1980's era railroads

[Anonymous]

Where can I find information reguarding what railroads were operating in the 1980's? I see you guys talking about the era's that railroads were operating in and i cant seem to find the information for myself. Anyone model rails set in the 1980's? Thanks

[tjsmrinfo]

texansoldier there were a lot of RR's operating in the 80's. MKT, SLSF, BN, SF,conrail, ns,
csx, sp, ssw, mopac, wp, drgw, and theres more.


tom

[Anonymous]

I was just curious to know about the areas that operated a good variety of RRs. Like what areas had a good variety of lines running through them?

[RedGrey62]

Any of the major rail centers would have lots of RRs, Chicago, Kansas City, St Louis, New York, Houston, Cincinatti, etc. Illinois would have ATSF, CSX, BN, C&NW (prior to UP), Conrail, NS, plus a few more. Missouri would have quite a few running through it as well with the Katy, BN, ATSF, SLSF, SSW, MoPac and more too. My knowledge base is mainly midwest but you can find similar for other areas too.

Along with this forum, I would try Wikipedia, lots of info and it usually tells when the RR was abandonded or merged.

Rick

[JPowell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Texansoldier

Where can I find information reguarding what railroads were operating in the 1980's? I see you guys talking about the era's that railroads were operating in and i cant seem to find the information for myself. Anyone model rails set in the 1980's? Thanks

I'd suggest a few places (sites, books, etc), but it depends on which area(s) you're looking for the info on. Some of the Class 1's, you can do Google searches on and get the Histories of which should list the RR's that merged into that carrier, or were bought by that carrier.

Try that and also try railserve.com, in the 'Freight Railroads' and 'Historical Societies' links, should list most of them.

JP

[Anonymous]

if youre interested in urban railroading, theres a website that i referenced alot to give me ideas for my layout. i model a freelance central city branch of the S.P. in 1980 with lots of street trackage. www.oldnyc.com and www.geocities.com. they show pictures of railroads in action on the streets.

[R. T. POTEET]

Texansoldier: access "modelrailroaderbooks.com" what your looking for is Kalmbach's "Historical guide to American Railroads" That'll tell you what rrs were operating in the 1980s. The latest release even lists Uncle John as a fallen flag - terrifying!!!!!

RTPOTEET

[Anonymous]

There's also some yahoo groups out there dedicated to a specific railroad. Conrailmodelers and CONRAILmodeler are two I beling to. CONRAIL was up and operating in the 80s. You might want to try some of them.

[waltersrails]

one of my timetables in 1982 shows st louis region as still the chessie system even though it turn into csx in 1980.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Texansoldier

Where can I find information reguarding what railroads were operating in the 1980's? I see you guys talking about the era's that railroads were operating in and i cant seem to find the information for myself. Anyone model rails set in the 1980's? Thanks

Yep, I model the SP in southern Oregon during the 1980s. You can see my web site link in my signature.

My references include: personal photographs taken in the 1980s, RR books with photos from the 1980s, SP roster annuals from the 1980s, RR videos with footage from the 1980s, web sites (espee.railfan.net being a premo reference) and rereading model RR magazines from the 1980s.

[Anonymous]

The fallen flags web site has thousands of photos posted and most include the date on which the photo was taken. That would be an interesting search for photo archivists, by date.

[IRONROOSTER]

Check the used book dealers at the train shows for railroad atlases of the U.S. for the 1980's. I have two that Kalmbach reprinted from the 20's and 40' plus one I bought new in 1974. Good way to see what railroads operated where at a moment in time.
Enjoy
Paul