I ran across this photo that I took in 1994 of SGLR 578.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190 Doughless Based off of the Seminole Gulf Railway. The SEMINOLE GULF (SGLR) has had two operational locations. One in Sarasota, and one in Fort Myers. In Fort Myers, rail served industries include: Raymond Building Supply (Bulkhead Flats) L&W Supply (Bulkhead Flats) Rosen Building Materials (Bulkhead Flats) Rice Windows And Doors (Boxcars) Suburban Propane (LPG Tank Cars) Pondella Landscape (Open Hoppers) Garden Street Recycling (Gondolas) If you backdate the railroad just a few years, you get to add a lot: Miller Brands (Insulated Boxcars) Fort Myers News Press (Boxcars) Florida Rock (Aggregate Cars) Railhead Recycling (Gondolas) Florida Power & Light (Oil Tank Cars) Fowler Building Materials (Bulkhead Flat Cars) Then you can use your imagination to add: Oldcastle Products (Raw Materials In, Concrete Castings Out) Bonita Grande Sand (Sand Out In Hoppers) How does all that sound? Dont forget the Dinner Train! -Kevin
Doughless Based off of the Seminole Gulf Railway.
The SEMINOLE GULF (SGLR) has had two operational locations. One in Sarasota, and one in Fort Myers.
In Fort Myers, rail served industries include:
Raymond Building Supply (Bulkhead Flats)
L&W Supply (Bulkhead Flats)
Rosen Building Materials (Bulkhead Flats)
Rice Windows And Doors (Boxcars)
Suburban Propane (LPG Tank Cars)
Pondella Landscape (Open Hoppers)
Garden Street Recycling (Gondolas)
If you backdate the railroad just a few years, you get to add a lot:
Miller Brands (Insulated Boxcars)
Fort Myers News Press (Boxcars)
Florida Rock (Aggregate Cars)
Railhead Recycling (Gondolas)
Florida Power & Light (Oil Tank Cars)
Fowler Building Materials (Bulkhead Flat Cars)
Then you can use your imagination to add:
Oldcastle Products (Raw Materials In, Concrete Castings Out)
Bonita Grande Sand (Sand Out In Hoppers)
How does all that sound?
Dont forget the Dinner Train!
Wow, for a self-admitted Plausible Nonsense fellow, you sure do know a lot of facts about a real railroad!
I think I can make something out of that list.
One thing, I don't care for the paint scheme (puke) or the equipment. B39-8Es and torpedo tube GP9s aren't going to work.
But I like the ditchlights on the F unit.
I'll probably take a little from both of the lines and combine them into what I want, leaving out the stuff I don't want.
I'm hoping to take the next 20 or so years to get it right.
- Douglas
DoughlessBased off of the Seminole Gulf Railway.
SeeYou190No where. I have not given the SGRR a location. I like to think of it as along a large lake, bay, sound, or even a gulf. This map shows the area that will be on my layout. The red star towns will be modeled, and the yellow star towns will be represented by staging. The North/South mainline in and out of town will be staged as well.
As I have previously disclosed, we will likely be retiring to SW Florida in about 4 years. Keeping with my layout theme of modeling what tends to be near me, the current layout that I am building and which may make it partially intact to FL is now being based off of the Seminole Gulf Railway.
As is the case, the shortline upon which I base my layout will have to have a few shots of industrial steriods to get it up to where there is enough traffic generated to support the layout I want.
Berry Plastics, Publix grocery distribution, Suburban Propane, and a cement/ready mix industry (perhaps a concrete block factory...you guys use a lot of concrete block down there?) will be the plausibility base of the layout.
Using likely the old Charlotte Harbor and Northern right of way from Arcadia to Charlotte Harbor or the current SGLR ROW from Arcadia to Punta Gorda to Ft Myers.
Stuff I've learned about over the past few months of research.
SeeYou190Out of curiosity, did you find any places similar?
Southgate 2Well, the nonsense is plausible enough that I looked at a map of the east coast for those features!
Sorry to send you on a pointless search.
Out of curiosity, did you find any places similar?
I have my own fictional, the Dustbowl & Eastern. It's a relatively new railroad compared to many of the others here, started in 1964 out of Albuquerque, NM, heading north to Pueblo. In the 1970s, it expanded to Denver, CO, and throughout the 1980s and 90s, it expanded north to Cheyenne and east to North Platte. In the 2000s, it expanded further out to St. Louis.
Now, of course, this line cannot co-exist with the Union Pacific and/or Santa Fe because of just how much of both railroads it occupies, including a portion of the well known Overland Route between Cheyenne and Council Bluffs.
Regardless, it owns about 600 miles of trackage, heading in a general northeast direction.
Here is the line circa 1996 (mainly because I'm too lazy to finish it for now)
And a photoshop of a Scaletrains Tier 4 with the D&E's paintscheme on it.
Well, the nonsense is plausible enough that I looked at a map of the east coast for those features!
Southgate 2I plead ignorance on geography. (Didn't have to plead in school, they knew) Where's your map's locale, Kevin?
No where. I have not given the SGRR a location.
I like to think of it as along a large lake, bay, sound, or even a gulf.
This map shows the area that will be on my layout. The red star towns will be modeled, and the yellow star towns will be represented by staging.
The North/South mainline in and out of town will be staged as well.
Like John-NYBW I haven't actually written the history of my line down, although have a map of the route it takes and why. The history is part fact and fiction.
The routes of two lines built by separate Companies - Calder Railway and Leeds, Scarcroft & Wetherby Railway. Both Comapanies were backed by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway as a way to get to York. Because of The Great War the L&Y never made it direct to York.
Both Companies were absorbed into the L&Y just prior to WW1. Another Company, Kirkstall & East Seacroft Railway had running rights. The K&ESR was absorbed into the L&Y at the end of 1919. The L&Y and the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) had several agreements, one being using what became Leeds Central Station and the LNWR Goods Station next door. They merged in 1920.
Even in the 1970s most of the history was true and still existed. Though I extended the life of Leeds Central into the 1970s. The station actually closed in 1968.
Most of the factories I mention on the layout actually existed, giving credibility and a reason to be there.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
I've never actually written it down but I have a pretty firm idea of how my freelanced railroad, set in 1956, came into being. I also have in my head it's future. It became part of the Penn Central merger and later of course became part of Conrail. After Conrail broke up, I haven't decided whether my railroad became part of CSX or NS. I doubt I would ever move my layout forward into later years but I have that option. It would be cost prohibitive. I might back date it to the steam only era. That would be less expensive since I could keep running the steam I have and just replace the diesels with more steam. I'd have to replace a lot of rolling stock and most of the vehicles on my layout.
Southgate 2Where's your map's locale, Kevin?
Interestingly this is in the mid-Atlantic part of that world, not the Pacific Northwest part of it, unless they have barrier islands to the east in that alternate Pacific Northwest. Shows the 'roots' of the world-building.
I plead ignorance on geography. (Didn't have to plead in school, they knew) Where's your map's locale, Kevin?
Southgate 2I'm a guy playing with HO trains in a room. So I lightened up.
Yep, when I "lightened up" I started enjoying the railroad a lot more.
I recently came across a box that had the two main histories for the SGRR. The first one I created in High School, when I had a small layout and it was in Appalachia. The second one was from when I had the dream house, and the railroad was relocated to the Pacific Northwest.
Instead of a history, I have just decided to have a system map. The SGRR is the red lines.
I work on the map every once in a while.
An older thread, but still you bring up an interesting subject. (Kevin)
I never wrote a history, just kind of figured out a number of plausable scenarios in my mind to work with. Some are based on true history. I even struggled with it some, to make it really a true possibility, but c'mon, I'm a guy playing with HO trains in a room. So I lightened up.
It's easier and more fun to just say it's a fictitious extension of an existing real deep water harbor in Oregon. Could have been real but I chose to add some scenery features not existing in that immediate area. They do exist not far from there though.
So unwritten and freelanced it is, and the hands are untied to "drag and paste" whatever scenery features or noteworthy structures I want from other well known locations into my little ISL, as well as my own freelanced scratchbuilt structures.
There it is! Dan
caballorrDoes any one written history on their freelance rr , if you have what is the history ?
There was a time when I had written a very specific history of the STRATTON AND GILLETTE. As time went on, the railroad has switched eras, scales, and location. It has also gone from being a run-down backwoods line to a well maintained Class A system.
So, the fictional history of my fictional railroad was once very well researched and thought out, now it is just a vague idea.
I've decided to model a network of freelanced narrow gauge shortlines set in the Four Corners region in 1907, in order to allow me to combine a number of prototype influences in a plausible way. None of these lines existed, but the fictional background I've been working on coming up with is largely rooted in historical fact.
It's pretty well known to fans of western rail history that when he started the Denver & Rio Grande, General Palmer's goal was to create a north-south transcontinental route linking Denver and Mexico City via El Paso. This, of course, never came to fruition. Setbacks, largely to do with a protracted battle with the Santa Fe system, resulted in the D&RG never making it south of its rival's namesake city. Nevertheless, some other southward routes from Utah into Arizona were considered and even surveyed. My San Pablo Valley RR picks up at that point where history left off.
General Palmer resigned as president of the D&RG in August 1883, but kept the same post at the Denver & Rio Grande Western Ry., the D&RG's sometimes-subsidiary, sometimes-enemy across the Utah border. What my line presupposes is that the general kept his eye to the south for a few years longer, looking for a way to build his dream line into Mexico.
Meanwhile, as the Rio Grande mainline from Denver to Ogden crossed the Utah desert in the early 1880s, miners and investors in the territory's southern La Sal and Abajo Mountains saw an opportunity to tap the mineral and lumber resources there and connect them to markets, primarily in the capital cities of Utah and Colorado. The D&RGW leadership became aware of these plans and provided significant assistance in financing the one they thought looked most promising. This was the beginning of the San Pablo Valley RR, linking the La Sals with the Rio Grande mainline at Whitehouse via the canyon of the Colorado River and the San Pablo Valley. (In actuality, the valley I've named San Pablo is called Spanish Valley, and is the location of Moab, UT). This was completed by Christmas 1883. Construction resumed in the spring of 1884 and the line was extended to Monticello by fall. About the same time, the Rio Grande sent crews into northern Arizona to survey routes and raise money to build north towards the new SPV. By the end of the year, the grandly-named Utah Arizona & Pacific was incorporated for this purpose, and construction began northwards from Esperanza, Arizona Territory, where a connection was made with a new AT&SF branch line.
In September 1885, the SPV and UA&P met near Blanding, UT. By this point, General Palmer's hopes for a line to Mexico had finally faded for good, but the two 3' gauge lines served as a viable north-south bridge route, linking the transcontinental lines of the D&RG/D&RGW and AT&SF. Several additional smaller lines were built in the years that followed, as mining boomed in the La Sal range. First was the Castle Valley & La Sal, linking the SPV mainline in the Colorado River canyon with the new city of Castleton and the mines of the northern La Sals, built in 1887. The next year, the Paradox & La Sal was built, connecting the SPV to Colorado's Paradox Valley. Several lumbering lines were also constructed in the mountains to supply the growing towns along the new railroads.
In these years, the railroads flourished. The SPV and UA&P even jointly operated an opulent pair of express passenger trains to include Pullman service - the northbound train named the Ute, and the southbound the Navajo. They also carried agricultural products, including significant annual livestock rushes, as well as the raw materials for which they were originally founded and the many products necessitated by the expanding population of the region.
In 1890, what originally appeared as a major windfall became an existential threat to the lines - the standard gauging of the Rio Grande mainline. Due to their close corporate relationship, it was first speculated that the SPV/UA&P system would also widen its gauge, but this was not to be. Rather, in order to assist in financing its transition, the Rio Grande sold most of its shares in the shortlines and left them to fend for themselves. As the only route of commerce into the region, they survived, but were never again as profitable now that it was necessary for bridge traffic to change gauges twice - once at each end.
The SPV would eventually gain a few miles of track with 4' 8-1/2" between the rails. With the continued success of mines in the region, a smelter was constructed on the outskirts of Moab in 1895, and its founders helped raise money to add a third rail between their facility and Whitehouse, so that processed materials could be loaded directly into standard gauge boxcars. Again, rumors flew that the entire railroad would be standard gauged, and again they proved false - only the line's northernmost 40 miles were converted to dual gauge, although the SPV did acquire one new standard gauge engine to serve it.
And that's roughly where October 1907 finds the railroads - the UA&P is currently emerging from receivership to the SPV, which is doing reasonably well. The CV&LS and P&LS are still profitable and keep their small rosters of second-hand engines in excellent condition. The Ute and Navajo continue to run, although less frequently and with shorter consists. The fall stock rush is in full swing. Over the next few decades, much will change, and by midway through the century, all these rails will be torn up and few will remember that narrow gauge trains ever even ran here. But for now, 3' gauge teakettles jacketed in Russia Iron proudly roam the mountains and desert of the American Southwest, and most people seem to think they always will.
My Western West Virginian started around the turn of the Century(1900) as part of the development of the B&O(actually the WV and Pittsubrgh) branch to Pickens WV. The WWV started as a branch to Helvetia,WV for the purpose of gathering timber for the sawmills of Pickens. The line eventually absorbed the Middle Fork RR and made a connection with the WM and Coal & Coke RR (eventually part of the B&O) near Elkins and also connected to the C&O on the east side of Elkins. As the line moved north it connected to the West Virginia Northern. You can see many 2-8-0's around the WWV terrirories plus a few articulateds on the B&O and the C&O plus the WWV also has a logging 2-6-6-2 which still sees some action. The area has resisted diesels since the area has a abunant supply of coal/.
Well there is an update from me. I painted up a gp35 in my passenger scheme. Plus, the AVDC has now been placed under ownership of the Wheeling and Lake erie. But it will still remain a seperate road. They have also shown interest in purchasing a former conrail Jordan spreader for snow plow service
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
My Maclau River in Nscale is set in Virginia; this is a fictitious river going from Norfolk to Cincinati, Ohio. Time is 1930-1942.
This is quite a big river which allow navigation far from the sea,(Norfolk) there are a few port, the biggest is Port Allen.
There are in fact two roads on my layout, a bottom line which follow the riverbed and a "mountain line, climbing in the hills and visiting the coal mine of Virginia ending at Aegiahills
The mine will be scratchbuild from prototypical pictures of N&W serviced mines.
Port Allen,
Port Allen is the bottom end of the line and Aegiahills the summit.( the name Aegiahills come from the village of Aegialis set on the island of Amorgos in Greece in the cyclades were I spend most of my hollydays). Because this company is set in Virginia, The Maclau River RR has rights on the N&W trackage, which allow me to model some place used by the N&W and have an interchange (staging) at Elisabethtown whith the N&W; this allow me to run N&W steam on the layout. At Aegiahills ther is an interchange whith the C&O which allow the same liberty as the N&W.(also a staging here) The Maclau River is a big coal hauler using only steam for power, the company buy most of his motive power from second hand at the N&W and a few from the C&O like this 2-6-6-2. Except a very few all the freight power is mallet steam locomotive. Numerous mine will take place on the line and an operating high lift coal dumper at Alexander Yard (Alexandre is the name of my son) which is in fact Norfolk on the N&W, The dumper will be placed on a pier like pier n°5 in Norfolk. This will be the ending travel of the hopper before returning back in "Virginia" The bottom line is more a general freight service line, less hopper here, more boxcar. Alexander Yard is the big yard of the system were trains are made and interchanged. Alexander Yard, east side, West side, The design of this yard is a modified Santa FE yard design published in MR a few years ago. The Maclau River is a real coal hauler because I really use coal in my hooper fleet (only 55 tons), all the mine like this laser kit are modified to really charge hopper. Here the device which charge the hopper. Unfortunately work didn't go very fast and have stopped for a while; the Hight lift dumper is just beginning to take shape.
Port Allen is the bottom end of the line and Aegiahills the summit.( the name Aegiahills come from the village of Aegialis set on the island of Amorgos in Greece in the cyclades were I spend most of my hollydays).
Because this company is set in Virginia, The Maclau River RR has rights on the N&W trackage, which allow me to model some place used by the N&W and have an interchange (staging) at Elisabethtown whith the N&W; this allow me to run N&W steam on the layout.
At Aegiahills ther is an interchange whith the C&O which allow the same liberty as the N&W.(also a staging here)
The Maclau River is a big coal hauler using only steam for power, the company buy most of his motive power from second hand at the N&W and a few from the C&O like this 2-6-6-2.
Except a very few all the freight power is mallet steam locomotive.
Numerous mine will take place on the line and an operating high lift coal dumper at Alexander Yard (Alexandre is the name of my son) which is in fact Norfolk on the N&W, The dumper will be placed on a pier like pier n°5 in Norfolk. This will be the ending travel of the hopper before returning back in "Virginia" The bottom line is more a general freight service line, less hopper here, more boxcar. Alexander Yard is the big yard of the system were trains are made and interchanged. Alexander Yard, east side, West side, The design of this yard is a modified Santa FE yard design published in MR a few years ago. The Maclau River is a real coal hauler because I really use coal in my hooper fleet (only 55 tons), all the mine like this laser kit are modified to really charge hopper. Here the device which charge the hopper. Unfortunately work didn't go very fast and have stopped for a while; the Hight lift dumper is just beginning to take shape.
Numerous mine will take place on the line and an operating high lift coal dumper at Alexander Yard (Alexandre is the name of my son) which is in fact Norfolk on the N&W, The dumper will be placed on a pier like pier n°5 in Norfolk. This will be the ending travel of the hopper before returning back in "Virginia"
The bottom line is more a general freight service line, less hopper here, more boxcar.
Alexander Yard is the big yard of the system were trains are made and interchanged.
Alexander Yard, east side,
West side, The design of this yard is a modified Santa FE yard design published in MR a few years ago. The Maclau River is a real coal hauler because I really use coal in my hooper fleet (only 55 tons), all the mine like this laser kit are modified to really charge hopper. Here the device which charge the hopper. Unfortunately work didn't go very fast and have stopped for a while; the Hight lift dumper is just beginning to take shape.
West side,
The design of this yard is a modified Santa FE yard design published in MR a few years ago. The Maclau River is a real coal hauler because I really use coal in my hooper fleet (only 55 tons), all the mine like this laser kit are modified to really charge hopper. Here the device which charge the hopper. Unfortunately work didn't go very fast and have stopped for a while; the Hight lift dumper is just beginning to take shape.
The design of this yard is a modified Santa FE yard design published in MR a few years ago.
The Maclau River is a real coal hauler because I really use coal in my hooper fleet (only 55 tons), all the mine like this laser kit are modified to really charge hopper.
Here the device which charge the hopper. Unfortunately work didn't go very fast and have stopped for a while; the Hight lift dumper is just beginning to take shape.
Here the device which charge the hopper.
Unfortunately work didn't go very fast and have stopped for a while; the Hight lift dumper is just beginning to take shape.
Thanks Mr. LMD - let me know if you liked it.
---
Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
===================================
"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
Mr. LMD, Owner, founder
The Central Chicago & Illinois Railroad
I posted mine on one of the other threads several years ago, so I'll just provide a link to the Official Short History of the Flint Hills Northern Railway Co.:
Enjoy!
My railroad's based on a prototype that was just northwest of Jasper, Al. You can read the "history" and see current progress on the layout by clicking the link in my sig. I have added parts of the final upper level to the layout now, will be taking pictures of it as the layout progresses. Please note, that there is no scenery as yet. I prefer to finish installing and debugging the track to insure smooth operations and minimal problems.
I believe that any modeler should have a history as part of the concept of the RR. It really helps focus the modeler on the development of his/her trackplan. With a concept and history written down, your idea of a RR goes from "I want Techatchapi Loop, Horseshoe curve and Saluda grade on my layout. It's only going to be 6 x 12'." To a well thought out possible freelance road, that can be it's own prototype.
Do pay us a visit!
If you do visit, please leave a comment in the contact form.
Carey
Keep it between the Rails
Alabama Central Homepage
Nara member #128
NMRA &SER Life member
My Toledo Erie Central RR history reads as folllows (copied and pasted from a word doc).
The Toledo Erie Central Railroad History
The Toledo Erie Central Railroad (TEC), set in northwestern Ohio, was started when the railroads were deregulated back in the early 70's, prompting many class 1 railroads to abandon lines that weren't profitable to them that they previously were, by law, required to operate. This approximately 17 mile stretch of trackage east of Toledo was a "bridge" line formerly owned by the Norfolk and Western railroad, with trackage rights granted to the B&O, the Pennsy and the Erie Lackawanna during that time. This segment of the N&W did not carry enough revenue service to pay for itself and so the original intent was to abandon the line. The local businesses along the line still considered rail service to be of vital importance to them. A meeting was convened of the local businesses, most notably the West Sandusky Co-Op and the Toledo-based Mud Hen Brewing Co. among others. The decision was made to submit a petition to the N&W to purchase the 17 mile segment. A few months later the N&W replied with a request for a proposal for purchase. The business consortium drew up a proposal and the N&W accepted it and the sale of the line was executed in 1972. The railroad, therefore is collectively owned by the local businesses along the industrial corridor. Revenue for the railroad includes grain, coal, beer and ale, scrap metal, fabricated metal, car parts, food additives and other assorted freight. The general offices for the railroad are located in the old depot in West Sandusky.
Shortly after the purchase, the new railroad proceeded to buy an old SW9 from the Erie Lackawanna as well as a caboose from the Wabash. The engine and the caboose, which are presently the only rostered rolling equipment, were lettered for the TEC. The caboose was completely repainted prior to lettering, as well as being re-numbered. The SW9, still in the old pre-merger Erie black and yellow livery, had its logo and number painted over and was re-numbered along with the TEC lettering.
The railroad operates in the 1970's era, interchanging cars with both the Chessie System and the Erie Lackawanna.
I have often spoken here for the need of a well thought out and written back story to justify a free lance road. I noted it should follow a plausible theme based on need and the geography. It should be set in context and related to real extant roads in the area.
My narrow gauge road is the Paradox Uravan and Placerville.
My written synopsis is almost four pages long and highly detailed. I will not push it on you here, but it is a long considered work based on real research done prior to construction.
As WWII approached several large and smaller mining consortiums could see the need for removing large amounts of mineral wealth from western Colorado's mining belt. Much of this wealth was west and north of Placerville which was served by the narrow gauge, RGS. New finds of vanadium, copper, zinc, lead and Uranium were happening at a rapid pace and development showed promise.
The pool of many mining interests decided to build a 65 mile long narrow gauge road to link up with the RGS at Placerville. Track and rail was to come from a special deal with the D&RGW who was actively tearing up their old "Chili Line" to Santa Fe. Motive power, of which only about 5 or 6 steam engines might be needed, was to come from scarppers yards which were seeing a lot of Colorado's older narrow gauge engines come onto their scrap lines.
The "PUP" was fully constructed in about 1 year and by late 1940 was running and hauling ore to Placerville where the RGS hauled it to Durango and points east for processing. Europe was already at war and the flow increased slowly until the US came into the war late in 1941. The rather unknown mineral, Uranium, saw a vast and immediate rise to gain top priority as the 40's and the war advanced.
The road was always a private mineral hauler and a tiny amount of passenger and freight traffic was handled by a large caboose combine and a rented RGS goose. Older short box cars and used gondolas were plentiful via surplus prior to the war. Limited rentals of C-19 and K-27 Locos from the D&RGW helped in the war time crunch.
After the war, Uranium was the number one mineral hauled as the "Uranium Boom" and the promise of the atomic age took on massive importance. Civilian automotive road building was on the increase in the area during the peaceful post war years and trucking was obviously a viable alternative to the narrow gauge.
The consortium slowly planned for and started a trucking operation that merged well with the PUP and as 1950 came into view the realization that the RGS was not long for the world had the consortium plan on shutting down the PUP with the demise of the RGS. Thus the PUP's 11 year history came to an end in early 1951.
Mining of the Colorado Plateau spread quickly to the west to Utah and New Mexico where the richest mines would feed the bulk of all future Uranium Boom needs.
Richard
If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed
Felt like expanding on my history of the Austinville and Dynamite City.
I stop modeling the railroad in 1956 but here's the rest
1956, the Austinville and Dynamite city builds a new locomotive shop to replace the ailing PRR shop.
1960, The Austinville purchases a third steam locomotive-an old Dockside converted into a tender engine to do yard work
1963-the previously purchased dockside suffers a boiler failure,and severely injures the crew.
1965-The Austinville purchases a GP35, and a few more boxcars for the furniture store, and general industries along the line.
1968. Pennsylvania railroad absorbs the NYC, but remains the Pennsylvania railroad. The PRR rips up their portion of the Austinvilel yard citing "redundant rail".
1969. The Austinville reports that it has had it's first negative earnings report since 1949.
1970. The Austinville retires their Parie locomotive, and gives it to the city of Austinville as a sign of goodwill.
1971. Rumors circulate that the Austinville is bleeding money and a new president is hired.
1972. Austinville goes entirely steam free as the consoliation is retired and stored in the roundhouse. Austinville purchases three used GP38's. The Consolidation is used for a "farewell to steam" program.
1975-New Haven, Milwalkee road, Erie Lackawanna and the Chessapeke and Ohio merge to create East Coast central-It lasts for two months, and then is renamed Conrail.
1976. The furniture factory in Dynamite city switches to truck, and the coal mine in Dynamite city reduces to one bay. Conrail is formed, but the Austinville is left out due to once again "redundant rails".
1980. The president of the Austinville announces intent to abandon the railroad, and to discontinue commuter service. Penndot picks up the commuter service portion,and a local businessman buys the Austinville, and renames it to "Southwestern PA transportation corp", created of all the other small shortline railroads in Southwestern PA. The SWPTC retires the GP35, and replaces it with an Sd40.
1999. the city celebrates 50 years of the railroad existing, and the owner ofthe SWPTC operate the consolidation that was retired in 1968 for tourist rides. The SWPTC sells off the GP38's and buys SD60'S. The Consolidation is given to the newly formed "Fans of the Austinville and Dynamite City railroad". The original passenger cars are given as well. The business car was sold off in the 1970's and became a hunting cabin. The fans purchased the car from the owner, and restored it to it'sformer glory.
2014. A tourist train is started along the former Austinville and Dynamite city rails, using the Consolidation, all 4 of the passenger cars (including the presidential business car), and their caboose.
In 1919 the Soo Line petitioned to abandon the old Wisconsin Central line between Portage and Plover. As the ICC dithered the Soo also offered it for sale to the loval communities. Portage, Coloma, Bancroft and Montello took the Soo up on the offer. On Dec of 1919 the line was turned over to the Portage and Northwoods Railroad (fyi Anything north of Portage is considered the "North Woods"...didn't believe it myself it actually shows up on the original surveys...who knew?). The decision was made to electrify the line. It was hoped that it would encourage development along the line and additional power plants could be built to meet the local and industrial demand. The problem was it only worked in Portage. A large power plant and a Coke retort moved in (on the current site of the Columbia Electrical Generation Plant). The 20's roared and the line suffered the same fate that a lot farmers did. As everyone else prospered the line could break even, but not get ahead. When the Depression set in the railroad, with extra generating capacity, a right of way and several towns and areas that were available for electrical power, was able to get funding through the Rural Electrification Project to string line to outlying areas and bring electrical power to the towns along the way. In this way they were able to keep thier linemen employed and the railroad hauling supplies. Seasonal in most of operations the P&NWR did it's best to encourage other industries to move into the area to even out the traffic. It was met with mixed success. The only industris that did take off was the paper and dairy industry and by 1950 a hotshot dairy service was running from Plover to Portage on a 1.5 hr run, twice a day. To help service the dairy, an ice shed built in 1920's to handle the increase in refeer meat coming out of Westfield and Plover, was expanded to deal with the increase from dairy as well.
Passenger service was never offically discontinued. When the line was transfered to the P&NWR a doodlebug was purchased to work the Portage- Montello run. For everything else a pair of combines were retained for what was needed and when traffic fell off to sporadic levels caboose seats were always available and if it was a mealtime run, a plain but filling meal could usually be had.
For most of it's history the line eeked by. Only for two years did it operate in the red, in the worst of the Depression, and it actively worked with the users of the road to keep it and them from folding. Operations were going well, when in 1946 the Milwaukee Road approached the railroad to ask if they would like to purchase the roundhouse and repair shop in Portage. The P&NWR debated for a year and finally purchased the west end of the Milwaukee facilities at the end of 1947. Since the P&NWR was mostly an electric road the purchase didn't make much sense, but since they did lease steam engines from the Soo, Milw, & GB&W there was some justification for the purchase (It would later prove fortuitous). As other railroads divested themselves of steam the P&NWR would be offered various bits and pieces, and stored them. By 1953 with the obvious demise of steam on the mainlines the P&NWR outright purchased all of it's leased steam. 4 Milw L-3a's, 4 G&BW 2-6-0's, & a pair of 4-6-2's all disappeared into the roundhouse in Portage. The best of the engines were scoped and parts salvaged from the rest. By 1955 carcasses of the original purchase could be seen littering the disused sidings of line, stored for major parts. (My modeling period stops here, but the time line continues to the present)
Quite a few imaginative model railroaders out there!
While trying to create an imaginary short line between the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific somewhere in California, I discovered a real fallen flag (the Santa Ana & Newport) in my own back yard (Orange County, California). The Santa Ana & Newport was built by the McFadden brothers in the early 1890's to haul lumber shipments from McFadden Wharf (now Newport Pier) in New Port (now Newport Beach) to a connection with the Santa Fe in Santa Ana. After the line was in operation for a few years, the McFaddens decided they'd rather concentrate on lumber and offered the SA&N to the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe was recovering from a recent bankruptcy and could not invest in a new branch so the Southern Pacific eventually gained control. Extensions between the existing SA&N tracks and the Southern Pacific main line created a prototype loop of track around north and central Orange County. Eventually, federal funding was poured into the development of a new deep water harbor in San Pedro which ended any commercial future for New Port. Thus, traffic on the former SA&N dwindled until only a handful of industries remained by the 1970's. Almost all of the original SA&N trackage is gone now. Ironically, the last remaining portion of the SA&N serves a lumber yard in Westminster.
Modeling the SA&N in the 1890's would have required me to buy all new rolling stock and locos. As I already owned a moderate sized collection of transition era equipment, I decided to model a "what if" scenario where the SA&N survived as an independent line into the late 1950's. Interchange with the Santa Fe continued uninterrupted in Santa Ana while negotiations with the Southern Pacific resulted in the previously mentioned loop extensions plus a new yard in Huntington Beach for interchange with the Southern Pacific and the Pacific Electric. Maintenance costs forced the SA&N and Pacific Electric to consolidate their previously parallel coastal trackage into a single shared line. The ATSF, SP and PE all use first generation diesels (the PE had all but abandoned electric locos by the 1950's) while the SA&N makes due with cast-off oil burning steam locos. My layout models portions of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. Similar to the service provided by the Southern Pacific into the 1930's, I run small SA&N mixed trains around the "loop" for local commuter service and express shipments within the County limits. All other operations are run point to point. The Santa Fe uses one staging yard north of Santa Ana. The Southern Pacific uses another staging yard north of Huntington Beach. A single spur represents the PE line to Long Beach while a third staging yard used by the SA&N and PE represents the McFadden Wharf area of Newport Beach.
Hornblower