"Rust, whats not to love?"
rogertra wrote: One tip.Avoid any "cutsie" name. The novelty soon wears off.
One tip.
Avoid any "cutsie" name. The novelty soon wears off.
A good (model) railroad name, like most prototypes, helps establish where the railroad exists or what it does.
I don't know how long this thread will continue; but I thought I'd contribute my two cents. My layout is a free-lanced version of the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut that actually existed from 1879 to 1904 when it was absorbed into the Central New England RR (which was subsequently absorbed into the New Haven). I model late September 1899 - all structures and vehicles (wagons) do (or will) reflect this time period.
As an aside, the N.D.& C. crossed my father's farm in Arthursburg, NY until the early 1930s. Produce, coal and milk were the major commodities hauled by this shortline - which served as a bridge-line between the western shore of the Hudson River and New England. Anyone interested in this line should secure a copy of Bernard Rudberg's excellent book Twenty-five Years on the ND&C published by Purple Mountain Press and still available as far as I know.
"Keeping my hand on the throttle...and my eyes on rail."
The name of a layout express a lot about the people's interest.
I habitually take existing things and twist them to see what they could be if the time flow was different.
I model the Quebec Railway Light & Power Co, a true railway that existed as a suburban electric traction line from 1889 to 1959. It's main purpose was to transport canadian & american pilgrims to famous Ste. Anne de Beaupré Basilica about 30 km east to Quebec City (many consists from New England came in the old days, using the sleepers as temporary hotel on sidings beside the church). However, for the club layout which is set around the 70' and 80's, I decided to see what would happen if the company survived and developped after 1959. For this reason, each time I make something not prototypical for CN or CP, I just letter it QRL&PCo. The paint scheme for diesel engines is inspired by Great Northern Green & Orange... I made several sketch to reuse the old logo and create new cheezy slogans inspired by the surname of the line "The Good Ste. Anne's Railway" to put on box cars.
For logging activities, I also created a freelanced branchline inspired by one owned by the QRL&PCo that I call the Quebec Montmorency & Northern Railway (QMN&R)... I created the paint scheme and logo but didn't painted anything yet for this fictive company.
I remember reading a MR article about Illinois Terminal Railway (1987 I think) that inspired me the Joliette, Aresford & Rainier Railway (JA&RR) just beceause it was the first words that came to my mind and it sounded just right. When seeking for a name, I habitually take the first thing that inspire me while seeing a place. By example, on the club layout, we wanted to reused a Pola passenger structure that was way too much european in style. We called it Bijouxville Junction because it looked just too much pedant and elitist in our wharf & downtown setting. It was a joke at first, but the first thing I knew, it was lettered on the layout control board! Can't change it anymore! People visiting the layout often get their name associated with some industries... the more troublesome visitor having his own dedicated scrap yard...
Matt
Proudly modelling the Quebec Railway Light & Power Co since 1997.
http://www.hedley-junction.blogspot.com
http://www.harlem-station.blogspot.com
My railroad is the Birdsboro & Reading.
Headquarters in my old home town of Birdsboro PA with lines radiating out from there.
1.) To the south towards Coatesville PA home of Lukens steel and a large percentage of traffic (inbound and outbound) operating the former Wilmington & Northern branch of the Reading Company.
2.) To the east to Pottstown PA operating the former Pennsylvania RR Schuylkill division with a connection to the former Reading Co. Coalbrookdale branch to Boyertown PA.
3.) To the west to the nearby city of Reading PA operating the above mentioned Pennsy line with trackage rights on the Reading Belt Line to connect with the former Reading Co. Reading & Colombia branch, also to connect with a northern section of the above mentioned Pennsy line.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
rogertra One tip. Avoid any "cutsie" name. The novelty soon wears off.
Would that include "BOB'S RAILROAD AND STORM DOOR COMPANY" or BRASDC.
The above name (as bad as it is) is right up there with some of the " non-cutesie" names, tell me if something like the " Monochatagimmee River and Strastermaginess Canyon Central Railroad Company" Do you think there is really any difference???
Is not the correct term: Canadian Pacific Railway ? ? ? if you look closely I believe the terminology is RailWAY, just a note.
The Laurel Valley Railway is my free-lance N scale short-line, which originally was set in the late70's and early 80's, but was backdated to play a role on my late 60's era Western Maryland layout. Here's what I had in mind...
The WM operated trains from Rockwood to Gray, just above Somerset, via trackage rights over the B&O Johnstown Branch. That's a fact. There was a branch line railroad, the Ligonier Valley Ry. that operated from Latrobe to Ligonier at least into the 1960's. That too is fact. A tunnel was bored in the late 19th century for the purpose of building a railroad not far from Somerset. Another fact. While that tunnel was used as part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 1940, it was abandoned and bypassed in the mid-60's to relieve congestion on the highway. Yes, a fact indeed.
Here's where we get creative. Instead of falling under the management of the Pennsylvania and being run into the ground by the Penn Central, the Ligonier Valley remained a viable branch line, living well off of the limestone quarries around Ligonier which fed fluxing stone to the open hearths of Pittsburgh. When the Turnpike Commission elected to bypass Laurel Hill Tunnel, the management of the Ligonier Valley, with financial backing from the C&O/B&O and the Western Maryland, negotiated to reopen the route as a new rail connection, allowing access to the quarries from the east, and an available secondary route across the Alleghenies.
This also provided the LRV with access to the vast coal fields around Somerset, which were served by the WM's branches at Gray. Under an operating agreement, the LRV became responsible for providing rail service to those mines, utilizing the WM's long-standing trackage rights agreement over the Johnstown Branch. The LRV also became a secondary line of the Alphabet Route, providing a connecting time freight from Latrobe to Cumberland, similar to HY-YH trains between York and Hagerstown.
Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
I model the New York Central....Specifically the Boston & Albany. Since I consider myself more of a protofreelancer I've named my pike the "Berkshire & Atlantic". B&A
:)
We're kinda drifting into two different areas...one is the name of a free-lance fictional railroad that they're modelling ("Ypsilanti Central") the other is people who have named their layout ("Baxter Subdivision", "Johnson Crossing"). BTW I've noticed a lot of model railroads now have a fictional name but no equipment lettered for it: "My model railroad is the Johnsonville and Northern, but it was bought 20 years ago by Union Pacific, so everything is now UP".
Anyway...my "St.Paul Route" is based on two real railroads, the St.Paul and Duluth that was bought by Northern Pacific in 1900, and the Port Arthur Duluth and Western which built down from what is now Thunder Bay Ontario into northern Minnesota. It went bankrupt during the Great Depression (or should I say, the previous Great Depression?)
In my world, the StP&D remained separate and merged with the PAD&W, forming a route from Mpls/St.Paul to Duluth/Superior and up the north shore of Lake Superior to Thunder Bay.
The logical name would have been "St.Paul Duluth and Western" I guess, taking "St.Paul and Duluth" from one and "Duluth and Western" from the other. But I went off a little and called it the "St. Paul Duluth and Canadian Ry." instead..."The Saint P, D and C", more commonly called the "St.Paul Route". My herald is loosely based on an actualy StP&D herald used on some company stationary and ads (though apparently never used on equipment) and my RR slogan "Route of the Famous Lake Superior Limited" is also borrowed from actual St.P&D ads, as is the name of my "Lake Superior Limited" train which ran between Duluth and St.Paul.