I only run steam on my layout but have been pushed to run modern diesels by my grand kids and other younger people. So I have bought 4 diesels, all modern like ES44's, dash 9's And others. I am really impressed by the details, sound and running Ability. I like them so much I will buy more.
The kids think the steam is old and not important anymore And they pollute too much. They like the modern diesels because of they're Technology in both the prototype and model. They want to see what is running now, and the more technology in the models the better they like it.
My layout is steam era but running diesels is ok with me.
I do. If it's 1945 to now, it might show up on my trackage.
And there's even an exception to that: LS&MS 4-6-0
I'm waiting for Athearn to run the Pullman Palace cars again, hopefully lettered for that road.
Ed
I have tried to stay as honest as I can about modeling my railroad in the late 30's to early 60's era, but I have to say I keep looking at those NS heritage units and I know it's just a matter of time before I pull the trigger on one of those babies......Rich
I like the UP and love the steam, having from a 2-6-0 era through the Big Boy. While I intended to stay with transition era diesels, I've also added newer ones. One big motivation is I've discovered that I enjoy converting good DC diesels to DCC w/sound; e.g., the many LifeLike HOs available in the 2nd hand market. I guess the newest era is a couple of (Kato) Dash 9s. I look on my RR as a UP museum, so anything (that I like) goes. And with a small layout, I can change the era on the layout if I like rather than mix the oldest and newest.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
DAVID FORTNEYThe kids think the steam is old and not important anymore And they pollute too much.
Have they ever seen one in person?
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Hello All,
My first HO scale train set was the Tyco Casey Jones Edition with a 0-6-0 loco. I hated that loco!
For a young kid with a penchant for for "exploring" how things worked I took that loco apart and never got it to work exactly the same again. My parents were on a budget and couldn't replace it with a "modern" (diesel) loco.
Soon after that my I lost interest in model railroading.
Fast forward to March of 2014 at the Denver Train show...
I bought a "starter-set" with an F3 loco. Finally, I got my diesel!
After building a 4x8 pike based on a 1970's -'80's coal branch loop, with a historic wooden spiral trestle, I decided to have an "Olde Tyme" excursion train that ran between the coal trains to highlight the historic wooden trestle of the line. Think George Town Loop in Colorado.
Eventhough the basis of my pike is a diesel powered coal branch loop I decided that steam; as a guest attraction, is relevant.
Perhaps in your case you've found that diesel (eventhough out of the context of your era) is relevant to your situation.
Many club layouts recognize this and have era specific operating sessions- -be it solely steam, transition era; steam & diesel, early diesel or modern diesel.
No matter what you run on your line, having fun should by paramount!
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Several of our cohorts here on the forums remind us that "it's your railroad, you make the rules." In other words, if you want to run it, do it.
You can have a justified layout with both, using the steam as excursion locos. I have also seen videos of the UP steam units hauling freight when ferrying between jobs.
The only thing is the scenic elements vary a little. Older buildings still exist, but there are newer styles. people dress differently and one of the most obvious is vehicles. A few older ones look OK, if you have quite a few, set up an antique auto show.
It certainly can be done.
Be glad that the grandkids are interested (wish mine were) and it sounds like they are a bit environmentally conscious too. Probably will never use the smoke unit on a loco (steam or diesel).
Have fun,
Richard
My layout is modern era 1996-Current. My solution to running steam on my modern layout is passenger excursion trains.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
Michael Motley, your siggy is Prototype: D&RGW but you model 1996 and later? Dichotomy?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I also have modern units, due to modeling 2000-2009 era, but have 2 steam locomotives, one 2-8-2, and, N&W 611. Both are excursion units, 611 gets run occasionally on the excursion, just passing through, the other, the 2-8-2, is "borrowed" from the Historical society for excursion and corporate use, in exchange for a place to maintain and store it under cover during winter. My railroad has provided the maintainance, and storage, in exchange for the goodwill the unit brings when operating, so that they can use it for excursions and for corporate (CEO and directors board) use, so long as the historical society can have their scheduled dates free for their paying customers. (This allows them to provide parts when needed, and to keep a crew qualified to run it. Both get something without paying the other.)
And Ed, LS&MS! I'm liking that, Nice!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
riogrande5761 Michael Motley, your siggy is Prototype: D&RGW but you model 1996 and later? Dichotomy?
tstage DAVID FORTNEY The kids think the steam is old and not important anymore And they pollute too much. Have they ever seen one in person?
DAVID FORTNEY The kids think the steam is old and not important anymore And they pollute too much.
Yep. Rube Goldberg contraptions.
I am all for mixing things up. On my layout I run mixed freights with cabooses and lots of cars that have 'Fallen Flag' railroad paint schemes vs stack trains with high horsepower diesels as well as a unit coal train. I have diesels from NS (two heritage ones), UP, BNSF, CPR, Rutland, D&H, CNW in my engine house. I envision my layout as a terminal railroad something like IHB, so I am free to run any kind of train from any era. I have a couple steam engines, but they don't run anymore or I would have them out pulling the stack train. Like others say, it is my railroad and I will run it the way I enjoy running it.
Ted
Well, my age says I should be modeling more steam, at least the "transition" period, but, I was never around it. My only encounter with railroads was in the early 60's, and that was watching, and listening, through the open windows on warm summer nights, the SOO Line. As I remember now, mixed in with the GP7's and 9's, was an ocastional F unit. I have one steam engine, that runs on my Christmas train layout.
It's a Mahano, and runs like a watch, steady and smooth, for the 8 hours during our family Christmas Eve. Mike Edit: So, I model what I see. Watching the up-start WC in the 80's was my main insperation.
It's a Mahano, and runs like a watch, steady and smooth, for the 8 hours during our family Christmas Eve.
Mike
Edit: So, I model what I see. Watching the up-start WC in the 80's was my main insperation.
My You Tube
I generally run steam at home (they are getting expensive and they tend to get damaged rattling arround in boxes to and from shows), diesels seem to be more robust, so they are my primary show locomotives.
DAVID FORTNEYMy layout is steam era but running diesels is ok with me.
Me too, I run FTs, F2s, SW-1s, Alco S1-S3, HH660s. I guess mine's technically transition era...
1.) Not all of them are old (VRR 3025 is only 27 years old), and I dont think Im old (29). 2.) Matter of opinion, I respectfully disagree. 3.)Not all that much more than diesels (still buring fossil fuels in those diesels). If you want non-polluters, go pick up some electrics.... And if you want to get real technical, your steam and diesel locomotives on your layout produce approximately the same amount of pollution (unless you have solar power exclusively).
DAVID FORTNEYThey want to see what is running now
Take them railfanning.... Personally cant wait for UP 4014 to be finished.
Remember these kids are only in their teens and what they are being taught in school about environmental concerns of pollution and such is ingrained into the way they think.
My dad was a steam engineer on the NYC the 30's and 40's and he could not wait for them to be scrapped.
While I have never seen steam in real life either, I have a few 2-6-0s that serve a tourist type line. (Inspirations: 1880s train in SD, the narrow guage trains from CO [DVDs my Mom found me a few years ago, and the Charlie Russell Chew-Choo out of Lewistown, MT area [for the general idea of the trackage].) I also have a few of other diesel engines too. I have an SW1 for a terminal-type railroad, two F7s (1 A, 1 B), 2 S-4s, 3 SW7s (1 of which is for a company operating the team track area in Denver Bronco colors), an SW1000, 2 GP18s, a GP35, and 8 GP20s.
DAVID FORTNEY tstage DAVID FORTNEY The kids think the steam is old and not important anymore And they pollute too much. Have they ever seen one in person? Yes they have in Strasburg, Pa. Remember these kids are only in their teens and what they are being taught in school about environmental concerns of pollution and such is ingrained into the way they think. My dad was a steam engineer on the NYC the 30's and 40's and he could not wait for them to be scrapped.
Yes they have in Strasburg, Pa.
I assume then he had lots of seniority. Not to many people seem to realize that when the Railroads scrapped steam and moved into the Diesel age that there were quite a few layoffs. Makes sense, while you think about it just thinking about how many employees were needed to run and support the steam eras.
One of the first things that the railroad companies did, or tried to do, was to have the bulk of the maintenance to be done by the various builders. Diesels being new, a lot of executives with the rail companies were dubvious that their existing maintenance workers could adequate service the new diesels. The builders made a lot of money taking over the maintenance duties for the new diesel engines.
At this point, I'm glad if I can put any locomotive on my layout and find that it runs well and stays on the rails. I don't mean that I don't lay tracks well, or that my engines are plugs or old and worn out...no, I mean I get a great deal of relief and satisfaction when I place a locomotive of any description on my rails and it actually works! I love the looks of the modern SD-70 series, the latest models with the new chiseled nose. I like the looks of the ALCO RS series. I have a gem in my only Atlas, a Master Gold series Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster H24-66. I have a GG1, a metal Trix that is also a nice hefty gem that is worth every red cent I paid for it.
At heart, though, I'm very much a steam nut. I don't have one of every wheel arrangement, and will never have all of them, only the ones I like to see running on my layout. At the moment, I don't have an SD-70MAC, SD-70ACe, but I will have one before too long, maybe two.
Steam never retired on the Rio Grande...it just got sold to someone else, who kept running it. My layout's back story is a bit different than real life, but in real life they kept running steam. OInly a relative lack of other traffic kept away the need for a modern diesel fleet. I assume that took care of itself...
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
don7 I assume then he had lots of seniority. Not to many people seem to realize that when the Railroads scrapped steam and moved into the Diesel age that there were quite a few layoffs. Makes sense, while you think about it just thinking about how many employees were needed to run and support the steam eras. One of the first things that the railroad companies did, or tried to do, was to have the bulk of the maintenance to be done by the various builders. Diesels being new, a lot of executives with the rail companies were dubvious that their existing maintenance workers could adequate service the new diesels. The builders made a lot of money taking over the maintenance duties for the new diesel engines.
My Father was one of those people Don, back in the 50's he worked in the CN yard in Smithers BC Canada. He knew he was going to be laid off so he joined the Navy.
Modern diesels!!!!!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
In Bismarck, the newest diesel locomotives pull their trains past an old steam engine enclosed in a chain link fence.
LION thinks it would be nice to model a 1930s sort of a layout with a modern diesel locomotive enclosed in the chain link fence.
Fair is fair you know.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Motley riogrande5761 Michael Motley, your siggy is Prototype: D&RGW but you model 1996 and later? Dichotomy? Yes the same year D&RGW merged with UP. So I can run D&RGW, UP, BN, BNSF railroads on my layout.
Ah, so really siggy should say post UP/D&RGW merger or something like that when there was a whole dog's breakfast of stuff running around, patched RG, UP, speed letter SP (patched), BNSF.
don7Dad was hired on in the late twenties and was never laid off. He was one of the last steam engineers on the NYC and when the diesels started coming on line he was a happy camper. He did mention that thousands of men were laid off during the transition to diesel. Remember a steam engine needed service every 100 miles or so and all that infrastructure was not needed when diesels came along. Dave DAVID FORTNEY tstage DAVID FORTNEY The kids think the steam is old and not important anymore And they pollute too much. Have they ever seen one in person? Yes they have in Strasburg, Pa. Remember these kids are only in their teens and what they are being taught in school about environmental concerns of pollution and such is ingrained into the way they think. My dad was a steam engineer on the NYC the 30's and 40's and he could not wait for them to be scrapped. I assume then he had lots of seniority. Not to many people seem to realize that when the Railroads scrapped steam and moved into the Diesel age that there were quite a few layoffs. Makes sense, while you think about it just thinking about how many employees were needed to run and support the steam eras. One of the first things that the railroad companies did, or tried to do, was to have the bulk of the maintenance to be done by the various builders. Diesels being new, a lot of executives with the rail companies were dubvious that their existing maintenance workers could adequate service the new diesels. The builders made a lot of money taking over the maintenance duties for the new diesel engines.
He did mention that thousands of men were laid off during the transition to diesel. Remember a steam engine needed service every 100 miles or so and all that infrastructure was not needed when diesels came along.
Dave
don7 DAVID FORTNEY tstage DAVID FORTNEY The kids think the steam is old and not important anymore And they pollute too much. Have they ever seen one in person? Yes they have in Strasburg, Pa. Remember these kids are only in their teens and what they are being taught in school about environmental concerns of pollution and such is ingrained into the way they think. My dad was a steam engineer on the NYC the 30's and 40's and he could not wait for them to be scrapped. I assume then he had lots of seniority. Not to many people seem to realize that when the Railroads scrapped steam and moved into the Diesel age that there were quite a few layoffs. Makes sense, while you think about it just thinking about how many employees were needed to run and support the steam eras. One of the first things that the railroad companies did, or tried to do, was to have the bulk of the maintenance to be done by the various builders. Diesels being new, a lot of executives with the rail companies were dubvious that their existing maintenance workers could adequate service the new diesels. The builders made a lot of money taking over the maintenance duties for the new diesel engines.
Early diesels are as modern as it gets on my railroad...
Tom
I'm in the same boat as David, the OP. I find enjoyment in the steam era. After all, if I want to see diesels, I can just go to the local railfan spot and see them there.
That said, I bought a few diesels for my 8-year-old son and could not be more impressed with the detail and running characteristics. The sound is just amazing - far more realistic than the wimpy "chuffs" that steam sound decoders make.
So be it. Both are welcome on my layout. I guess I'm just a fan of really well done models with good running characteristics.
Scott
I stuck a pin in a specific point of space-time, and I modeled what was, or could have been, seen there. That includes teakettles with nineteenth century build dates and brand-new diesel-hydraulic locos fresh off the erecting floor. It also includes the JNR's most modern steam and catenary motors from brand new to verging on retirement.
I have no interest in changing the time I model, either forward or backward. Nor do I apologize for the unlikely kitbashes that move coal on the little railroad that never existed. Anyone who has a problem with that gets reminded of the golden rule. I spent the gold, so I make the rules.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - within limits)
After many years of railroading I can say, to be happy (to each his own)