Most model what they grew up seeing - its pretty standard fair. I grew up watching the SP in northern California. However, several trips to Colorado converted me to the Rio Grande because the gorgeous mountain scenery and the desert scenery is hard to beat. I, on the other hand find all midwestern and eastern rail roading boring and unappealing, mainly due to the boring and completely ordinarly scenery and land scape.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Why not?
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
I model a fictional freelance ('bridge') line connecting the Rio Grande and the Santa Fe in the mid-to-late 1950's - because:
1) The 1950's were when I first got interested in MRR'ing,
2) At that time I think my train set had an ATSF loco with it (and Santa Fe was a popular RR line),
3) On my one vacation when I was married, we went to Phoenix area (my Dad was living there then) and then up through the Four Corners area, into Cortez (Mesa Verde country) and Colorado Springs before heading home, and I love the scenery out that way,
4) I like the Rio Grande's black and gold/yellow colors, plus the Santa Fe's stripes (like the SP's Tiger stripe schemes, also),
5) I like medium or smaller towns & cities, so my freelanced RR is serving some (in an alternate universe where the Navajo nation would lease out land for a RR to cut through - that part's probably not realistic, but see #6 below),
6) Because I like all of the above and it's my railroad!
Model RR'ing allows me to use my creative side more (I have an undergrad degree in art and currently work in another career area, so gotta have an outlet, right?). It involves some (limited) craftsmanship, research skills (to find out what would be typical for RR's in my layout's time period, etc.), operations, design (in planning the layout of track, structures, etc.), painting, and other skills.
That's my , anyway.
Blessings,
Jim in Cape Girardeau