and BN and NS as well. Plus some 1950's stuff under the excuse of museum/excursion trains.
Modelling HO Scale with a focus on the West and Midwest USA
I switched to model present day Pan Am because of the diversity I noticed on the line. I see other RR engines all the time plus Pan Am and NS have a line they share called the Patriot Corridor. So in addition to seeing NS, UP, BNSF and CSX show up sometimes lashed up with Pan Am power. Or run thru unit trains with the appropriate RR's power. Amtrak can also be on the same track-age or next to Pan Am track on their own right of way.
My Yuba River Sub runs Rio Grande motive power with Southern Pacific trackage rights, and some Great Northern due to a Northern California--Oregon--Washington connection. And since the MR is set during the WWII period, when western railroads were leasing locomotives from other lines, I have 'loaners' from the Burlington (C&S), Missouri Pacific, Pennsylvania and Chesapeake and Ohio. I also have 3 "never was" Rio Grande articulateds, the 3900 series 2-8-8-4 Yellowstones, based upon Rio Grande's leasing of Missabe Road M-4's during WWII (I just had my Rio Grande go to Baldwin for duplicates).
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!
I am going to model the Central Illinois Peoria Area. For me it is very Diverse Iowa Interstate, TP&W,BNSF,UP,NS. If i go earlier like 70's or 80's It could be BN,The Rock, Penn Central,Santa Fe,CNW so many roads. I think that is why i am choosing this area
This is similar to what I have been doing over the years. First I started wiih an HOn30 narrow gauge logging railroad. After trips to North West old growth saw mills on business in 1975 when I was able to inspect a number of big mills including that of The Weed Lumber Company at the base of Mt Shasta that was started to be built in 1901. Weed had 3 standard gauge locos. and started runnig tracks north to haul logs back to his mill.
Within five years, of the turn of the century, the SP decided to construct a second main line north and puchased Weeds logging RR and continued track construction north toward Klamath Falls Oregon in secret so that other RR's in the area would not get in the SP's way. This was all done under a subsidiary of the SP known as the California and North Eastern. By the time they reached Klamath Falls about 1909 or so, they droped the old name and just sent SP 4-8-0's and other locos to supplement the Weed locos.
So currectly I am modeling all of this along with a freelance logging operation along the SP Klamath Falls branch as it existed in 1911. Peter Smith, Memphis
First train into Klamath Falls
Wonderful work, PASmith! I'd like to see more!
Peter,
Yes,that is really,nice,well done,,,I don't recall ever seeing a 4-8-0,if i did,I don't remember..
Cheers,
Frank
zstripe Peter, Yes,that is really,nice,well done,,,I don't recall ever seeing a 4-8-0,if i did,I don't remember.. Cheers, Frank
Northern Pacific had some, they called them Mastodons; or twelve wheelers..
Here are some more pictures of my 4-8-0 SP Mastodon It is a modfiied and remotored Tyco. Believe it or not it is one of my best running locos. The Whale Back tender is built from scratch. The prototype picture was taken some where around Klamath Falls about the 1910 period.
Peter Smith, Memphis
When I first started my layout I chose to model the Great Northern Railroad.
The area I chose is Southern BC, where else in Canada did an American Railroad have so much trackage during the 1900's to the 1930's.?
Great Northern served a lot of coal and mining interests, even co-owning some of the large Coal and Mining interests.
I slowly added both Canadian Pacific and Candian National locomotives to my layout. The CP and CN on my layout are secondary to the GN.
This was initailly due to the fact that Canadian Steam was harder to obtain and far more expensive than buying Great Northern locomotives. I am amazed at the amount of steam engines modeled on GN prototypes Pacific Fast Mail imported into North America.
Only later when Van Hobbies was associated with PFM could you obtain models of steamers actually based on Canadian Prototypes.
Price wise there was not too much difference back in the 1970's and 1980's but years later, like the present.there is quite a difference between the prices paid for Canadian locomotives. They certainly sell at a premium.
However seeing that for every one Canadian locomotive released there were at least 10 American locomotives produced. it is now surprise.
I now have more or less an equal number of GN, CN and CP locomotives and rolling stock.