You guys all know that I desire to model Montana Rail Link mixed with BNSF and I hope to create a nice layout of the Mullan Pass in Montana one day. BUT I have collected a few of Athearn's Bombardier Passenger cars that are Coaster. I also have an F59PHI and a F40PH in Coaster. I grew up around these commuter trains and I will forever keep them around. And when the time comes, I'm sure that I will be running them on my layout here and there. But San Diego trains don't run in Montana.
So who else has this problem like I do? Something that doesn't match your layout theme or era, but you just love having it to play with or look at.
--Zak Gardner
My Layout Blog: http://mrl369dude.blogspot.com
http://zgardner18.rrpicturearchives.net
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Hey its your layout...do as you please
dbduck Hey its your layout...do as you please
Oh, but the guilt! I've got a big Letter on my chest.
Well my New York Central Hudson doesn't really fit into a Minnesota iron ore railroad layout, but whadda ya gonna do??
Don't feel bad. I moved an entire coal-originating flatlands branch line more than a thousand kilometers, changed its ownership (from JNR to Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo) and plopped it into a ruggedly mountainous area which, as far as I know, never had a workable coal seam. Then I equipped it with locomotives and hopper cars (including hopper-brakes) that would cause a Japanese prototype purist to run screaming into the night.
The nice thing about protolancing (freelancing around a prototype concept) is that you can tell itinerant rivet counters that you are the only one who knows how many rivets were used to assemble those cars of no known parentage. You should. You drove them all yourself.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - JNR to prototype, TTT freelanced)
No problem, I sometimes run my brass Little Joe on my logging / mining layout, looks peculiar going past some log buggies, Shays and Heislers. Doesn't really like the 18" curves for some reason
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
zgardner18 dbduck Hey its your layout...do as you please Oh, but the guilt! I've got a big Letter on my chest.
Would that be a Scarlet "A" that stands for "Athearn"?
Oh, well. As long as yr not whipping yrself in yr closet & preaching about how bad you are for it!
I'm sure you'll make Montandiego the #1 modelrailfan destination.
Cheers!--Mark(who currently doesn't have two of the same anything: engine, car or line)
M.C. Fujiwara
My YouTube Channel (How-to's, Layout progress videos)
Silicon Valley Free-moN
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Layout themes are for rivet counters. My layout is eclectic.
Within my miniature world you will find Lackawanna's Phoebe Snow (one with F3s and heavyweight cars and one with E8s and smooth side cars), Delaware and Hudson Diesel, Southern Diesel, PRR Steam, Atlantic Coast Line Diesel, Amtrak, Hogwart's Express, Thomas the Tank Engine, and NYC Subway R17s.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Just come up with a back story. Maybe some Montana politician wants commuter service and Arnie sent a train set for them to test?I remember switching RailRunner cars in Galesburg Il. They were coming from the builder on their way to New Mexico,but we only got one at a time.
Anything is possible this day and age.Iowa Northern picked up a few bilevels and a F40 and now run the Hawkeye express ( on Iowa Interstate rails no less) for Hawkeye games.So sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
tomikawaTTThe nice thing about protolancing (freelancing around a prototype concept) is that you can tell itinerant rivet counters that you are the only one who knows how many rivets were used to assemble those cars of no known parentage. You should. You drove them all yourself.
Yes, just like the fleet of 72' passenger cars the ATLANTIC CENTRAL had Pullman and ACF build so they could run at higher speeds through their curvy routes over the Allegheny Mountains.
Model Railroading is FUN, if your having fun, your doing it right1
Sheldon
No no no you're thinking about it all wrong, that Coaster set is on lease for temporary loan for commuter use, therefore you cant paint it .
Have fun with your trains
I've got a couple of Y3's that "ol' Fred Thompson" at the Williston Rail Hysterical Society 'acquired'-----he just never said where he 'found' them----
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
She-ee-esh where do I begin... My P.B.& J is a freelance that might connect the C.C.C.& St.L to the B&LE, but it might as well connect the san diego subway to the Allegheny Mining Corporation...
I have a Pensy Heavyweight passenger set that I run with a Pensy E8, A Riogrand southern PA 1a&b set that pull freight and a set of Empire Builder passenger cars, a mallet that pulls a line of pretty modern freight cars I don't own a Geep or anything ultra modern, a set of Rio Grande Southern rail cars, an 060, a 440, and a very stubborn F7, I'd like a pair of Alco RS2s- my first set had a pair of OD green Pensy Alcos..
very few of my locos are what you would call "the good stuff", less of my rolling stock, mostly its stuff that I got at discount when one store or another was closing or getting out of trains... I've run it all together and separately and had a lot of fun with it... some of the locos will get painted and lettered with the masthead or logo of the PB&J, some of the rolling stock will get it too, while others will get tthe logo of the business they serve... I have to learn how to do this stuff some time.
I say they are your trains, run 'em any way you please...
vsmith No no no you're thinking about it all wrong, that Coaster set is on lease for temporary loan for commuter use, therefore you cant paint it .
I have to admit that is a good idea since I do recall an article somewhere (I think I saw it on the Trains Forum) that Montana was thinking of running some kind of commuter service between the towns.
So there I have it. They are testing the idea with loaners from the San Diego Coaster. I love it! Now I just have to figure in my SP engines
I've got an unpatched ATSF U23B. and I'll, probably get an unpatched WP U23B too. And I've got an excuse to run them, but it is EXTREMELY flimsy. They were bought second-hand by my RR company. And my RR company is in South Carolina, lol.
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
My area of modeling interest confines me to one road operating in one place during a specific time period. I have no interest in modeling or collecting out side of these three interests. Not because I am closed minded, I just need to ring fence those things that are of direct interest to me because I want to do the best job I can in representing the SAL, Gulf Coast Florida, 1949. The constraints that I have place upon myself allow me to stay focused on my plan - my specialization. If I don't maintain this discipline then I am sure I would wander about the place with dreams in my head and buying models used by the SCL, ACL, FEC, CSX N&W, L&N and others. But this is not really what I want to do.
I don't take a rivet counters approach to modeling but I do like to create a general feel of accuracy of time and place. This means that I don't run models that are representative of prototypes more modern than 1949 or not used by the SAL in the geographical location I have chosen to also model.
Having this self imposed discipline helps me to manage costs and to resist temptations offered through the pages of the hobby press. It also allows me to peruse historical research about my areas of interest - and that's part of the fun, or perhaps more correctly, the satisfaction, of our hobby.
What ever other, fellow modelers do, is entirely there own affair and should be seen as a kind of celebration of diversity of interests within our hobby.
We all do our best to achieve our modeling goals and achieve what we can and as we can. Nobody is doing it wrong if that's the way they want things done and they don't see any need to do it differently.
Bruce
I don't like to think of myself as a rivit counter too but as I draw up my plans for my future layout it kills me that I have to reverse one of my industries and put a river on the other side of the tracks to make it all flow. But I feel that I have gotten anal about the way that this layout has to be geographicly sound. My desire to create it as a mushroom shape but I can only get a double deck to work with the way that the tracks run the mountain. So would that be rivit counting? Along with that I plan on only using MRL and BNSF trains but one thing I really like about this route is when I lived up there I photographed an all NS engines pulling a BNSF train. I've seen photos of an All CSX engine train too. There isn't a different road name engine that I haven't seen up there running through the MRL, and that was one of the reasons that I was attracted to creating this as a layout but a SD Coaster, come on! Still I'm going with Montana testing out commuter service. I still like that one.
Maybe if I have ops sessions then we'll stick to MRL and BNSF, how about that?
I do want to do retro days where I can run old NP steam engines, 1st and 2nd generation NP diesels, and all BN or BN merger (not painted in BN yet) and BN only with MRL. By doing that it can really make modeling a lot of fun.
zgardner18 I don't like to think of myself as a rivit counter too but as I draw up my plans for my future layout it kills me that I have to reverse one of my industries and put a river on the other side of the tracks to make it all flow. But I feel that I have gotten anal about the way that this layout has to be geographicly sound. My desire to create it as a mushroom shape but I can only get a double deck to work with the way that the tracks run the mountain. So would that be rivit counting? Along with that I plan on only using MRL and BNSF trains but one thing I really like about this route is when I lived up there I photographed an all NS engines pulling a BNSF train. I've seen photos of an All CSX engine train too. There isn't a different road name engine that I haven't seen up there running through the MRL, and that was one of the reasons that I was attracted to creating this as a layout but a SD Coaster, come on! Still I'm going with Montana testing out commuter service. I still like that one. Maybe if I have ops sessions then we'll stick to MRL and BNSF, how about that? I do want to do retro days where I can run old NP steam engines, 1st and 2nd generation NP diesels, and all BN or BN merger (not painted in BN yet) and BN only with MRL. By doing that it can really make modeling a lot of fun.
Anal happens, and when it does, you need a person accociated with the layout but not the design process to remind you what it's for.
-Morgan
My HO Winneshiek & Western Railroad is a could-have-been short line hauling coal and lumber to a connection with the (then new) Clinchfield in the early years of WWI (before USRA control). As others have mentioned, this focus allows me to control expenses and also suits tight-radius curves.
This worked well until I retired and as a retirement gift my staff gave me one of those Light Works operating H&C coffee signs and some little police officers making an arrest. That neon sign is characteristic of Roanoke, Virginia, where I had worked for the police department 30 years. Clearly, neon doesn't fit WW1 and even stretching the time into the 1920's won't do. All my buildings were wood frame, and that sign would only look good on a brick building. After getting the track down on the new layout, I found that there was space for the "back-side" of a downtown near the engine servicing area. I built a row of brick buildings, put signs on them to match Roanoke businesses, and they create a nice backdrop as well as the base for that neon sign. In an alley, two of those police officers are making that arrest. It is sort of a little momento to those years in Roanoke, and it caused me to learn things by modeling with plastic structures. Even though small, I had a good time adding detail to an urban scene.
When folks visit and see the layout, they always comment positively on the appearance of that brick "downtown" and on the sign. I haven't had one person say "how come the locomotives have Lima arc headlights, when those would have all been gone when neon signs came around?" I did have to shed some of my rivet counting ways, but it's okay. That doesn't mean I would run a diesel regardless of who gave it to me..... except in the privacy of my own home with a consenting adult.
Bill
zgardner18dbduck Hey its your layout...do as you please Oh, but the guilt! I've got a big Letter on my chest.
Well if you really feel that guilty I'll send me your address and you can send it to me I promise I'll run it guilt free every time.
As mush as the best rivet counter or prototype model railroader strives for perfection there is always something thats out of place or just isn't 100% correct. If you enjoy seeing that train run why not run it? It's life the way it should be in your world. In my world big steam giants should still rule the rails, cokes are a nickle, kids play outside after school and ride their bikes home. Life is good and simple and they way I want it to be, that's what the hobby is all about. I have a coffe can on a nice piece of oak with a sign on it right before you enter my layout room that says if you want to tell me how to run my railroad place your donation here if not shut up and have fun.
One of my friends says he's going to charge people to work on his (club sized) layout. He has some many people telling him what to do and what he should change that he needs the money to impliment all that good advice.
zgardner18So who else has this problem like I do? Something that doesn't match your layout theme or era, but you just love having it to play with or look at.
Me. But I wouldn't call it a problem. Well for some it would be, but for me it's not. It's my world and I'll do what I want. The only reason the SP ran anywhere is because the bought the tracks and/or the rights. I bought my tracks in my little world and I'll run whatever I like and if a particular railroad didn't run in that area......., they do now. If they didn't use F40PH's or stopped using them before your modeled year but you like them, well what do you know, looky there. I guess they still do! I wouldn't worry about it at all, but, if you must, there is a reason that can be made up for anything. Of course if you're making up a reason, then why not just make up that they ran there or still run what they ran or....whatever. Problem solved.
Also being a Rivet Counter isn't a bad thing so I wouldn't worry about that either, it's just a level of modelling that alot of us don't care to go to. They are awsome modellers and I respect and enjoy looking at their work. Alot of ballplayers never make it to the starting lineup of the majors and many never want to, they're having fun doing what they're doing. Usually, at least for me, our level of accuracy increases over time unless you started out at the Rivet Counter level to begin with. So are you a Rivet Counter? No, no, no,but if you become one look at it this way, you will have one awsome layout, maybe no hair and squinty eyes, but an awsome layout!
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
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Oh for shame of it all!!
Gee whiz,by golly..Wow!
What to do?
I have 2 C&O RS1s and a N&W GP9 on a NS/CSX layout.
My excuse?
First my Columbus Belt & Terminal is jointly own by NS and CSX..However,its operated independently from the CSX/NS..They furnish the motive power on a 30 day rotation..
Here's the story.
The C&O RS1s are owned by a C&O historical group that pays the CB&T to operated the engines from time to time.
A N&W Historical group owns the N&W GP9 and pays the CB&T to operate from time to time.
Well that's my story and I am sticking to it..
As far as your "Coaster"..
Easy..
Its lease by a Port Authority as a commuter test train.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I plan to run a Galloping Goose on my layout, for no other reason than that I like 'em. The layout will be Nova Scotia in the 1930s, standard gauge, main and branchline service, mostly freight with a shorty passenger train for color on the branch line.
There was never, to my knowledge, a Goose run on the rails of Nova Scotia, much less a standard gauge one, but I've always liked 'em, and I'm having one to run occasionally. No rationale needed, I just want one.
The rest of the rolling stock and locos will be as appropriate to the time and place as I can manage, however.
Ah yes, the conundrum.
In my case, it was "How do you run your favorite railroad through your favorite mountain range when the two of them are at least 600 miles apart?"
Rio Grande never built as far west as California (unless you consider it funding the WP, a fact that I conveniently ignored), but MY Rio Grande has a California extension from Salt Lake City to the port of Oakland on San Francisco Bay, using the Yuba River watershed through the Sierra Nevada to get there. It's midway between WP's Feather River Canyon and SP's Donner Pass line.
And so that I could get my OTHER favorite railroad up and running, Rio Grande offered Southern Pacific 'trackage rights' when Donner Pass gets snowed in or the traffic gets too heavy. The old 'Cake and Eat It' syndrome. Cab-Forwards on Yuba Pass. Works for me.
But did I convert my Rio Grande steamers to burn California oil? Nope. They're blasting over the Sierra through the Tahoe National Forest burning Utah coal, something that would be an absolute 'no-no' in a California national forest reserve.
And did the Rio Grande ever own 2-8-8-4 Yellowstones based on a Missabe prototype? Well, they rented them during WWII, but MY Rio Grande just went to Baldwin and ordered duplicates.
So from this end at least, I sure wouldn't worry about running Bombadier's on the Montana Rail Link.
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!
You can always have trains that you run just because and take them off when you are trying to be historically correct.
I have some billboard reefers that shouldn't be on my early 50's layout but I plan to ignore that. And I'll run my GG1 sometimes just because I like to.
Enjoy
Paul
zgardner18vsmith No no no you're thinking about it all wrong, that Coaster set is on lease for temporary loan for commuter use, therefore you cant paint it . I have to admit that is a good idea since I do recall an article somewhere (I think I saw it on the Trains Forum) that Montana was thinking of running some kind of commuter service between the towns. So there I have it. They are testing the idea with loaners from the San Diego Coaster. I love it! Now I just have to figure in my SP engines
Also, look at Vsmith's sig, the quote under the pic. Malcolm Furlow had it right, Reality is a crutch.A crutch I ignore but try to keep in touch with.
But anyways, about those SP engines; Is there a UP engine in that pic in your first post? Just say the SP engines are on loan temporarily from the UP because there was a sudden surge in traffic.
I sometimes run my HO BART and MUNI LRVs on my On30/Gn15 logging layout. Prototypical? Definitely not but I enjoy it. I subscribe to the view "it's your railroad run what you want."
kcole4001 I plan to run a Galloping Goose on my layout, for no other reason than that I like 'em. The layout will be Nova Scotia in the 1930s, standard gauge, main and branchline service, mostly freight with a shorty passenger train for color on the branch line. There was never, to my knowledge, a Goose run on the rails of Nova Scotia, much less a standard gauge one, but I've always liked 'em, and I'm having one to run occasionally. No rationale needed, I just want one.
No Rationale needed, but if you'd like one, my HO&N has one of the roundhouse goose 3n1s, that will become an equipment vehicle to shuttle crews and parts to and from shops, enginehouses, depots, and worktrain sites, and just about anywhere else mgmt. decides they need stuff to be moved to improve service without hyjacking a whole train for the job. And oh, by the way, this will be my first attempt of something close to a sidekick of Super detailaing.