Help --- Please

[Anonymous]

I am a 54yr old male living in Dorset United Kingdom.
Having spent many years modelling 'British' railways, I am now starting to plan a 'American' layout in 'N' scale.
The problem is, I have no knowledge of the American style of operation, what the wagons (boxcars) are used for etc.
Would anyone be so kind as to help me understand your wonderful rail system, especially the "BNSF".

Many thanks

Alan

[Anonymous]

Hi.
well, for info on the BNSF, go to their web site at www.BNSF.com, as for operating, it takes a lot of time to discribe. check and see what Kalambac prints, or mabey see if you can purchase timetables, which might hold some good info. other thatn that, have fun.
Matt

[Anonymous]

Alan,

While operations in the US have changed recently with the introduction of container and trailer on flatcar (COFC/TOFC) traffic and the US railroads are running more "unit" trains than they did in the past, I recommend the book "How to Operate Your Model Railroad" by Bruce Chubb as the best source for this information. Unfortunately, I believe this book is out of print so you may have to get creative with the internet to find a copy someone wants to sell. Another book, "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" by John Armstrong contains a wealth of information and this book has been reprinted in its third(?) edition not long ago.

Or, you can buy me a round trip ticket to England this summer and I will bring my two copies when I visit. Good Luck - Ed

[willy6]

ALAN
HOW'S THE TEA AND CRUMPETS? OKAY? NOW ABOUT YOUR QUESTION...AMERICAN RAILROADS HAVE NUMEROUS TYPES OF FRIEGHT CARS.(WAGONS)WE HAVE BOXCARS,TANK CARS,FLAT CARS ETC.SOME RAILROADSSHIP EXCLUSIVE ITEMS.(I.E.COAL,CHEMICALS ETC.)TODAY MOST AMERICAN RAILROAD DEAL WITH INTERMODAL.BNSF IS A BIG ONE FOR THIS.NORFOLK SOUTHERN RR AND CSX RR SHIP ALOT OF COAL FROM THE N.E. USA. NOW ADAYS ALL RAILROADS SHARE THE FRIEGHT CARS. SO BASICALLY ANY ROAD NAME WILL WORK.IN AMERICA CHEMICALS IS A BIG THING SO TANK CARS WOULD LOOK GOOD ON ANY LAYOUT.FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME FOR MORE INFO. [e-mail]...SAY HELLO TO THE QUEEN FOR ME.

[Anonymous]

Well, how about having your cake and eating it to. Have you considered modeling an area in Canada. Specifically my area. Why? Well if you do that, you can run CN, CP and BNSF - think of all those engines you get to buy. And on top of that, you can buy the new Athearn N scale engine and coaches for the West Coast Express (they aren't out yet).

I live in Vancouver BC and the area you might be interested in is in city next to Vancouver (really one of its suburbs) called New Westminister. And in New Westminister is a hobby shop you can bookmark for all your engines and cars. In actual fact I will give you two stores to bookmark:

www.pacificscalerail.com
www.cental-hobbies.com

Also in the latest edition of Armstrong's book mentioned above, he added two new chapters which are very valuable to read for contemporary operations. You can get his book at either of the two mention stores. Your British Euro Dollar might go further in Canada than in the states.

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for the useful information.
I like your suggestion very much, I must admit it is one that I never thought of. You have really got my old brain cells working overtime.
We still have our British Pound Sterling at the moment, our PM, Tony Blair, has not thrown us into that worthless currency (Yet), but give the idiot time.

Once again, many thanks and please feel free to email anytime if you so wish.
([e-mail])
or ([e-mail])
Alan

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the book titles, I shall try and locate them.
As for the round trip tickets to England, my wife suggests that you send us some tickets and we will look at the books with you...lol

Once again, many thanks

Alan

[Anonymous]

the bnsf is a merger of two of the largest railroads in the us. the bnsf runs mainly double stacks and coal with some mixed freight in between. the merger took place a few years ago and they seem to be successful after trimming down to become lean and mean. they sold off s lot of their branch lines to smaller roads or just closed them down completely. i would suggest you get ahold of some magazines from the us and read up on the bnsf.

[Anonymous]

some additional thoughts, i have been to the uk with my wife. we have friends in dover and hve visited twice in the last few years. your rail system is quite different from ours but the equipment is available to model the burlington northern santa fe in your country. i have a double decked layout in my basement based on the santa fe line between barstow california and santa fe new mexico. i run double stacks and coal with some mixed freight for some of the sub divisions like needles cal. seligman cal. etc. you picked a great railroad to model, but i would suggest again to get as many books as you can. the website mentioned earlier is a good source. best of luck bob

[Anonymous]

I have a very good model shop close to where I live, I have learnt a lot from the owner in the past few months and he has offered to loan me several books on the BNFE.
Should you ever find yourself in the UK again especially in Bournemouth (Dorset), please look me up.

Alan